A goal records what a category needs and how often. The Budget screen then shows what's still outstanding each month, so funding becomes a checklist instead of a memory exercise.
Adding a goal
- Open Budget and click the category.
- Choose Set goal.
- Pick a type, enter the amount, and save.
A chip appears on the category showing ✓ Funded or Needs $X, with a Fund button that assigns the shortfall in one click.
Goal types
| Type | Needs | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | An amount each month | Groceries, fuel, subscriptions |
| Weekly | An amount per week, and which day | Allowances, weekly shopping |
| Biweekly | An amount every two weeks, from a start date | Anything tied to a fortnightly payday |
| Yearly | An amount once a year, and which month | Insurance, annual renewals, holidays |
| Target balance | A total to reach, no deadline | Emergency fund, a rainy-day cushion |
| Target balance by date | A total, by a date | A holiday in August, a deposit |
Weekly, biweekly and yearly goals do the arithmetic for you. A yearly goal of $1,200.00 due in December asks for a twelfth each month, not the whole amount in one go. A weekly goal counts how many of that weekday fall in the month — some months want four, some five.
Target balance by date divides what's left by the months remaining and re-computes as you go. Get behind and the monthly ask rises; get ahead and it falls.
What "funded" means
Needed amounts are calculated fresh each time you look, never stored — so they always reflect what the category actually holds right now.
needed this month = target for this month − what's in the category
Spend from a fully-funded category and it may go back to needing money. That's correct: the money is gone and the goal still stands.
Goals on card payment categories
You can set a goal on a credit-card payment category — this is how the debt payoff plan turns a monthly extra into a real budget commitment.
One caveat worth knowing. For a card payment category, "funded" counts both the reserve carried in and what you assigned this month. So a card holding a large reserve from funded charges can read as already-funded even though you haven't assigned anything new toward paying the debt down.
If you're using a goal to drive extra payments, check the This month's focus card on the debt planner rather than the goal chip — it separates the two.
Removing or changing a goal
Click the category, choose the goal, and edit or delete it. Nothing else changes — goals only affect what's displayed, never what's assigned. Deleting one doesn't touch the money.
Which categories deserve goals
Goals are most useful where the amount is predictable but the timing isn't obvious:
- Bills that aren't monthly — the single biggest cause of a blown budget. An annual $600.00 insurance premium wants $50.00 a month.
- Categories you routinely underestimate — groceries being the classic.
- Savings targets — where a number and a date make it real.
Goals on everything turns the budget into noise. Use them where they change what you'd do.