Saving for a trip, a new roof, or an emergency fund

A purchase goal is an amount by a date. Japan needs $8,000 by October 2027, and the goal is linked to the Japan 2027 envelope, so it counts what that envelope holds. The envelope's target is the monthly amount you chose for the goal ($250 for the Reyes household), and Goals divides what is still needed by the months left to tell you whether that is enough. If you fall behind, the monthly amount it recommends goes up; if you get ahead, it goes down. The date never changes by itself.

The emergency fund is a goal with no date: keep $15,000, however long it takes to get there. It carries over from month to month and never resets. The Reyes household puts $400 a month into its envelope, plus whatever is left over at the end of a month, and takes money out when a month runs short, which is what it is for. The goal reads the envelope, so it always shows the real amount.

On the Goals screen, the short-term goals are listed in order, each showing whether it is on track. Japan is at risk at $250 a month, and its row says $277.24 a month would get it there. The roof is at risk at $300 a month, because spring 2028 is closer than it sounds, and it would take $570.20 a month. That is the point of the list: not just that a goal is behind, but which one, by how much, and what would fix it, while there is still time.

Found money is a list of spare money Mintro has spotted, not a rule that moves anything: money in Ready to assign, envelopes holding more than this month needs, a target that is always higher than what actually gets spent, or a loan or card payment that finishes before your plan ends. Each item suggests an action (assign it, move it, or lower the target) and names the goal it would go to, which is the first one not yet reached. Where it can, each also says how many months sooner that goal would be reached. Every button does something you could also do by hand.