Targets Overview

Targets help Common Cents turn categories into active funding prompts instead of passive buckets. They answer a practical question: how much should this category have, and by when?

On the Budget page, targets show up in a few important places:

• the Target column on category rows
• a category row’s Related Actions menu, where you can choose Set Target, Plan up to target, Assign up to target, or Edit Target
• the top summary-card actions Apply Target Needs to Planned and Apply Target Needs to Assigned
• the Filter control, which can include Underfunded and Overfunded when Targets is enabled

Targets do not move money by themselves. They guide funding decisions and power quick actions. You still decide whether to plan money, assign money, or ignore a suggestion because your priorities changed.

Common ways to open target setup #

You can reach target setup from several places in the current app:

• choose Set Target from a category row’s Related Actions menu
• choose Edit Target from a category row that already has one
• click the target indicator in the Target column when the row already shows target progress
• open Edit Category and use Add Target or Edit Target there
• add a new category from Budget and use Add Category + Target

The sheet title changes with the job:

• Set Category Target when the category does not have one yet
• Edit Category Target when you are changing an existing one

In this section #

• Target Types
• Target Behaviors
• Category Row Target Visualization

What targets help you do #

A category without a target can still work fine. A category with the right target becomes easier to fund consistently, easier to filter for problems, and faster to work with when you use the built-in target actions.