May 25
Budget Filter-Overbudgeted
I have three categories that have triggered this filter.1. Checked green as "Funded" is a refill up to goal with a monthly ask up to cap (it has had some spending this month)2. Checked green as "On Track" is a save by date goal with a repeat yearly (no spending yet as goal has not been reached)3 Checked green as "Achieved" is also save by date goal also repeating yearly(funds are available and waiting for future spending)None of this affects my budget but I'm curious as to why they trigger the "overbudgeted" filter which I assume is an alarm signaling that I have budgeted too much and have funds that could be used elsewhere which isn't the case for these categories.
Completed
Good question. The Overbudgeted filter is showing categories where ZeroSum thinks you can move money out and the goal would still remain funded / on track. For Refill up to, this is expected. If you have a goal to refill up to £200, and the month starts with £200, the goal is funded for that month. If you then spend from it during the month, ZeroSum should not start asking for more immediately, because that spending is the whole point of having the money there. Next month, it will ask you to refill back up to £200 again. For Save by date, ZeroSum spreads the target over the remaining months. So if you want £1,000 in 10 months, it may ask for £100 this month. If you budget £150, you’re still on track, but £50 is technically removable because the goal would still be happy with £100. That’s why it can appear as Overbudgeted. Same idea when the goal is Achieved. If you need £1,000 by December and you have £1,100 in December, ZeroSum can show £100 as overbudgeted because you could move that £100 out and still have the £1,000 you needed. Also, spending in the due month does not reopen the goal. If you had the £1,000 by December and then spent from it in December, the goal stays achieved because you had the money when you needed it. If the goal repeats yearly, January starts the next cycle using whatever is left over, and ZeroSum spreads the remaining amount toward the next December target. So it’s not really an alarm. It’s more like: "this money can be moved elsewhere without breaking the goal." I may tweak the wording/help copy because I can see how “Overbudgeted” sounds scarier than intended.