---
id: "13.4"
title: "Budget"
dept: finance
status: needs-you
owner: Param
branded: false
last_verified: 2026-10-26
sources:
  - "brew origin/main a559de6: tools/prod-env.sh:9, deploy.sh:21, shelf.js:69, budget.js:13-15"
  - "handbook content/finance/spend-caps.md, content/finance/credits.md, content/finance/vendors-and-bills.md, content/ai-and-models/cost-per-brand.md"
  - "memory: brew-gemini-provider, brew-apify-watch, brew-go-live-2026-10-17, brew-pro-switch-and-flush, brew-live-stores, no-spend-while-building"
---

# Budget

## Answer

How much Brew may spend each month, by category; no budget has ever been set and no monthly spend is recorded, so the categories and ceilings below are a proposal built from the product's own caps, for Param to accept or change.

## Today

| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| No budget or monthly spend figure exists in any source | [src: content/finance/spend-ledger.md Today] |
| Cloud and AI on Vertex are paid by Google credits, $20,763 left on 16 Oct | [src: memory brew-gemini-provider] |
| Outside data is capped at $40 a day of treg on production | [src: brew/tools/prod-env.sh:9] |
| Apify is capped at $10 a brand a month; the Starter plan was bought on 23 Oct | [src: brew/shelf.js:69] [src: memory brew-apify-watch] |
| First builds are capped at $250 a day across brands | [src: brew/tools/prod-env.sh:9] |
| Draft pictures run up to 1,500 a day, about $58 at worst on Flash | [src: brew/deploy.sh:21] |
| Sloosh is on a Pro plan; finals are capped at 300 credits a day | [src: memory brew-go-live-2026-10-17] [src: brew/budget.js:13] |
| The Anthropic key is out of credit since 20 Oct | [src: memory brew-pro-switch-and-flush] |
| Seven brands live: five partners and two test brands | [src: memory brew-live-stores] |

## Tomorrow

| Item | Version | Tag |
|---|---|---|
| A monthly budget by category, set by Param | v1 | New |
| Caps in the product tied to that budget | v1 | Changes |
| A budget line per paying brand, from its plan | v1, after pricing | New |

## How we do it

The proposed budget for November 2026. Worst case figures are the caps multiplied out, not forecasts; the proposed ceiling is what Param would allow.

| Category | What is in it | Worst case the caps allow a month | Proposed ceiling | Paid from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud | Cloud Run, Cloud SQL, storage | not capped in code | $400 | Google credits |
| AI on Vertex | Plays, briefs, cards, drafts | builds $250 a day, pictures about $58 a day | $600 | Google credits |
| Outside data, treg | Reads, listening, watchers | $1,200, from $40 a day | $150 | Card or top up |
| Apify | Marketplace and quick commerce scrapers | $70, from $10 times seven brands | $70 | Apify plan |
| Finals | Sloosh credits | 300 credits a day | the Pro plan only | Sloosh plan |
| Email | Resend | not capped in code | the current plan only | Card |
| Domains, DNS, hosting | Cloudflare, Firebase | not capped in code | the current plans only | Card or credits |
| Anthropic | Claude on our key | none while out of credit | $0 during the partnership | Card |

The proposed ceilings for cloud and AI are starting points with no spend history behind them; the first measured month replaces them.

1. Param sets the ceilings; this table then becomes the budget.
2. Each month the spend ledger is compared with it; any category over its ceiling goes to Param that week.
3. A new paid tool needs a line here before the first payment [src: memory no-spend-while-building].

## Numbers

| Metric | Definition | Where measured | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spend against budget | Spend a month by category over its ceiling | Spend ledger | Proposed |
| Cash spend a month | Spend not paid by credits | Spend ledger | Proposed |
| Credit spend a month | Spend paid by Google credits | Cloud Billing credits | Proposed |

## Open

1. **Accept the November ceilings?** Proposal: yes as written; treg at $150 a month is well under its $40 a day cap and about fifteen times the $10 a brand estimate for seven brands.
2. **Lower the treg day cap to match?** Proposal: set `TREG_DAY_CAP_USD` to $15 on production, so the code cap and the budget agree.
3. **Who approves spend over a ceiling?** Proposal: Param only, by a yes in chat recorded in the spend ledger.