awareness-before-action
Category budgets
Set a monthly limit per category. PesaTrack shows you where you stand — neutrally, without shaming.
What it does
- Let you set a monthly budget per category (Transport, Groceries, Airtime, etc.)
- Show remaining amount and days left in the period on the Budget screen
- Respect your "month starts on" preference — the 25th if that's your payday
- Send a soft notification when a category is nearing or over budget (respects the "one insight per session" rule)
- Include income allocation (headroom = income − committed spend) when income is set
What it doesn't do
- Show projections or forecasts of what you "will" spend (removed in v1.3.2 — see /changelog)
- Use fear-based copy ("you're overspending") or streaks
- Roll over surpluses in a way that hides real spend
The philosophy
Budgets are a decision tiebreaker, not a leash. PesaTrack shows the neutral fact — “KES 3,400 remaining for Groceries, 12 days left” — and lets you decide what to do. There is no gamified streak, no red “over” badge, no push notification designed to make you feel bad.
If you don’t set a budget for a category, PesaTrack doesn’t invent one.