Set a target on a category.
Assigning money by feel works until a bill you forgot about lands. A target tells Spense what a category needs, so the Budget tab can tell you what's still missing and fill it in one tap. Coming from YNAB? These work like its targets.
Tap the category on the Budget tab
Targets belong to the rows inside each group on your Budget tab, such as Groceries under Food (Spense calls those rows subcategories). Tap one. Its sheet opens with what's assigned, the month's activity and what's available.
Under that is the target line. Without a target it reads No target yet, with “Set a target to see what this category needs each month.” Tap Add at the end of the line.
The editor that opens matches the row's type. Most rows are Spending, the everyday kind, which is what steps 1 and 2 set up. For a bill, a savings goal or a loan, step 3 changes the type first.
Choose weekly or monthly, and an amount
A Spending target is a refill: each month Spense asks for whatever tops the category back up to your amount. Under How often? choose Monthly for a set amount each month, or Weekly for things you buy every week. Type the amount into Refill up to. Weekly also asks which day under Every. It starts on Thursday.
Spense does the month's math under the fields. A weekly target counts that weekday in the month, so $110 a week reads “October has 5 Thursdays · $550.00 needed”, with a note that months with four ask for $440.00. If money rolled over from last month, it's taken off. The last line, To assign this month, is what the target asks for now. Tap Save target.
A bill, a goal or a loan? Change the type
Not every category refills. To set up rent, a savings goal or a car loan, swipe its row on the Budget tab to the right and tap the pencil. Edit subcategory opens with the question What's this money for? and four types. Pick one, fill in its fields, and tap Save changes. Choosing a type starts its fields fresh, and the amount is optional, so you can set the type now and the target later.
- Bill, for rent, insurance or subscriptions: Amount, Repeats (Every month, Every few months, Every year or Every 2 years) and Next due. Spense spreads it out, for example “Set aside $100.00 a month and it's covered by March.”
- Savings goal, for a big purchase or an emergency fund: Reach a balance, with Add a date if there's a deadline, or Save monthly. With a date, Spense works out the monthly amount.
- Debt payoff, for a car, student or personal loan: the Balance and Interest (APR), then Pay a set amount or Pay off by a date. Spense tells you when it's gone, or warns “That payment doesn't cover the interest, so the balance never goes down.” If you have a loan account in Spense, you can pick it under Follow an account.
Fund it from the row
Saving a target doesn't move money. It tells you what's missing. The row on the Budget tab now says, for example, “Needs $550.00 more this month”, and the target line in its sheet reads Target: refill up to $110.00 a week.
To fund it, tap the row and then the Fund target chip above the button. It fills in exactly what the target asks for this month. Tap Assign, and the money comes out of Ready to assign. Once the budget updates, the target line reads Funded.
Snooze a month, or remove the target
Some months a target doesn't apply: the gym is closed, or you're away. Tap the row, then Edit on the target line, and turn on the snooze switch at the bottom. It's named for the month, such as Snooze for October. That month won't count as underfunded, and the target comes back on its own the month after.
To change a target, edit its fields there and tap Save target. To stop using it, tap Remove target next to the button.
Targets are how Classic Mode plans ahead: money gets its job before it's spent. The Spense Method explains why that matters. For bills that come once or twice a year, the sinking funds guide shows how to size them. Not in Classic Mode yet? See how to switch.