Glossary
Money and Veowe glossary
Two kinds of word appear when you track money: the vocabulary lenders and banks use, and the words a particular app uses for its own model. Both are defined here, kept separate so it is always clear which is which. General education, not personalised financial or debt advice.
Borrowing and interest
The words lenders use for the cost of borrowing, and what they mean for the numbers you enter into Veowe.
- APR
- APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is the yearly cost of borrowing, shown as a percentage.A higher APR means your debt can grow faster if you only make small payments.
- Interest
- Interest is the fee a lender charges for borrowing money. It is usually added every month.Interest is why a balance can stay the same — or grow — even when you make payments.
- Minimum payment
- The minimum payment is the smallest amount a lender asks you to pay each month to keep the account in good standing.Paying only the minimum can keep you in debt for a very long time, because most of it can go on interest.
- Overdraft
- An overdraft lets you spend more than you have in your bank account, up to a limit set by the bank.Overdrafts often charge daily interest or fees, so living in one can quietly cost a lot over time.
- Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)
- BNPL lets you split a purchase into smaller payments, usually over a few weeks or months.It can feel free, but missed payments may bring fees and stack up alongside other debts.
- Due day
- The due day is the day of the month your payment is expected, from 1 to 28.Knowing your due day helps you plan check-ins and see whether a payment is coming up soon. Veowe uses it only for reminders — it never moves money.
Repayment approaches
Two common ways of choosing which debt to focus on when you have more than one. Veowe describes both and does not recommend either.
- Snowball method
- The snowball method means focusing extra payments on your smallest balance first, while keeping up minimum payments on the rest.Snowball often feels motivating because smaller balances clear sooner, which can build momentum. Veowe shows it as one general method — you decide what works for you.
- Avalanche method
- The avalanche method usually focuses extra payments on the debt with the highest interest rate, while keeping up minimum payments on the rest.Mathematically this often costs less in interest over time, though progress can feel slower at first. Veowe shows it as one general method — you decide what works for you.
Saving
Terms that appear on savings goals and savings visuals.
- Emergency buffer
- An emergency buffer is a small pot of savings for unexpected costs — a broken phone, a vet bill, a missed shift.Having even a small buffer can stop a one-off cost turning into new debt.
- Savings goal
- A Veowe project where the number you are working towards is a target amount to save, rather than a balance to clear.Savings goals use the same visuals as debts, but progress fills up towards the target instead of shrinking towards zero.
Veowe terms
Words that mean something specific inside Veowe. These describe how the app models your money, not how a lender does.
- Project
- A single thing you are tracking in Veowe — one debt to clear or one savings goal to reach.Each project has its own balance, its own visual and its own progress history.
- Original balance
- The starting amount you recorded when you created the project.Veowe keeps this so it can show how far you have come, not just what is left.
- Current balance
- What you owe (or have saved) right now, according to the payments and check-ins you have recorded.Veowe only knows what you tell it, so the current balance is as accurate as your last update.
- Regular payment
- A payment that repeats — a subscription, bill, direct debit or standing repayment.Veowe groups repeating payments so you can see what leaves your account on a predictable rhythm.
- Payoff estimate
- Veowe's projection of how long a debt would take to clear if you kept paying the amount you entered and the APR you entered stayed the same.It is an estimate, not a lender statement. See the methodology page for exactly how it is calculated.
- Check-in
- A short monthly review where you confirm your current balance and Veowe shows what changed since last time.Check-ins are how the visuals stay in step with real life when payments do not go exactly to plan.
- Debt wall
- A Veowe visual that draws a debt as a wall of bricks, with bricks removed as you pay it down.The same data can be shown as a progress bar, journey path or savings garden instead — only the picture changes.
- Savings garden
- A Veowe visual for savings goals, where the planting grows as the amount saved increases.
- Simplified numbers
- A display setting that rounds amounts to easier-to-read figures so the overall shape of your money is clearer than the exact pennies.It changes presentation only. The underlying stored amounts are unchanged.
- Privacy display
- A display setting that hides amounts behind dots, or replaces them with progress wording, so you can open Veowe in public or when exact figures feel stressful.