Plan one time expenses and adjust a budget period

Your regular budget is the starting point for each new period. When one month will be different, you can adjust only that period without changing the regular amount.

The action you choose determines whether the change repeats.

Why did changing this month change future months?

Opening an existing category in the current period edits its regular budget. Fireball uses that regular amount as the starting point for future periods.

Choose Plan expense when you want the current period to be different. If the category already exists, the form changes to Update category budget and asks for the Total budget for this period.

The amount is the new total, not an extra amount to add.

For example, Travel normally has a budget of $100. You buy a $1,200 flight this month and still expect $100 of other travel spending. Enter $1,300 as the total Travel budget for this period. The regular $100 amount remains the starting point for later periods.

Can Plan expense use a category already covered by a budget?

It depends on whether the plan uses the same category level as the regular budget.

• If the exact category already has a regular budget, Plan expense replaces its total for the selected period. Add the usual amount and the extra expense yourself, then enter the resulting period total.
• If a parent category already has a regular budget, you cannot create a separate plan for one of its subcategories. The parent budget already covers spending in all of its subcategories. Select the parent category in Plan expense and enter the new total for the whole parent category. For example, if Transport has a regular budget and you want to plan a large expense under its Vehicle purchases subcategory, plan a new Transport total for that period. Include the usual Transport amount and the large expense in that total.
• If you need Vehicle purchases to have its own limit, first remove the regular Transport parent budget and create separate regular budgets for the subcategories you want to track. The reverse rule also applies. If one or more subcategories already have budgets, you cannot add a separate parent category plan.
• If the selected category, its parent, and its subcategories have no regular budget, Plan expense creates a temporary budget for that category in the selected period.

Fireball keeps one effective amount for each category branch in a period. A parent category and its subcategories cannot have overlapping budgets.

Plan expense is available in the current and future periods in Category and Flex budgeting. Completed past periods are read only.

Plan travel when the payments happen

Budget each travel payment in the period when the money leaves your account. The payment date can be earlier than the trip.

For a trip in August, your plan might be:

Open each relevant period and plan its Travel total. Do not put every cost in August merely because that is when the trip starts.

A travel goal answers a different question. It shows how much you want to have available for the whole trip and how you are progressing towards that amount. If the target is $3,500, create a Save up goal for $3,500 and choose whether its monthly plan should reduce Safe to Spend.

When a flight, hotel, or other purchase is posted, open the goal and choose Link transaction. Link it as Spend from goal if you want the purchase recorded in the goal's activity. Choose Reduce progress in the goal options if spending should reduce the amount shown as completed.

The transaction can do both jobs. Its category records spending in the correct budget period, while the goal records what the saved money was used for.

Adjust the budget for a large purchase

For a cash purchase, plan the amount that will actually leave your accounts in that period. If the purchase has already happened in the current open period, you can still adjust that period so the budget reflects it.

Suppose a car costs $20,000 and the usual vehicle category budget is $300.

1. Choose Plan expense in the purchase period.
2. Select the category used by the purchase transaction.
3. Enter $20,300 if you still expect the usual $300 of other spending. Enter $20,000 if the purchase is the only spending planned in that category.
4. Categorise the posted purchase transaction into the same category.

If you saved for the car with a goal, you can also link the posted transaction to that goal as spending.

For a financed purchase, budget only the amounts that actually leave your accounts. This can include a deposit, fees, and repayments in their respective periods. The financed balance belongs with the loan or debt record. Do not add the full vehicle price as cash spending when that amount never left your accounts.

Save extra after missing last period's target

Do not increase a planned expense when your intention is to save more. Reduce the amount available for spending in the period where you want to catch up.

In Category budgeting, use Plan expense with existing discretionary categories and enter lower totals for that period. For example, to save an extra $500 this month, you could reduce Dining by $150, Shopping by $200, and Entertainment by $150. Essential categories can keep their regular amounts.

In a future Flex period, open that period and change its Flexible Spending target or savings rate. The future change stays with that period.

In the current Flex period, changing Flexible Spending changes the ongoing Flex target. If the lower amount is intended only for the current period, you will need to restore the usual target afterwards. Choosing a category assigned to the Flexible pool from Plan expense opens the same Flexible Spending editor.

A Save up goal can reserve a planned monthly contribution before Safe to Spend is calculated. Use this when the extra saving belongs to a purpose such as a trip, emergency fund, or car. A goal does not automatically create or change a category budget for the later purchase.

How the budgeting modes differ

In Single budgeting, opening the card in the current period normally changes the regular spending limit. Opening it in a future period creates a plan for that future period only.

Common questions

Does planning an expense move money?

No. A budget plan changes the amount Fireball expects you to spend. It does not transfer money, pay a merchant, or move funds into a goal.

Does changing a plan change the transaction?

No. The transaction still needs the appropriate category. A plan controls the expected amount for the period. Posted and eligible pending transactions provide the spending evidence.

Should I plan the purchase date or the event date?

Use the date the payment occurs. For bookings, deposits, instalments, and final payments, plan each amount in its own payment period.

Can I add an extra $500 to an existing category?

The form does not accept an extra amount separately. Add the regular amount and $500, then enter the resulting total for the period.

Can I change a completed period?

No. Completed periods are retained as read only history. Plan the current or a future open period instead.

Why does selecting my Flexible category open a different screen?

Flexible categories share one Flexible Spending amount. Fireball therefore opens the Flexible Spending editor instead of creating a second limit for that category.