What counts toward a budget
A category's spent amount is the total of its transactions dated in that month, with refunds subtracted. Transactions labelled ignore, Income categories, Savings categories and Credit Card Payment are left out. The Transfer category does count as spending.
Every linked account counts, and pending charges count as soon as they sync. Here is how each kind of transaction is treated:
| Transaction | Counts as spending? |
|---|---|
| Normal purchases in a spending category | Yes. |
| Pending charges | Yes, as soon as they sync. When the charge posts, the posted amount replaces the pending one, so a tip can change it slightly. |
| Refunds and credits | Yes, as a minus: a $60 refund filed under Clothing takes $60 off Clothing's spent. |
| Anything with the ignore label | No. Left out everywhere. |
| Income categories (Payroll Income and others in the Income group) | No. |
| Savings categories (Investments, Internal Transfer) | No. They count as savings and show on the Savings card instead. |
| Credit Card Payment | No. The purchases on the card already count, so the payment would count them twice. |
| Transfer category | Yes. Only the Income and Savings groups and Credit Card Payment are treated specially. |
| Uncategorized | Yes. It is a normal spending category. |
Transfers between your own accounts
Moving money from checking to your own savings account is not spending, but if it lands in the Transfer category it is counted as if it were. Two ways to fix it:
- Recategorize it as Internal Transfer. It moves to the Savings card and counts as money saved.
- Add the ignore label. It drops out of every total. See Keep a transaction out of your totals.
A transaction rule can do this automatically for every future transfer. More on this in Transfers and credit card payments.
Refunds
Refunds net against the category they are filed under. If a $200 return lands in Shopping but the purchase was in Clothing, Clothing still shows the full purchase and Shopping goes negative. Put the refund in the same category as the purchase and the two cancel out. See Pending transactions and refunds.
When you rename, delete or regroup a category
- Rename
- Its budget history stays, because budgets belong to the category, not the name. Its transactions move to the new name, and templates keep working.
- Delete
- FIYR asks you to pick a replacement. All of its transactions move there, and the deleted category's budgets are deleted with it. The replacement's budget doesn't grow, so its spending jumps against the budget it already had. Raise that budget if you need to.
- Move to another group
- Its budget and spending move with it. Moving it into the Income group takes it out of the budget: its transactions stop counting as spending and its budget stops counting toward your Monthly budget. Categories can't be moved into or out of the Savings group.
You make these changes in Settings. See Add, edit or delete a category and Category groups.
Why other screens show different totals
- The Transactions page shows everything, including income, savings moves and card payments.
- The annual budget table uses the same totals as this page. Its Savings group row shows your savings targets, which stay out of Budget Total. See The annual budget table.
- Ask Fiyr and the home screen widgets use the same Monthly budget as this page. The widgets' spent figure counts purchases only, so a refund doesn't lower it there.
- Budget-pace alerts count purchases only, so a refund doesn't lower an alert's figure. See Budget pace.
Common questions
Do pending transactions count toward my budget?
Yes, as soon as they sync. When the charge posts, the final amount replaces the pending one.
Why isn't my credit card payment in my budget?
It is left out on purpose. The purchases on the card already count, so counting the payment too would double them.
My transfers are eating my budget. How do I stop that?
The Transfer category counts as spending. Recategorize transfers to your own accounts as Internal Transfer (counted as savings) or add the ignore label.
A refund made my category negative. Is that right?
Refunds subtract from the category they are filed under. If the original purchase is in a different category, move the refund there so the two cancel out.
What happens to a budget when I delete its category?
The budgets go with it. Its transactions move to the replacement category you pick, and that category's budget stays the same.
Still stuck?
Email us. A real person who builds FIYR reads every message.