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: income or expense
  • 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.

How Alto interprets due dates
  • 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

Income categories
These categories are special: inflow transactions on cash accounts only count as income when categorized to an income category.
Expense categories
Outflows categorized here increase spent for the relevant envelope occurrence and reduce available. Inflows reduce net spent (refunds).

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.

When to use
  • Spending that happens throughout the month without a fixed due date
  • Discretionary categories where timing is flexible
Filtering
In the Budget view, the "Due This Period" filter will hide categories without due dates. Use "All Expenses" to see them.

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.

Converting savings to expense
Savings categories can be converted into expense categories. When converted:
  • The savings balance becomes the expense category's assigned amount.
  • The savings goal becomes the expense category's due amount.