Categories
Categories are the jobs you assign to your money. Alto has two types: income categories (which define what counts as “income” for Ready to Assign) and expense categories (which define spending buckets).
Default categories
New users are seeded with a starter set of categories (income and expense) so you can begin budgeting immediately. You can edit, add, or delete categories later.
Category properties
- Type:
incomeorexpense - Frequency: weekly, biweekly, 1st & 15th, monthly
- Due date: monthly uses a day-of-month; weekly/biweekly uses a day-of-week; 1st & 15th is fixed. Monthly categories can also have no due date for flexible spending that doesn't have a specific deadline.
- Budgeted: the default target amount for the category
Due dates and filtering
Due dates help Alto surface what “needs money” in the current window. In the Budget view you can optionally filter expense categories to show only those with an explicit due date. Categories without a due date are still valid; they’re just considered flexible.
- Monthly categories: due day of month (with “end of month” handling for days like the 31st).
- Weekly/biweekly: a day of week (0–6).
- 1st & 15th: always the 1st and 15th of each month.
Income vs expense categories
One-off categories
One-off categories are non-repeating expense categories for one-time events like a vacation, a major purchase, or an annual bill.
- One-off categories exist as standalone envelopes for a specific date or month.
- They do not appear on the Categories management page—they only show in the Budget view for their relevant period.
- Use the "Add one-off category" action in the Budget page to create them.
Categories without due dates
Monthly expense categories can be created without a specific due date. These categories appear in all pay periods within a month, making them ideal for flexible spending like groceries, entertainment, or pet supplies.
- Spending that happens throughout the month without a fixed due date
- Discretionary categories where timing is flexible
Credit card payment categories
When you add a credit card account, Alto automatically creates an expense category for tracking payments to that card.
- These categories are tied to the credit card account and cannot be manually deleted.
- They are hidden when the card balance is $0 to keep your budget uncluttered.
- When you make a payment transfer from checking to the credit card, the checking side is automatically categorized here.
Savings categories
Savings categories work differently from expense categories—they track a running balance and support goals. See the Savings guide for details.
- The savings balance becomes the expense category's assigned amount.
- The savings goal becomes the expense category's due amount.