How spending targets work in Reign

A spending target gives you an amount to compare against a category’s monthly spending. You can set one for groceries, eating out, or another category you want to follow. You can also set a target for a year or a date range, such as a trip.

In Reign, recorded expenses update the spending shown against your targets. Future-dated purchases count when their date arrives. You choose the amounts and can change them as your plans change.

How a target differs from a full budget

A full budget can allocate income across spending, saving, and other commitments. A category target is narrower: it lets you follow one part of your spending without allocating your whole income first.

You can use targets on their own or alongside a budget you keep elsewhere.

Start with a category you know

Open Insights and choose a category to track. Look at its recent spending before setting a monthly target.

Check the transactions behind the total. A one-off purchase may make a past month a poor starting point for the next one.

Keep recording purchases

Snap receipts, use Quick log, or import transactions so the category total reflects your spending. A target can only include the purchases recorded in Reign.

Check the purchase category on receipts and when you import records. A purchase in the wrong category will affect the comparison.

Open the detail when spending passes the target

The amount above a target tells you how spending compares with the number you chose. It does not explain the reason on its own.

Open the category’s transactions to see what contributed. With Plus, receipt breakdowns show which items moved it, once you have a few matching receipts.

You can then decide whether to adjust the target, change a category, or use what you learned when planning the next month.

Try one target first

Create a free account and choose one category to follow. You can add other targets when they are useful to you.

Related reading: reviewing grocery spending and how receipt scanning works.