Goals say where your savings go. Each one sets money aside every month, out of the savings target your plan already leaves, so your budget still adds up.
Goals are included with Grow and up. You need a budget first: see set up a budget.
Two kinds of goal
Kind | What it's for |
|---|---|
Save up and keep it | Money that stays put, like an emergency fund or a down payment. |
Save up to spend it | A sinking fund for costs that come later, like gifts, clothes or a trip. Spending in the categories it pays for comes out of the goal, not your monthly spending budget. |
Create a goal
Open Goals
On Budgets, choose the Goals tab.
Pick what it's for
Choose a starting point: Emergency fund, Vacation, Birthdays & holidays, Clothing, Car upkeep, Medical & dental, Home or Something else. It fills in sensible choices, and you can change everything. With goals already, choose New goal.
Name it and choose the kind
Give it a name and an icon, then pick Save up and keep it or Save up to spend it. For a sinking fund, choose Add a category under What it pays for.
Set a target (optional)
Add an amount and a date. With both, Work it out for me spreads what it still needs over the months left; or choose Set my own amount and type what to set aside each month.
Choose where the money is kept
Pick In its own account, With my everyday money or Somewhere else (see below), then choose Create goal.
The bottom of the form shows what the goal sets aside and how much of your savings is left over.
Where the money is kept
- In its own account: tick a savings, chequing or investment account from your Accounts page. The goal's balance is that account's balance, kept up to date for you. One account can hold only one goal.
- With my everyday money: we keep count of what's set aside, and leave it out of what's safe to spend until payday.
- Somewhere else: for money at a bank Finly Money can't see. We keep count from what your plan sets aside.
A new goal we keep count of starts from today. Add what it already holds under Already set aside (optional). Its card reads "From next month" with the monthly amount, because this month's money is in what it holds today.
Following a goal
Each goal's card shows its balance against the target and a status: On track, Behind, Reached, Overspent (a sinking fund that paid out more than it had) or Date passed. It also shows what moved in this month and, for a sinking fund, what it paid for.
- Edit changes anything about it.
- In the ⋯ menu, Update its balance fixes a goal we keep count of if it holds more or less than we counted. Earlier months stay as they were.
- Remove goal takes it away, with Undo for a few seconds.
The Goals tab sums up what your goals set aside this month and what's left of your savings target. If goals need more than your plan saves, it says so, with Change the split.