Category Budgets are MoneyCoach's modern take on envelope budgeting. Instead of putting cash into physical envelopes, you give each spending category a monthly limit, then MoneyCoach updates progress automatically as you add transactions.
The core difference
Traditional envelope budgeting is built around separating money before you spend it. MoneyCoach Category Budgets are built around planning spending categories and seeing what happens as real transactions come in.
| Budgeting method | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Cash envelopes | Put cash into physical envelopes. | Cash-only households. |
| Digital envelopes | Split planned money into virtual envelopes. | Users who want strict category limits. |
| MoneyCoach Category Budgets | Set category and subcategory limits, then track spending automatically. | Apple users who want category control without manual envelope math. |
Practical example
Say your Food budget is 600 EUR. You can create one Category Budget for Food, then add subcategory limits for Groceries and Restaurants. When you add a restaurant expense in MoneyCoach, it counts against the right category automatically.
If Groceries needs more room and Entertainment has room left, you can use a budget transfer or rebalance action instead of rebuilding your whole monthly plan.
When to use Category Budgets
Use Category Budgets when you want a monthly plan for categories you already track: Food, Shopping, Transport, Entertainment, Subscriptions, Kids, Travel, or Health.
They work especially well if you want:
- Category and subcategory limits
- Automatic progress from expense transactions
- Rollover for unused or overspent budget room
- Top-ups when monthly income leaves extra room
- Transfers and rebalancing when real life changes
Related MoneyCoach guides
- Category Budgets in MoneyCoach
- How To Create Category Budgets in MoneyCoach
- How To Transfer Between Category Budgets in MoneyCoach
- How To Rebalance Category Budgets in MoneyCoach
