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Budget

Categories, per-category limits, and merchant rules

Create categories to sort your expenses, set an optional monthly limit that shows up in Summary, and define merchant rules so expenses sort themselves. Everything is calculated inside your own account, with no external AI.

What you'll get

Sort your expenses by category, see in Summary how much you've spent against a limit you set, and have repeat merchants sorted automatically.

Requirements
  • An internet connection: creating, editing, and deleting categories and rules is saved to your account.
  • To create rules, you need at least one category.

Settings has three sections that work together: Categories, Merchant rules, and (to see your limits) Summary. Together they let you decide how your expenses are grouped and how much you want to spend in each group.

The Settings screen showing the Categories and Merchant rules sections
The Categories and Merchant rules sections in Settings.

#Create a category

  1. In Settings, scroll down to the Categories section.
  2. In the Name field, type what to call it (for example, Pets).
  3. Tap Add category.
Note. Each category's color is assigned automatically from its name, and it's always the same for that name. You can't pick it; it just helps you recognize the category at a glance in the donut chart in Summary and in your lists.

To change the name or the limit, tap Edit on the category; to remove it, tap Delete. When you delete a category, its rules are deleted and its expenses are left with no category (the expenses themselves aren't deleted).

#Set a monthly limit (optional)

  1. In Categories, tap Edit on the category.
  2. In the Monthly limit (optional) field, type an amount, or leave it blank for no limit.
  3. Tap Save changes.

The limit is just for reference. In Summary, inside the Monthly limits section, you'll see a bar for each category that has a limit: how much you've spent so far against the limit (for example, $80.00 / $100.00). The bar fills up as you get closer, and once you go over the limit, the amount and the bar turn red.

Keep in mind. The limit doesn't block anything, and it won't notify you before you reach it: you can keep adding expenses as usual. It only flags the overage in Summary once you've already gone past the amount. Use it as a reference, not as a hard cap that stops you.
Note. Only expenses that have that category assigned count toward the limit. An expense with no category doesn't use up any limit.

#Merchant rules

A rule says: when the merchant name contains certain text (the pattern), that expense goes to the category you choose. That way, repeat merchants get sorted on their own. It applies to Apple Pay, notifications, and receipts.

  1. In Settings, go to the Merchant rules section.
  2. In Pattern, type the text that identifies the merchant (for example, SUPER 99). It's saved in uppercase.
  3. In Category, choose where those expenses should go.
  4. Tap Add rule.
Keep in mind. The pattern can't contain the characters % or _. If two rules could apply, the one with the longer (more specific) pattern wins.
Note. Editing or deleting a rule doesn't change expenses you've already recorded; it affects future expenses from that merchant. To re-sort an old one, edit it from Expenses.

#Category suggestion

When you add an expense that has a merchant, Monuvia can suggest a category. First it checks whether any of your rules match the merchant; if not, it looks through your own history for the category you've used most often for that merchant (or for its first word). In other words, it learns from your own corrections.

Keep in mind. The suggestion comes from your rules and your history within your own account. It's not an AI that "understands" the expense or looks anything up elsewhere: it's just text matching and counting. You can always change the category by hand.

Common problems

I can't create rules: it tells me I need a category.
Rules always point to a category. First create at least one in the Categories section, then go back to Merchant rules.
I entered a pattern with % or _ and it won't let me.
Those two characters aren't allowed in the pattern. Type it without them, using only the text that appears in the merchant name.
I set a limit, but the expense wasn't counted against the category.
Only expenses that have that category assigned count. Open the expense in Expenses and assign the category with Edit; it'll then show up in Summary under Monthly limits.
I don't like my category's color.
The color is assigned automatically from the name and can't be chosen. If you change the category's name, it'll take a different color.
Go to SettingsReviewed September 9, 2026

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