Category Groups and Categories

Category groups keep the Budget page readable. Categories do the detailed work inside those groups.

On the Budget page, groups are the section headers and categories are the rows underneath them.

Categories are not tied to specific accounts #

A category answers “What is this money for?” An account answers “Where is the money right now?” Common Cents keeps those as separate ideas on purpose.

If you keep money for one goal across multiple budget accounts, it is still one category balance. For example, you might hold part of an emergency fund in checking and part in savings. Moving cash between those accounts changes the account balances, but it does not change the Emergency Fund category balance because the job for that money stayed the same.

That separation matters because it lets Common Cents:

• keep one category balance for one purpose even when spending can come from different budget accounts
• treat transfers between budget accounts as location changes instead of budget changes
• show category balances as a plan for your money instead of a mirror of whichever account happens to hold the cash

If categories were tied to specific accounts, everyday transfers between checking, savings, and similar budget accounts would force you to rebudget the same money over and over, even when the purpose never changed.

If you need to see money grouped across different accounts, Labels can help with that.

Order is important #

The order of your categories/groups is important. When selecting bulk plan or assign actions like Apply Target Needs to Planned, Apply Target Needs to Assigned, Commit Full Month, or Commit Through Today, Common Cents will apply as much as it can up to the Unplanned/Unassigned amounts to categories based on their order. Categories closer to the top get priority over categories lower in the listing.

The controls you use to manage groups #

Right above the grid, the Category Group menu gives you three page-level actions:

• Add Category Group opens the new-group form
• Expand All Category Groups opens every group in the current filtered view
• Collapse All Category Groups closes every group in the current filtered view

Each group row inside the grid also has its own controls:

• the caret opens or closes that one group
• the count badge shows how many categories are inside it
• the :: drag handle reorders groups on desktop-style pointer devices
• the Related Actions menu offers Edit Group and Add Category

Adding and editing a category group #

When you choose Add Category Group, the sheet is simple:

• Group Name
• Cancel
• Add Group

When you later choose Edit Group from a group row’s Related Actions menu, the edit sheet keeps the same basic structure:

• Group Name
• Cancel
• Save Group

Keep group names broad enough to organize the page, but specific enough that you can find the right section quickly.

The controls you use to manage categories #

Each category row combines identity, budget numbers, and actions in one place.

The left side of the row shows:

• the :: drag handle for reordering categories inside the group
• a category-type icon that tells you whether the category is Rollover or Zero
  • Rollover categories retain any balance left over at the end of the month into the next month. Zero categories start each month at a zero balance.
• the category name

The right side of the row ends with a Related Actions menu. Depending on the month and enabled features, it can include:

• Edit Category - edit the selected category’s name, group, rollover status, archive status, or Target (if enabled)
• Assign/Plan Actions
  • Assign Remaining Unassigned - move any remaining unassigned to this category’s assigned amount
  • Plan Remaining Unplanned - move any remaining unassigned to this category’s planned amount
• Target Actions if enabled. See Targets
  • Set Target - set a target for the category.
  • Plan up to target - set the planned amount of the category up to the target amount.
  • Assign up to target - set the assigned amount of the category up to the target amount.
  • Edit Target - edit the target attached to the category
• Move Actions
  • Move from this category - move money from this category to another
  • Move to this category - move money from another category to this one
  • See Move History - see this category’s movement history

Not every category gets every option. For example, some actions only work in the current month, some only appear when Targets is enabled, and system categories are more restricted than ordinary categories.

Adding a category #

The most direct Budget-page flow is to open a group row’s Related Actions menu and choose Add Category.

That opens a sheet with controls such as:

• Category Name
• Category Group when the group is not already locked by the way you opened the form
• Rollover toggle
• Add another category after submit checkbox
• Cancel
• Add Category + Target when Targets is enabled
• Add and Finish or Add and Continue when Add Another is on
• Add Category

If the form lets you choose a group, the Category Group field also includes ➕ Add new group… so you do not have to back out just to create the right parent group first.

Editing, archiving, and unarchiving a category #

Choose Edit Category from a category row’s Related Actions menu when the category itself needs to change.

The edit sheet gives you:

• Category Name
• Category Group
• Rollover toggle
• Archive category checkbox
• Add Target or Edit Target when Targets is enabled
• Cancel
• Save Category

Archiving is how you remove a category from the active grid without losing its history. After a category is archived, it appears in the Archived Categories section below the main budget grid.

That section gives you two quick controls on each archived row:

• Edit
• Unarchive

Build structure for decisions, not decoration #

Group categories by the way you make spending and planning decisions, not by every tiny detail. A good category name tells you what the money is for. A good group name helps you find that category quickly.