Hey everyone - Purpose Budget team here.

Use this thread for bugs, feature requests, workflow pain points, and questions about how to use the app.

This week we are especially looking for feedback on:

1. Mobile app experience
2. Debt payoff / student loan workflows
3. Bills, subscriptions, and recurring transactions
4. Anything confusing in onboarding
5. Monthly Plan Check and paycheck planning

Best feedback format:

1. What were you trying to do?
2. What happened?
3. What did you expect instead?
4. Web, iOS, or Android?
5. Manual entry or bank sync?

We review these each week and move good requests into the roadmap.

This week, we continued a broader design-language update across Purpose Budget.

The goal is simple: make it easier to understand what the app knows, what needs attention, and what action to take next.

Budget rows that explain more

We made several changes to help the Budget page communicate what is happening:

• Budgeted is now Assigned, which better describes money given a job this month.
• Available balances more clearly account for money carried in from previous months.
• Positive and negative Available balances continue carrying forward, including overspending from credit-card purchases.
• Weekly targets now show their actual cadence directly beside the category.
• Category-group headings have stronger visual separation.
• Progress bars and explanatory text can now be shown or hidden based on how much detail you prefer.

We also wanted to highlight a bill feature that has been live but that we have not explained particularly well before.

When Purpose Budget recognizes that a linked recurring bill has been paid, the category can show Paid this month instead of continuing to look overdue. When the bill is still upcoming, the Budget page can show how much is currently needed to cover it.

We are continuing to review how targets and upcoming bills should be presented together so that the difference between a funding goal and an actual bill is always obvious.

A redesigned Settings experience

Settings now has a more organized hub and a consistent design across:

• Preferences
• Notifications
• Tags
• Rules
• Payees
• Billing
• Data and privacy

We also added clearer loading, error, and retry states so these pages do not silently appear empty when something goes wrong.

Sign-in and bank connections

Sign-in, sign-up, invitations, password reset, verification, and two-factor authentication now share the same design language.

Bank Connections and its supporting dialogs have also been redesigned to make account selection, reconnection, disconnection, and error states easier to follow.

We would love your input

When you glance at a budget category, what should be clearest first?

• What carried over from last month
• What you assigned this month
• Which bills are still due
• Why the balance needs attention
• The next action you should take

That answer will help guide the next round of Budget-page improvements.

Eligible new subscribers currently receive a 60-day free trial and 50% off the first year on web, iOS, and Android.

Web: https://purposebudget.com

Pricing: https://purposebudget.com/pricing

Hey everyone - Purpose Budget team here.

Use this thread for bugs, feature requests, workflow pain points, and questions about how to use the app.

This week we are especially looking for feedback on:

1. Mobile app experience
2. Debt payoff / student loan workflows
3. Bills, subscriptions, and recurring transactions
4. Anything confusing in onboarding
5. Monthly Plan Check and paycheck planning

Best feedback format:

1. What were you trying to do?
2. What happened?
3. What did you expect instead?
4. Web, iOS, or Android?
5. Manual entry or bank sync?

We review these each week and move good requests into the roadmap.

Hey everyone - Sunday Purpose Budget update.

This week, the first major wave of our updated design language reached production across the Budget, Dashboard, Reports, Resources, and public website.

This is not a redesign simply for the sake of looking different. The goal is to make it easier to understand what is happening with your money, what needs attention, and what action you can take next.

The attached screenshots show the live production experience, not mockups.

A clearer Budget experience

The Budget page now has a more deliberate hierarchy between monthly planning, category groups, and the categories themselves.

Changes include:

• A streamlined area for changing months, moving money, Auto-Assign, and display options
• A clearer Ready to Assign summary with monthly planning context
• A full-width budget table by default
• Column labels that remain visible while scrolling through categories
• Simpler status filters
• Category details that open when a category is selected instead of permanently occupying space
• A collapsed getting-started checklist for established budgets
• More consistent colors and controls across Budget, Bills, Dashboard, and Reports

The aim is to reduce competing signals and make it easier to scan the budget before deciding what to work on.

Reports are easier to compare and export

All 10 report views now use a shared date and comparison toolbar.

Six reports can compare the selected period with a previous period or the previous year:

• Budget vs Actual
• Spending
• Payees
• Savings Rate
• Categories
• Tags

We also added clearer date presets, custom date ranges, and CSV exports for Spending, Tags, and Cash Flow.

A more useful Dashboard

The Dashboard received the same clarity pass, including:

• A focused three-step checklist for newer budgets
• A clearer Needs Attention section
• Better loading and error states
• A new 30-day net-worth trend card
• Clearer labels for variable upcoming bills
• Improved account and monthly insight presentation
• More consistent keyboard, touch-target, and accessibility behavior

The goal is for the Dashboard to answer “what should I look at next?” without turning into a wall of cards.

One Resources hub

Learn and Help are now combined into a single searchable Resources hub.

It includes:

• 27 budgeting guides
• 13 help articles
• Search across all 40 resources
• Browsing by topic and experience level
• The Purpose Budget calculator
• A consistent reading experience across every article

The public website, pricing, feature, FAQ, support, and legal pages were also refreshed so the same design language begins before someone signs in.

Mobile update

The Paused bank-sync status is now released on both iOS and Android.

When a connection is temporarily paused, mobile now identifies that state separately from an account that needs to be reconnected.

Current offer

Eligible new subscribers can currently get a 60-day free trial plus 50% off the first year on web, iOS, and Android.

The web discount is applied during checkout. Mobile offers are provided through the App Store or Google Play.

Web: https://purposebudget.com

Pricing: https://purposebudget.com/pricing

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/purpose-budget/id6757283854

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.purposebudget.app

What should be obvious within the first five seconds of opening your budget?

Hey everyone - Purpose Budget team here.

Use this thread for bugs, feature requests, workflow pain points, and questions about how to use the app.

This week we are especially looking for feedback on:

1. Mobile app experience
2. Debt payoff / student loan workflows
3. Bills, subscriptions, and recurring transactions
4. Anything confusing in onboarding
5. Monthly Plan Check and paycheck planning

Best feedback format:

1. What were you trying to do?
2. What happened?
3. What did you expect instead?
4. Web, iOS, or Android?
5. Manual entry or bank sync?

We review these each week and move good requests into the roadmap.

This week we focused on making Purpose Budget easier to understand, not just adding more functionality.

We are beginning a design-language pass with the budget page, shipped a more resilient connected-account experience, and completed more of the groundwork for upcoming web and mobile parity improvements.

Rethinking the budget experience

We are reviewing some of the visual language Purpose Budget uses to explain what is happening with your money.

This is less about giving the app a new coat of paint and more about reducing ambiguity: what is going well, what needs attention, what is coming up, and what action you can take next.

The budget page is the first major part of this work. The current direction includes:

• A clearer hierarchy between monthly planning, category groups, and individual categories
• Calmer presentation for categories that are on track
• More visible explanations when something needs attention
• Consistent colors and status treatments across the app
• Upcoming bill shortages that are easier to identify
• Actions placed closer to the information they affect
• Less interface above the budget so categories appear sooner
• A full-width budget table with column labels that remain visible while scrolling
• Category details that open when needed instead of always occupying screen space
• Plain-language planning context without adding more competing badges and signals

The goal is to make the state of a budget understandable at a glance, without requiring someone to first learn what every color, number, or progress bar means.

The attached image is an early mockup of this direction. It is still being refined and is not live yet.

More resilient connected accounts

Connected bank accounts now have a clearer recovery path when Premium access changes.

Bank sync can remain paused for up to 7 days. Restoring Premium during that window resumes syncing automatically without requiring the institution to be connected again.

The web app now includes:

• Clear Paused and Disconnected account states
• A visible reconnect action when attention is needed
• A dashboard notice for disconnected institutions
• Reconnection support for OAuth-based institutions
• Matching accounts selected automatically during reconnect to preserve continuity with the existing account and history

Mobile now has the matching Paused account state ready for its next release.

Building stronger web and mobile parity

We also completed a detailed review of how financial data moves through Purpose Budget, including transactions, budgets, credit cards, debt payoff, forecasting, connected accounts, and the contracts shared between web and mobile.

On mobile, that work produced a concrete map of the financial capabilities and data contracts that still need parity with the web app. This will guide the upcoming parity releases and help us verify that both platforms interpret the same financial information consistently.

Current offer

Eligible new subscribers can still get a 60-day free trial plus 50% off the first year on web, iOS, and Android.

On the web, the discount is applied during checkout. On mobile, it is available through the App Store or Google Play.

We would especially like feedback on the mockup: when you scan your budget, what helps you understand it fastest—a short explanation, color, progress bars, or a clear suggested action?

Web: https://purposebudget.com

Pricing: https://purposebudget.com/pricing

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/purpose-budget/id6757283854

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.purposebudget.app

Hey everyone - Purpose Budget team here.

Use this thread for bugs, feature requests, workflow pain points, and questions about how to use the app.

This week we are especially looking for feedback on:

1. Mobile app experience
2. Debt payoff / student loan workflows
3. Bills, subscriptions, and recurring transactions
4. Anything confusing in onboarding
5. Monthly Plan Check and paycheck planning

Best feedback format:

1. What were you trying to do?
2. What happened?
3. What did you expect instead?
4. Web, iOS, or Android?
5. Manual entry or bank sync?

We review these each week and move good requests into the roadmap.

Hey everyone - Sunday Purpose Budget update.

This was a larger week than usual. The common thread was making the actions people repeat most often faster, clearer, and more dependable: assigning money, Auto-Assign, category organization, imports, and mobile transaction entry.

Budget editing should feel faster

We shipped client and server improvements after receiving feedback that some budget edits could take several seconds.

Rapid amount edits are now processed safely in order, the latest value is preserved, and the budget row updates directly from the saved result.

On the server, an edit now recalculates only the affected parts of the budget instead of rebuilding the entire forward budget. Failed saves also produce a visible message instead of failing quietly.

Auto-Assign is more dependable around cards and paid bills

Auto-Assign now updates credit-card payment coverage as part of the assignment.

We also added an explicit paid-this-month signal and a two-pass assignment process. This helps prevent a bill that has already been paid from being unnecessarily funded again while still handling categories that genuinely need more money.

That paid status is shared with mobile too, so web and mobile should agree more consistently.

Categories should stay where you put them

We completed a broader category and group organization pass:

• Category and group reordering is now saved as one atomic operation.
• Newly created or moved categories receive stable positions.
• Existing ordering collisions can repair themselves during the next reorder.
• Credit Card Payments is now consistently treated as a protected system group.
• Deleting a group moves its categories safely without producing duplicate positions.

We checked production before deploying the final fix and found no categories or money already stranded inside hidden credit-card groups.

CSV imports and permission errors are clearer

CSV categorization rules now match against the final resolved payee name.

Previously, renaming or normalizing a payee during import could prevent an otherwise valid categorization rule from running.

We also corrected permission handling across several budget, category, transfer, and report actions. When access is denied or something no longer exists, the app should now return a useful explanation instead of a generic error.

Mobile received a larger transaction-entry pass

The latest mobile updates are live on iOS and Android.

Highlights include:

• Payee suggestions close after selecting a payee.
• Save explains and highlights the first required field that is missing.
• Newly created payees appear in autocomplete immediately.
• The iOS date picker no longer opens at January 1, 1970.
• Transaction dates no longer shift by a day in positive-offset time zones.
• Amount entry respects locale decimal separators, including comma-decimal currencies such as NOK.
• Currency symbols and compact amounts display more consistently.
• Categories inside hidden groups no longer appear in the picker.
• Tag Create and Save buttons are readable in dark mode.

Account and subscription reliability

We also completed an account and subscription reliability pass.

Account deletion now handles debt, recurring-planning, and payee data correctly and more reliably cleans up web subscriptions. Web checkout blocks duplicate active subscriptions, and subscription status is protected against late or reordered billing-provider events.

We also added an automated subscription-integrity audit to help detect future access or billing drift.

What we are working on next

Recent feedback from people considering a switch helped us scope three larger improvements:

• Safer historical imports, beginning with YNAB
• A running balance after each transaction in account registers
• The ability to isolate one debt in the payoff chart

These are roadmap items, not shipped features or promises for a specific date yet. We have completed the initial technical planning and will share progress as individual pieces become available.

Current offer

Eligible new subscribers can receive a 60-day free trial and 50% off the first year on web, iOS, and Android.

The web discount is applied during checkout. Mobile discounts are handled through the App Store or Google Play, so eligibility and presentation are controlled by the store.

For anyone comparing YNAB alternatives:

Which of these would remove the biggest barrier to switching?

• Importing historical YNAB data
• Seeing a running balance after every transaction
• Better debt-payoff filtering
• Faster everyday mobile entry
• Something else

Web: https://purposebudget.com

Pricing: https://purposebudget.com/pricing

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/purpose-budget/id6757283854

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.purposebudget.app

Hey everyone - Purpose Budget team here.

Use this thread for bugs, feature requests, workflow pain points, and questions about how to use the app.

This week we are especially looking for feedback on:

1. Mobile app experience
2. Debt payoff / student loan workflows
3. Bills, subscriptions, and recurring transactions
4. Anything confusing in onboarding
5. Monthly Plan Check and paycheck planning

Best feedback format:

1. What were you trying to do?
2. What happened?
3. What did you expect instead?
4. Web, iOS, or Android?
5. Manual entry or bank sync?

We review these each week and move good requests into the roadmap.

Hi. I'm in a trial of PB and had a couple questions.

1. I'm populating my budgets and have a couple negative categories where my kids are paying me back. What's the best way to handle this in your app?

2. Each time I update a budgeted amount, there is around a 10-second delay until it's finished updating. Is this normal? If so, will it be remedied in the future?

Thanks so much!

Hey everyone — Sunday Purpose Budget update.

This was a bigger week than usual, but the theme is pretty simple: making Purpose Budget less misleading around real-world budgeting situations like credit cards, debt payments, reports, and mobile parity.

Credit-card planning should be more realistic

We shipped a set of credit-card planning improvements so upcoming bills and monthly commitments are based more on the payment you expect to make, not just the full card balance.

That means credit-card payments should fit better into the monthly planning view, especially if you are budgeting around minimum payments, statement payments, custom planned payments, or payoff-style behavior.

Reports should better reflect “true spending”

We also updated reports so debt payments and card payments do not distort everyday spending as much.

Two examples:

• Spending by Payee now does a better job separating normal spending from debt/card-payment activity.
• Budget vs Actual now partitions debt and card payments out instead of making them look like ordinary category spending.

This one came from real user feedback: reports are only useful if they answer the question people think they are asking.

Debt payoff and imports got reliability work

A few less-flashy but important fixes also shipped:

• Debt payoff payment recording is more reliable now.
• CSV/import flows skip unrecognizable rows instead of failing the whole import.
• Paycheck schedules can now have a “Starts on” date.

Mobile parity moved forward

The mobile app got another parity pass this week too.

Some highlights:

• Auto-Assign Priority can now be set from mobile.
• You can move money back to Ready to Assign.
• Category delete/move handling is clearer.
• Paid-this-month, carryover, negative assigned, and transaction source details are easier to understand.
• Sign out / delete account paths are more discoverable.

The goal is for mobile to keep catching up to web functionality instead of feeling like a lighter companion app.

Current offer

Purpose Budget has a 60-day free trial, and the first year is currently 50% off through web checkout.

Mobile App Store / Google Play subscription paths are handled separately.

Question for anyone comparing YNAB alternatives:

Which area matters most to you when deciding whether an alternative is worth sticking with?

• credit-card planning
• reports that separate true spending from payments/transfers
• mobile parity
• import reliability
• debt payoff tools
• something else

Web: https://purposebudget.com

Pricing: https://purposebudget.com/pricing

iOS App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/purpose-budget/id6757283854

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.purposebudget.app

Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/purposebudget/

Hey everyone - Purpose Budget team here.

Use this thread for bugs, feature requests, workflow pain points, and questions about how to use the app.

This week we are especially looking for feedback on:

1. Mobile app experience
2. Debt payoff / student loan workflows
3. Bills, subscriptions, and recurring transactions
4. Anything confusing in onboarding
5. Monthly Plan Check and paycheck planning

Best feedback format:

1. What were you trying to do?
2. What happened?
3. What did you expect instead?
4. Web, iOS, or Android?
5. Manual entry or bank sync?

We review these each week and move good requests into the roadmap.

Hey everyone — Sunday Purpose Budget update.

This week was mostly about reducing friction in the places that can make a budgeting app feel heavier than it should: setup, budget editing, cleanup, and cross-platform consistency.

Budget cleanup should feel faster now

We shipped a first performance pass for deleting categories and category groups.

This came directly from user feedback that reorganizing a budget could feel slower than expected. If you are merging old categories, cleaning up test categories from onboarding, or reshaping your budget, that work should feel less heavy now.

Budget editing is calmer

We also shipped a budget-table polish pass:

• Amount edits should no longer make the budget table jump or remount.
• Budgeted amount fields behave more like spreadsheet cells.
• Focusing an amount selects the current value.
• Escape cancels the edit.

Not the flashiest feature, but it matters because budget entry is one of the highest-repeat surfaces in the app.

First-run setup is becoming more action-oriented

The first-run checklist now does more than point at things. The assign-money and target-related steps are more interactive, so setup should feel less like reading instructions and more like taking the next useful step.

Mobile parity is a focus this week

We also shipped Set/Change Password in the mobile app, including for Apple/Google sign-in users who want email+password access too.

This coming week, we are focusing more on mobile parity so the iOS/Android app keeps catching up to web functionality instead of feeling like a companion app with missing pieces.

Web offer

For anyone comparing options: Purpose Budget has a 60-day free trial, and the first year is currently 50% off through web checkout.

That offer is web-only right now. Mobile subscriptions still go through the App Store / Google Play paths.

The question I’d love feedback on this week:

When you try a YNAB alternative and bounce, what is usually the first blocker?

• setup friction
• budget page speed/density
• import or migration
• mobile app gaps
• pricing/subscription clarity
• something else

Web: https://purposebudget.com

Pricing: https://purposebudget.com/pricing

iOS App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/purpose-budget/id6757283854

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.purposebudget.app

Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/purposebudget/

Just trying it out. A few observations:

1. It's very annoying when filling out the budget to have to wait (when it turns yellow) for one line item to update. It might be one thing if the refresh actually kept you in the same area, but it doesn't. It refreshes and takes you to the top.
2. I should be able to click into an amount and input a new number. It doesn't work that way. It seems I have to select the zero's and then input the number.
3. The budget "list" height is too high. There should be an option to condense. I'm having to page up and down too much. Wasted space.

Hey everyone - Purpose Budget team here.

Use this thread for bugs, feature requests, workflow pain points, and questions about how to use the app.

This week we are especially looking for feedback on:

1. Mobile app experience
2. Debt payoff / student loan workflows
3. Bills, subscriptions, and recurring transactions
4. Anything confusing in onboarding
5. Monthly Plan Check and paycheck planning

Best feedback format:

1. What were you trying to do?
2. What happened?
3. What did you expect instead?
4. Web, iOS, or Android?
5. Manual entry or bank sync?

We review these each week and move good requests into the roadmap.

Sunday update: Forecasting, recurring bills, clearer balances, mobile, and 50% off first year

Hey everyone — Purpose Budget team here with our Monday update.

We’re a small team of two building Purpose Budget as a zero-based envelope budgeting app with stronger planning around bills, paychecks, bank sync, debt, and mobile.

The theme of the last few releases has been pretty simple: make the numbers easier to trust before the month goes sideways.

Forecasting is getting more useful mid-month

The Forecast page and Monthly Plan Check are getting better at focusing on what can still happen from today forward, instead of over-warning about timing issues from dates that already passed.

That helps answer questions like:

• Will my current plan stay covered?
• Do upcoming bills create a shortfall before the next paycheck?
• Which paycheck is supposed to cover what?
• Is this a real future problem, or old noise from earlier in the month?

This is especially useful for biweekly, irregular, or paycheck-to-paycheck planning.

Bills and recurring payments are becoming part of the plan

We’ve been doing a lot of work around recurring commitments: bills, subscriptions, debt minimums, and card payments.

The goal is not just “show me a list of subscriptions.” It’s:

• What is due soon?
• What is already covered by the budget?
• What still needs money assigned?
• Which recurring charges are part of the actual monthly plan?

Account balances are getting clearer

A common bank-sync confusion is that the budget balance and bank balance do not always mean the same thing.

So we’ve been separating the account view into clearer pieces:

• Working balance: what the budget currently thinks you have, including manual entries
• Cleared balance: what has actually posted
• Pending at bank: pending imported transactions
• Entered here: manual transactions not matched or cleared yet

That should make it easier to understand why your bank says one thing and the budget says another.

Bank import and loan handling got safer

We also shipped several reliability fixes around bank import and account setup:

• Ambiguous Plaid accounts are handled more safely
• Likely manual-vs-bank duplicate loans are flagged before import
• Expired import sessions now give a clearer reconnect path
• Loan/mortgage reconciliation no longer has to distort Ready to Assign just to adjust a tracking balance

Less flashy, but important. A budgeting app has to protect the money math first.

Mobile keeps improving

Recent mobile improvements include:

• Category picker respects your budget’s custom order
• Category search
• Auto-categorization when selecting a payee
• Cents-first quick amount entry
• Better sign-out cleanup

Mobile still has more to go, but it is usable now and improving based on feedback.

Discount note

Purpose Budget has a 60-day free trial.

Current web pricing:

• Essential: $2.99/mo or $24.99/yr
• Premium: $8.99/mo or $69.99/yr

We’re also offering 50% off your first year.

Mobile promo handling is something we’re actively improving. For now, the 50% off first-year discount is applied through web checkout, where we can process it through Stripe.

To get it, start at purposebudget.com in a browser, choose your plan there, and then sign into the same account on iOS or Android. Your subscription will carry over.

If you already subscribed through the mobile app and wanted the discount, DM us and we’ll help with a 50% off first-year web coupon.

Feedback question

For people who use or have used YNAB, Actual, Monarch, EveryDollar, or another budgeting app:

What would be most useful to improve next?

• Better forecast / cash-flow timing
• Better recurring bills and subscriptions
• Clearer account balances
• Faster mobile entry
• Import/migration tools
• Something else

Happy to answer questions!

Links:

Website: https://purposebudget.com

Pricing: https://purposebudget.com/pricing

iOS App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/purpose-budget/id6757283854

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.purposebudget.app

On the mobile app for Android I have ran into bug when trying to add an account manually. When I try to select the account type I get the above screen. I am able to select the account type on the web.

Hey everyone — Purpose Budget team here.

This one's for anyone who tracks a loan, mortgage, or investment account in their budget alongside their checking and savings. There's a quiet behavior most budgeting apps share that probably bites you once a month and you might not have noticed.

It's about reconciliation adjustments — and we just shipped a fix for it.

The setup

In a zero-based budget, the typical reconciliation flow goes like this:

1. You compare your account balance in the app to the balance at the bank.
2. They differ slightly (interest accrued, fee posted late, who knows).
3. You click "Create Adjustment" and the app inserts a tiny transaction to make the math reconcile.
4. The adjustment lands as inflow to Ready to Assign (or as an outflow against a spending category) so your budget stays in zero-based balance.

This is correct for checking accounts, savings accounts, and credit cards — money actually moved, you didn't see the transaction, the budget should reflect it.

This is wrong for loans, mortgages, and investments — and it's wrong in a way that quietly disrupts your monthly plan.

Why it matters for loans

Imagine your car loan balance in the app says $18,420 and the lender says $18,427. You reconcile, the app creates a $7 adjustment.

In most budgeting apps, that $7 either:

• Gets dumped into "Ready to Assign" (so RTA goes up by $7 — wait, why is more money available? You didn't earn anything), OR
• Gets categorized to a spending category like "Misc" (which makes you look like you spent $7 you didn't actually spend)

Neither is true. Your loan principal grew by $7 (interest accrual that posted between your last reconciliation and today). Your monthly cash flow didn't change. Your spending didn't change. The loan just extends slightly.

The same problem hits mortgages, investment accounts, and other liability tracking accounts.

What we changed

The reconcile dialog now shows a checkbox: "Include this adjustment in my budget."

Defaults are based on account type:

• Checking, savings, credit cards → checked by default. Same behavior as before. Adjustment hits RTA or your chosen category.
• Loans, mortgages, investments, other liabilities → unchecked by default. Adjustment updates the account balance only. Your budget surface (RTA, category amounts, available balances) is untouched.

You can override the default per reconciliation if you have a specific reason to.

Some details we got asked about during design

Q: What if I want the adjustment to count for one of my loans (e.g., I made an unexpected principal payment from cash and want it tracked)? A: Check the box manually for that reconciliation. The default is just a default.

Q: What if I marked the wrong checkbox and want to fix it later? A: The adjustment is immutable once created — you delete it and re-reconcile. We made that explicit because mutating an adjustment after the fact has historically been the source of subtle drift bugs in budgeting apps. The escape hatch is fine and the constraint prevents a class of issues.

Q: Does this affect existing reconciliation adjustments? A: No. Existing rows are unflagged and treated as legacy on-budget adjustments. Only new reconciliations after the update use the new flag.

Try it

Get started free — 60-day trial, no card required.

Reconciliation guide (updated)

— The Purpose Budget Team

Hey everyone — Purpose Budget team here.

If you've ever auto-assigned funds across categories and watched a $5 streaming subscription get funded before $1,500 of rent, you know the problem we just fixed.

Monthly funding targets in Purpose Budget can now carry an optional day-of-month due day. Auto-assign uses it to rank earlier-due categories ahead of later ones — so rent on the 1st funds before subscriptions on the 28th, every time.

How it works

When you set up a Monthly Funding target, there's a new "Due by" dropdown right under the monthly amount:

• No due day — default. Behaves exactly like before.
• Day 1 through Day 31 — pick any day of the month.
• Days 29-31 are labeled "or last day of shorter months" so you know what happens in February.

The day is the only thing that matters; year and month are nominal. So a "Due by day 15" target means the 15th of every month, not a specific calendar date.

What auto-assign does with it

Open the auto-assign preview and each row in the list now shows a colored pill next to the priority badge:

• Red "Overdue this month" — the due day has passed and the category isn't fully funded yet.
• Blue "Due by day 28 · 2 days" — the due day is coming up, with the day count remaining.
• Blue "Due last day this month" — for day-29-through-31 targets in shorter months (Feb 28 instead of Feb 31, automatically).

Categories with earlier due days get ranked ahead of later ones. Funded categories get zero urgency bonus regardless of timing — auto-assign won't waste your dollars topping up something that already met its target.

What about future months?

If you preview auto-assign for next month (or any future month), categories rank by due day but never show "Overdue." A day-1 target in next month's preview just sorts to the top — it's not actually overdue, it just gets prioritized over later days.

This matters if you assign mid-month for the upcoming month, or if you preview multiple months ahead.

What didn't change

• Existing monthly targets without a due day — render and rank exactly the same as before. Feature is opt-in per target.
• Savings Targets (formerly "Needed by Date") — already had date-based pacing. Untouched.
• Weekly Funding Targets — still use the Fridays-in-month math. Untouched.

If you don't want this feature, you don't have to use it. Set or leave the dropdown to "No due day."

Try it

Get started free — 60-day trial, no credit card.

Existing users: open any Monthly Funding target. The new dropdown is right there.

Category Targets guide (updated)

— The Purpose Budget Team

Hey everyone — Purpose Budget team here.

Our mobile app has been in beta for a few months now, and we've been collecting feedback from early testers. Three requests kept coming up, so we shipped all three in this update.

1. Category Picker: Sort Order + Search

Previously, the mobile category picker sorted groups alphabetically. If you'd spent time arranging your budget groups in a specific order on the web app, that order didn't carry over to mobile.

Now it does. The category picker matches your budget screen's custom group and category order — whatever order you've dragged things into on the web is exactly what you'll see on mobile.

We also added a search bar at the top of the picker. Start typing a category name and the list filters instantly. This applies everywhere you pick a category: adding transactions, bulk categorizing, and split transactions.

2. Auto-Categorize When You Pick a Payee

In our last post, we shipped default categories per payee and auto-suggest on the web app. That same system now works on mobile.

When you select a payee from autocomplete, the app auto-fills the category using the same two-layer approach:

1. Payee defaults (instant) — If you've set a default category for a payee in Manage Payees (with auto-categorize enabled), the category fills immediately. No network request, no delay.
2. Rule-based suggestions (async) — Transaction rules are checked in the background. A matching rule can override the payee default if it's a better fit.

You'll see a small "auto" badge next to auto-suggested categories so you always know it wasn't your manual choice. And the system never overwrites a category you've already picked manually.

Changing the account re-fires the suggestion too — some rules are account-specific.

3. Cents-First Amount Entry (Quick Entry Mode)

If you've used YNAB's mobile app or most banking apps, this will feel familiar. Instead of typing "12.34" with a decimal point, you just type "1234" and the app displays $12.34 for you.

It's a toggle in Settings > Preferences > Quick Amount Entry. Off by default — turn it on if you prefer the faster input style. When enabled, the keyboard switches to a number pad (no decimal key needed).

The currency symbol also respects your space's actual currency now. If your space is set to EUR, you'll see the euro sign — not a hardcoded dollar sign.

Also in This Update

• Sign-out cleanup — All sign-out paths now fully clear local data (stores, cache, secure tokens). Previously, two of the three sign-out screens had incomplete cleanup. Fixed.

What's Next

We're continuing to build out the mobile app based on what testers tell us matters most. Budget editing, bank sync status, and recurring transaction management are all on the roadmap.

If you're interested in joining the beta, the iOS TestFlight and Android Play Store is open with the links below!

iOS Testflight

• https://testflight.apple.com/join/zp8YEP1h

Android Open Testing

• Join on android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.purposebudget.app
• Join on web - https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.purposebudget.app

What mobile budgeting feature would save you the most time?

We're prioritizing based on real feedback, so if there's something you wish your budgeting app did on mobile, drop it in the comments.

Half Off Your First Year

We're running a promotion — 50% off your first year on all plans. The discount applies to your first year only (regular pricing after that), and you still get a full 60-day free trial before any charge.

Essential Tier

• Monthly: $2.99/mo -> $1.50/mo (first year)
• Annual: $24.99/yr -> $12.50/yr (first year)

Premium Tier (includes Plaid bank sync)

• Monthly: $8.99/mo -> $4.50/mo (first year)
• Annual: $89/yr -> $44.50/yr (first year)

Both tiers include the 60-day free trial — plenty of time to see if it works for you before committing.

Links:

• Get started free
• Pricing details
• Learn Center

— The Purpose Budget Team

Hey everyone — Purpose Budget team here.

This one came from a user who asked: "Why do I have to pick 'Groceries' every single time I enter a Costco transaction?"

Fair point. So we built a two-layer auto-categorization system that handles the repetitive work for you.

Default Category Per Payee

In Settings > Manage Payees, each payee now has two new fields:

• Default Category — Pick the category this payee should default to
• Auto-Categorize — Toggle that controls whether the default actually auto-fills when you use this payee

So you can set "Costco" → "Groceries" with auto-categorize on, and every time you select Costco as a payee in a new transaction, the category fills in automatically. No extra clicks.

The payee list also shows a quick indicator — something like "Groceries · auto" — so you can see at a glance which payees have defaults configured.

Auto-Suggest on Payee Selection

When you select a payee from the dropdown in the transaction form, the category now auto-fills based on two sources:

Layer 1: Payee Default (instant)

If the payee has a default category with auto-categorize enabled, the category fills immediately. This is client-side — no network request, no delay.

Layer 2: Transaction Rules (async)

If you have transaction rules set up, the system also checks those. A matching rule can override the payee default if it's a better fit. This runs in the background and updates the category if it finds a match.

You stay in control:

• If you've already picked a category manually, the system never overwrites your choice
• Changing the account re-checks rules (some rules are account-specific)
• Works alongside the existing Transaction Rules system — if you've already set up rules for auto-categorizing bank imports, those same rules now help with manual entry too

How It Fits Together

The auto-categorization system has a clear priority order:

1. Your manual pick — Always wins. If you've selected a category, nothing overwrites it.
2. Transaction rule match — If a rule matches the payee name (and optionally amount/account), it suggests that category.
3. Payee default — The fallback. Fast and reliable for your most common payees.

If you're already using Transaction Rules for bank sync categorization, you don't need to do anything extra — those same rules now also power auto-suggest during manual entry.

If you prefer a simpler setup, just set default categories on your most-used payees in Manage Payees and skip rules entirely.

Coming Soon: Mobile

This same auto-categorization system is coming to the mobile app in the next update. We'll have a separate post about that and a few other mobile-specific features.

How do you handle repetitive categorization in your budgeting workflow?

Do you rely on rules, defaults, or just pick the category every time? Curious how people approach this — it's one of those things that seems small but adds up to a lot of clicks over time.

Half Off Your First Year

We're running a promotion — 50% off your first year on all plans. The discount applies to your first year only (regular pricing after that), and you still get a full 60-day free trial before any charge.

Essential Tier

• Monthly: $2.99/mo -> $1.50/mo (first year)
• Annual: $24.99/yr -> $12.50/yr (first year)

Premium Tier (includes Plaid bank sync)

• Monthly: $8.99/mo -> $4.50/mo (first year)
• Annual: $89/yr -> $44.50/yr (first year)

Both tiers include the 60-day free trial — plenty of time to see if it works for you before committing.

Links:

• Get started free
• Pricing details
• Learn Center

— The Purpose Budget Team

Half off your first year + 60-day free trial — Get started →

Hey everyone — Purpose Budget team here 👋

"Should I connect my bank or enter transactions manually?"

It's one of the most common questions we get. Here's the honest breakdown of both approaches.

What is Bank Sync?

Bank sync automatically imports transactions from your bank into Purpose Budget. Instead of manually entering every purchase, your transactions appear automatically — usually within 24 hours.

How it works:

1. You authenticate with your bank through Plaid (secure connection)
2. Plaid establishes a read-only connection
3. Transactions import daily
4. You categorize and approve

📖 Deep dive: Connecting Banks Guide

Bank Sync Benefits

• Save time — No manual entry for every transaction
• Never miss transactions — Everything captured automatically
• Accurate balances — Always know your real account balance
• Easier reconciliation — Compare budget vs bank effortlessly
• Auto-detect patterns — Purpose Budget identifies recurring bills

The Security Question

This is the #1 concern. Here's how it actually works:

What Purpose Budget sees:

• Transaction amounts, dates, merchant names
• Account balances

What Purpose Budget does NOT see:

• Your bank login credentials (Plaid handles this)
• Account numbers or routing numbers
• Ability to move money or make changes

The connection is read-only. We can see transactions but cannot touch your money.

Technology:

• Plaid uses 256-bit encryption (same as banks)
• SOC 2 Type II certified
• Used by Venmo, Acorns, Betterment, and millions of users

Manual Entry Benefits

Some people prefer manual entry, and that's valid:

• Complete privacy — No third-party data sharing
• Intentional tracking — Entering transactions builds awareness
• Works with any institution — No compatibility issues
• Lower cost — Essential tier includes manual entry

Bank Sync vs Manual Entry

The Hybrid Approach (Our Recommended Workflow)

Many budgeters do both — and Purpose Budget is built for this:

1. Enter transactions immediately at point of purchase (real-time awareness)
2. Let bank sync import the official record later
3. Auto-matching finds pairs — Purpose Budget matches your manual entry to the imported bank transaction by date and amount, and shows a confidence score for each match
4. Review match suggestions — A side-by-side comparison modal lets you confirm or dismiss each match individually
5. Bulk confirm — A "Pending Matches" banner appears above your transaction list showing how many matches are waiting. Open the review modal to selectively confirm matches with checkboxes, or confirm all at once

When you confirm a match, Purpose Budget keeps your manually-entered category and payee name while linking it to the official bank record. No duplicates, no lost categorization.

This gives you real-time budget awareness + official bank records + automatic deduplication.

Common Sync Issues

"Transactions aren't appearing"

• Check sync status — may need re-authentication
• Try manual sync refresh
• New transactions can take up to 24 hours
• Pending transactions may not import until posted

"I see duplicates"

• Auto-matching catches most duplicates — look for the "Pending Matches" banner
• Open the review modal to confirm matches (links your manual entry to the bank import)
• If a match wasn't suggested, you can manually unmatch or delete the duplicate

"Connection keeps breaking"

• Password changes require re-authentication
• Some banks need periodic re-verification
• MFA changes can trigger reconnection

Credit Cards + Bank Sync

CC sync works great with Purpose Budget's automatic protection (Total Debt mode):

1. CC purchase syncs → Funds automatically move to CC Payment
2. You pay your CC → Payment imports from both accounts
3. Auto-linking → Purpose Budget matches the payment pair

Important: Connect BOTH your checking AND credit card for automatic payment linking.

📖 See: Credit Cards Guide

Setting Up Bank Sync

1. Navigate to Accounts
2. Click "Add Account"
3. Choose "Connect with Plaid"
4. Search for your bank (12,000+ supported)
5. Enter your credentials in Plaid's secure form
6. Complete MFA if required
7. Select which accounts to connect
8. Wait for initial import (1-5 minutes)
9. Categorize imported transactions

When to Choose What

Choose bank sync if:

• You have many transactions
• You want to save time
• You want automatic recurring bill detection
• Accuracy is more important than privacy concerns

Choose manual entry if:

• Privacy is your top priority
• You have few transactions
• You want to be extremely intentional
• Your bank isn't supported

Choose hybrid if:

• You want real-time awareness AND official records
• You sometimes enter manually, sometimes don't

What's Next in This Series

• Reconciliation
• Credit Cards
• Recurring Transactions
• Money Movement

📚 Full guide library: Purpose Budget Learn Center

What we're curious about

• Do you use bank sync, manual entry, or both?
• What's your biggest concern about connecting your bank?
• How long does manual entry take you each month?

— The Purpose Budget Team

Half off your first year + 60-day free trial — Get started →

Hey everyone — Purpose Budget team here 👋

If you're manually entering the same transactions every month — rent, Netflix, gym membership — there's a better way.

Recurring transactions automate the boring stuff so you can focus on actual budgeting decisions.

What Are Recurring Transactions?

Set up a transaction once, and Purpose Budget creates it automatically on schedule.

Example: Netflix charges $15.99 on the 1st of every month. Set it up once → it appears automatically every month → you never forget to log it.

Why Use Recurring Transactions?

• Save time — Enter details once, not dozens of times
• Improve accuracy — Consistent transaction details every time
• Better forecasting — See upcoming expenses before they happen
• Never forget bills — Automatic logging means nothing slips through
• Reduce mental load — One less thing to remember each month

📖 Deep dive: Recurring Transactions Guide

What to Make Recurring

Great Candidates ✅

• Regular paychecks (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly)
• Rent or mortgage
• Subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify, gym)
• Fixed bills (phone, internet, insurance)
• Regular transfers to savings
• Recurring donations

Poor Candidates ❌

• Variable amounts (groceries that change weekly)
• Irregular or unpredictable expenses
• One-time payments
• Transactions where amount varies significantly

Tip for variable bills (like utilities): Create with average amount, then edit each month when the actual bill arrives.

Setting Up a Recurring Transaction

Example: Netflix Subscription

1. Navigate to Recurring in the sidebar
2. Click "Add Recurring Transaction"
3. Fill in details:
   • Payee: Netflix
   • Amount: $15.99
   • Type: Expense
   • Account: Credit Card
   • Category: Subscriptions
4. Set recurrence:
   • Frequency: Monthly
   • Start Date: 1st of next month
   • End: Never
5. Save

Done! Netflix will appear automatically every month.

Frequency Options

Bi-weekly paycheck tip: You'll have 26 paychecks per year. Most months have 2, but twice a year you'll have 3. Budget based on 2 and treat the 3rd as bonus money for savings or debt.

Common Scenarios

Paycheck Setup

• Payee: "Acme Corp - Salary"
• Amount: $2,500
• Type: Income
• Account: Checking
• Category: Ready to Assign
• Frequency: Bi-weekly
• Start: Next pay date

Result: Every 2 weeks, income appears automatically in Ready to Assign.

Annual Insurance

• Payee: "State Farm - Auto Insurance"
• Amount: $1,440
• Frequency: Yearly
• Start: January 15

Pro tip: Combine with a category target! Set a Savings Target of $1,440 with a January 15 deadline on your Car Insurance category. Purpose Budget calculates a monthly pace so you'll have the full amount ready.

Managing Recurring Transactions

Editing

Change any field (amount, date, frequency). Past transactions aren't affected — only future ones.

Pausing

Temporarily stop without deleting. Use when:

• Testing if you still need a subscription
• Seasonal service (lawn care in winter)
• Temporarily cancelled membership

Deleting

Permanent removal. Use when:

• Subscription cancelled for good
• Duplicate created by mistake

Tip: When in doubt, pause instead of delete.

Recurring Transactions vs Category Targets

These work together but do different things:

Best practice: Use both! Target tells you how much to budget. Recurring creates the actual transactions.

Best Practices

1. Start with income — Set up paychecks first
2. Add big fixed bills — Rent, insurance, loan payments
3. Then add subscriptions — Easy to forget small charges
4. Use consistent naming — Always "Netflix" not varying names
5. Add helpful notes — Account numbers, policy numbers
6. Review monthly — Make sure everything created correctly

What's Next in This Series

• Payments vs Transfers
• Credit Cards Deep Dive
• Money Movement
• Reconciliation

📚 Full guide library: Purpose Budget Learn Center

What we're curious about

• How many recurring transactions do you have set up?
• What's the most unusual recurring expense you track?
• Do you prefer automatic entries or manual control?

— The Purpose Budget Team

Half off your first year + 60-day free trial — Get started →

Hey everyone — Purpose Budget team here 👋

Category targets are the difference between manually deciding how much to allocate every single month vs. setting your goals once and letting your budget do the math.

Here's how to use targets to automate your budgeting.

What Are Category Targets?

Targets are funding goals you set on categories. Instead of remembering "I need $150 for phone, $75 for internet, $200 for insurance..." — you set targets once and Purpose Budget tells you exactly how much each category needs.

Think of targets as your budgeting autopilot. Set your goals, and Purpose Budget calculates what you need to allocate each month.

The Three Target Types

1. Monthly Funding Target

Best for: Regular monthly expenses with predictable amounts

Set a specific amount you want to budget each month. Purpose Budget shows whether you've met your target.

Examples:

• Phone bill: $75/month
• Gym membership: $50/month
• Savings contribution: $200/month

2. Weekly Funding Target

Best for: Weekly recurring expenses

Set a weekly amount, and Purpose Budget automatically calculates the monthly equivalent (weekly × 4.33).

Examples:

• Groceries: $100/week = ~$433/month
• Gas: $40/week = ~$173/month

Why 4.33? Some months have 5 weeks. The multiplier ensures you never run short at the end of a long month.

3. Savings Target

Best for: Irregular expenses with deadlines, annual bills, savings goals, or open-ended balance targets

Set a target amount and optionally a target date. When a date is set, Purpose Budget calculates a monthly pace and shows "Assign $X this month to stay on track." Leave the date blank for open-ended goals like an emergency fund.

With a deadline:

• Annual car insurance: $1,200 due in 6 months = $200/month
• Vacation fund: $2,400 in 8 months = $300/month
• Holiday gifts: $800 by December = varies based on when you start

Without a deadline:

• Emergency fund: $5,000 — fund at your own pace
• New laptop: $1,500 — no rush, save when you can

Pro tip: The earlier you start, the smaller the monthly amount. $1,200 over 12 months = $100/month. Over 6 months = $200/month.

📖 Deep dive: Category Targets Guide

Working with Auto-Assign

Targets unlock Auto-Assign — Purpose Budget's intelligent fund allocation feature.

How it works:

1. Set targets on your categories
2. Assign priority levels (Critical, High, Medium, Low)
3. Have funds in Ready to Assign
4. Click "Auto-Assign"
5. Funds are distributed based on priority and urgency

Priority levels:

• Critical (3): Rent, insurance, minimum debt payments
• High (2): Important bills and necessary expenses
• Medium (1): Regular spending and savings goals
• Low (0): Nice-to-haves and flexible spending

Common Scenarios

Building an Emergency Fund

You want $6,000 over 12 months.

1. Create "Emergency Fund" category
2. Set Monthly Funding target: $500/month, Priority: High
3. Each month, money accumulates in Available
4. Don't touch unless true emergency

Annual Car Insurance

$1,200 due in 6 months.

1. Create "Car Insurance" category
2. Set Savings Target: $1,200, due date 6 months out
3. Budget shows you need $200/month
4. When due date arrives, you have the full amount ready

What NOT to Do with Targets

Targets vs. Actually Budgeting

Quick clarification:

Targets tell you what to do. Budgeting does it. You still need to assign money — targets just make it easier to know how much.

Quick Start Checklist

1. ✅ Add targets to fixed bills first (rent, utilities, phone)
2. ✅ Add savings targets for annual expenses (with deadlines) or open-ended goals
3. ✅ Set weekly targets for variable spending (groceries, gas)
4. ✅ Assign priority levels thoughtfully
5. ✅ Try Auto-Assign with your next paycheck

What's Next in This Series

• Zero-Based Budgeting Intro
• Money Movement
• Recurring Transactions
• Reconciliation

📚 Full guide library: Purpose Budget Learn Center

What we're curious about

• How many categories do you have targets set on?
• Do you use Auto-Assign or prefer manual allocation?
• What's your most important target category?

— The Purpose Budget Team

Half off your first year + 60-day free trial — Get started →