Learning centre · Planning · 6 min · screens from October 2026

Targets, in depth

A target is how much an envelope needs. It never moves money by itself; it says how much, and by when, so the budget can show you which envelopes are still short and the Assign button knows how much to put in each. Five kinds of target cover nearly everything a household pays for.

What you'll do

Pick the kind of target that fits: monthly, weekly, by a date, a balance to keep, or a debt to pay off
Read the progress bar and the words under each envelope
Fill every target at once, or one at a time
Assign money to next month ahead of time, and see it from this month

Step 1

Five kinds of target

Every month asks for the same amount each month, for things like groceries or the phone. Every week repeats on the day you pick, so a month with five Mondays asks for five amounts. Saved up by a date is an amount to have saved by a certain day, like a trip or new tires, and asks for a share of it each month. Keep a balance keeps a set amount on hand; once the envelope is full, it asks for nothing more. Pay off a debt by a date is for a debt: money you assign is paid to the lender, so next month asks for its share again.

The target editor in the Groceries details: $900.00, repeating every month, with Save target — Setting a target in the envelope's details: an amount, a kind, and a date or a weekday when the kind needs one.

Setting a target in the envelope's details: an amount, a kind, and a date or a weekday when the kind needs one.

set Groceries to $900 a month and Kids' lunches to $40 every Monday

Step 2

Read the progress bar

Under each envelope is a progress bar and a line of words. A full green bar means the target is met. Amber means the envelope still needs money: Utilities says $67.25 more needed, with what carried in from last month beside it. Striped red means overspent: more was spent than the envelope held, and covering it is the next thing to do. The filters above the budget (Underfunded, Overfunded, Overspent, Money available) count how many envelopes are in each of these states.

The budget: envelopes with their target bars, amber where more is needed (Utilities), green where funded or spent, red where overspent (Dining out) — The budget, read by its bars. Amber still needs money, green is done, and red needs covering.

The budget, read by its bars. Amber still needs money, green is done, and red needs covering.

Step 3

Fill your targets

Assign, beside Ready to assign, opens the ways to fill your envelopes: Cover what is underfunded, Cover what is upcoming, Cover what is overspent, match what you assigned or spent last month, use an average of either, or Reset available to zero. Pick one and every envelope it applies to is filled from Ready to assign in a single step, which you can see afterwards in Activity. Or type into one envelope's Assigned figure: an amount, or start with +, −, ×, or ÷ to calculate from what is already there.

The Assign menu open over the budget: cover what is underfunded, cover what is upcoming, cover what is overspent, match last month, average, reset available to zero; the envelope check and the cashflow chart beneath — The Assign menu: the ways to fill a month's envelopes from Ready to assign.

The Assign menu: the ways to fill a month's envelopes from Ready to assign.

assign this month: cover what's underfunded, bills first

Step 4

Assign money to future months

Go to next month and assign money there: a paycheque that arrived early can be given its November jobs now. With no envelope open, this month's summary on the right shows that total as Assigned in later months, and Ready to assign takes it into account, so money assigned ahead can never be spent twice.

put $200 into Japan in November