Plan and Assign Money to Categories

Use this guide when you are deciding what categories should get money this month and what belongs in planning instead.

Before you start #

Know how much money is really available now versus what is only expected later.

What you will do #

Review Unassigned, fund the categories that need real dollars now, and use planning tools separately when you are looking ahead.

1. Open the right month before you type anything #

The month you are viewing changes what the Budget page means.

• in the current month, Assigned is where you commit real dollars now
• in future months, planning becomes more important and the page can show forecast-style columns
• in past months, you are mostly reviewing history rather than doing ordinary funding work

If the wrong month is open, fix that first.

2. Check the top funding pools before you touch a category row #

At the top of the Budget page, identify which pool you are actually working from:

• Unassigned is real money that can be given a job now
• Unplanned is expected income still living in the planning layer

That distinction is the main budgeting rule here.

Use Unassigned for live month funding. Use Unplanned for forecast planning.

3. Fund the categories that need real money now #

For day-to-day current-month budgeting, type directly into the Assigned field on the category rows.

This is the normal flow when the money already exists and you are deciding what it should cover.

As you work:

• categories higher in your list often deserve review first
• categories that cover near-term obligations usually come before flexible spending
• the grid saves as you move instead of making you open a separate form every time

4. Use Planned only when the dollars are still forecast dollars #

If Income Planning is enabled, the grid can also show Planned.

Use Planned when you are shaping what future expected income should do, not when you are spending money you already have.

If you push planned entry beyond what Unplanned can support, Common Cents warns you instead of pretending the plan is funded.

5. Use filters when you need to find the categories that actually need attention #

Before moving row by row through the whole budget, use the Filter control to narrow the page.

Common filters include:

• Overspent
• Rollover
• Zero
• Underfunded and Overfunded when Targets are enabled

This is often the fastest way to find the categories that need a funding decision first.

6. Know when to read Activity and when to read Available #

If the budget feels wrong, do not guess from the wrong column.

• use Activity when the question is what already happened in the category
• use Available when the question is what the category can still cover

If a category number looks suspicious, click into the activity drilldown first before you start reassigning money.

7. Use target actions when you want speed, not manual typing #

If Targets are enabled, the summary cards can help you fund faster:

• Apply Target Needs to Assigned fills current-month assignment needs from targets
• Apply Target Needs to Planned fills planning needs from targets

Use the assigned action when you are committing real money. Use the planned action when you are still forecasting.

8. Move money between categories only when reallocation is the real job #

If the issue is not new funding but rebalancing between categories, use a category row’s Related Actions menu instead of just guessing at replacement numbers.

The move workflow is current-month-only on purpose. It is built for live reallocation, not historical cleanup.

9. Commit plans intentionally when planning should become live funding #

If you use planning, remember that planned amounts are not committed budget dollars yet.

Use Commit Plans when you are ready to turn planned amounts into assigned amounts.

Depending on the month, Common Cents can offer:

• Commit Full Month
• Commit Through Today
• Open Month and Commit for future months

Pick the action that matches whether the month is already live or still being opened.

10. Do a quick reasonableness check before leaving the page #

Before you move on, check:

• does Available still tell the story you expect?
• did you accidentally use Planned where you meant Assigned?
• are the overspent or underfunded categories now resolved?

That final review is what keeps month funding from drifting into confusion later.

See also: Assigning Money, Available vs Activity, Budget Planning, and Starting a New Month.