Categories and Groups

Categories are how Budget Planner knows what your money is spent on. They are arranged in groups, and each group has a type: Needs, Wants or Savings. The group type drives the 50/30/20 views and the Distribution page, so set it carefully.

What you'll learn

• How groups, categories and sections fit together
• How to add, edit, reorder and delete them
• What happens when you delete a group

What you see

1. Add Group and Add Category — create a new group or category.
2. The search box (Search categories...) and the filter buttons All, Needs, Wants and Savings.
3. Reorder — change the order of groups; Exit Reorder Mode ends it.
4. Each group card with its name, number of categories and type badge (here Needs or Wants).
5. Edit and delete icon buttons on each group and on each category.

Add a group

1. Select Add Group.
2. Enter a Group Name, for example "Housing".
3. Choose the Group Type: Needs, Wants or Savings.
4. Select Save.

The Add Group dialog has no Section field. You choose a section when you add a category.

Add a category

1. Select Add Category.
2. Enter the Category Name, for example "Electricity".
3. Choose the Select group that it belongs to. This field is required.
4. Choose a Section. It is set to Expenses by default; choose Subscriptions for recurring services such as a phone plan.
5. Select Save.

Edit, reorder and delete

• Select Edit on a group or category to change its name, type or group.
• Select Reorder, change the order of the groups, then select Exit Reorder Mode.
• Select Delete to remove a category. The confirmation names it.

Tips for a good structure

• Keep groups broad (Housing, Food, Transport) and use the Subcategory field on a transaction for detail, such as "Coffee".
• Match the group type to how you think about the money: rent is usually a Needs group, dining out a Wants group, and an emergency fund a Savings group.
• The default categories from setup are a starting point. Rename or remove them whenever they don't fit your life.