There have been many stories in the news over the years covering instances of people managing to rack up huge bills in mobile app stores when they didn’t realise that in-app purchases were made with real money. The problem with this sort of thing is that mobile apps and app stores generally don’t refund the money, even if thousands of dollars have been spent that you can’t afford.
To help prevent this issue, Google Play offers you the ability to set a monthly budget, so you can keep an eye on how much money is spent across both apps and in-app purchases.
Note: the budget doesn’t impose an actual limit or stop any purchases, Google Play will notify you when you’re approaching the limit though, so you know to investigate or limit your spending.
On the web
To create a budget on the Google Play website you need to click on “Account” in the column on the left.
Next, you need to switch to the “Order history” tab and click “Set budget”.
Finally, simply configure a value for the monthly budget you want to set, then click “Submit”.
In the mobile app
The process on mobile is very similar to the one on the web. First, you need to tap on the burger menu icon found in the top-left corner of the app, then tap on “Account”.
Next, switch to the “Purchase history” tab, then tap “Set Budget”.
Finally, set a budget and tap “Save”.
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