Organising the category tree in Money by Zaweba

Categories are how Money by Zaweba turns a list of payments into an answer to where the money went. They sit in an editable tree of any depth, and the app starts you off with a set made for UK households, so you can begin importing statements straight away and adjust the tree as you learn how you actually spend.

The tree feeds everything else: payee rules file transactions into it, budgets are set per category, and the spending by category report reads straight from it.

What you start with

The seeded set covers the usual run of UK life. Household holds Groceries, Council Tax, Rent, Mortgage, Utilities, TV Licence, Home Insurance and more. Then come Transport, Food & Drink, Shopping, Health, Leisure, Children, Pets, Personal Care, Gifts, Financial, Tax, Business (for sole traders), Education and Income.

It's a sensible starting point and many households will use it as it is for the first month or two. Payee rules, of which there are 92 for common UK payees from the start, already point at these categories.

Shaping it to fit you

You can add, rename, move and delete categories. The tree can go as deep as you like, so a broad category can hold narrower ones beneath it.

Add a category when you find yourself wanting to know about something the tree lumps together. If school costs matter to you, add them under Children. If you run a car and want to see fuel apart from parking and repairs, add those under Transport.

Rename when the wording doesn't match how you think. Move a category when it sits under the wrong parent.

Delete what you'll never use, to keep the lists short when you're categorising. When you delete a category, you choose where its transactions go, so nothing is lost or left without a home.

Getting the depth right

Deep trees look tidy but are slow to use. Every time you categorise a payment, you pick from the tree, and three or four levels of choice soon becomes a chore. A good rule is to go only as deep as the reports you'll actually read. If you'll never look at the difference between two kinds of spending, they can share a category.

Budgets are worth thinking about here too, since you set them per category. A category that's too broad makes a budget hard to judge; one that's too narrow means more budgets to look after.

For sole traders

The Business category is there for keeping business costs apart from household ones. Adding the kinds of business spending you have under it, and keeping them in business accounts where you can, means the reports show your trading costs on their own. Money organises the figures; what you claim and how is a matter for your own records and adviser.

A good time to tidy

After your first few statement imports, open the spending by category report and look for categories that are too full or never used. Adjust the tree, then let payee rules carry the new arrangement forward. A tree that matches how you live makes Money by Zaweba's reports far easier to read.