# Request for simpler budgeting feature
**URL:** https://community.emma-app.com/t/request-for-simpler-budgeting-feature/7359
**Category:** Feedback & Ideas
**Created:** [March 16, 2025, 6:57am UTC](https://community.emma-app.com/t/request-for-simpler-budgeting-feature/7359 "2025-03-16T06:57:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@sonrisa](https://community.emma-app.com/u/sonrisa)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2025, 6:57am UTC](https://community.emma-app.com/t/request-for-simpler-budgeting-feature/7359/1 "2025-03-16T06:57:29Z")
As a loyal user for over 2 years, I’d love to see two key improvements to make Emma’s budgeting and transaction management even more powerful:
**1️⃣ Customizable Budget Tracking (Optional Categories)**
Allow users to **selectively choose which categories to track budgets for** (inspired by apps like Origin [example](https://youtu.be/iTueK8FDXN0)). Fixed expenses like rent/subscriptions often don’t need active tracking—forcing budgets for all categories creates clutter and distracts from areas where users _want_ to focus (e.g., groceries, hobbies).
**2️⃣ Bulk Add Transactions to Groups**
The transaction grouping feature loses its value when users have to assign transactions to groups **one by one**. Please add the ability to:
- Select multiple transactions (via checkboxes or multi-select)
- Assign them all to a group/category in one click
**Why These Matter:**
- **Flexibility:** Not everyone budgets the same way—optional categories respect individual workflows.
- **Efficiency:** Bulk grouping would save _significant time_ for users reconciling expenses (e.g., monthly subscriptions, recurring bills).
- **Focus:** Reduce noise in budget views and let users prioritize what truly needs their attention.
These changes would transform Emma from a good app to an **essential, sticky tool** for long-term users like me. I’d hate to switch, but competitors already offer similar flexibility.
Thank you for considering these upgrades
---
### Author:  [@edoardomoreni](https://community.emma-app.com/u/edoardomoreni)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2025, 9:21am UTC](https://community.emma-app.com/t/request-for-simpler-budgeting-feature/7359/2 "2025-03-16T09:21:03Z")
Hi @sonrisa,
thanks a lot for posting!
> [@sonrisa](#):
>
> **1️⃣ Customizable Budget Tracking (Optional Categories)**
> Allow users to **selectively choose which categories to track budgets for** (inspired by apps like Origin [example](https://youtu.be/iTueK8FDXN0)). Fixed expenses like rent/subscriptions often don’t need active tracking—forcing budgets for all categories creates clutter and distracts from areas where users _want_ to focus (e.g., groceries, hobbies).
Can I ask what you mean by this? You can currently create custom categories and setup as many budget categories you want. The only “forced” behaviour is on the total budget. Do you mean this?
> [@sonrisa](#):
>
> **2️⃣ Bulk Add Transactions to Groups**
> The transaction grouping feature loses its value when users have to assign transactions to groups **one by one**. Please add the ability to:
>
> - Select multiple transactions (via checkboxes or multi-select)
> - Assign them all to a group/category in one click
We are building this as I type; it should be in the app by end of the month.
---
### Author:  [@sonrisa](https://community.emma-app.com/u/sonrisa)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://community.emma-app.com/t/request-for-simpler-budgeting-feature/7359/3 "2025-03-16T16:35:16Z")
Hi ! Thank you for the quick response!!
For #1
I’d like the budgeting tool to let me allocate fixed monthly obligations (like $500 for mortgage and $500 for savings) separately from my discretionary spending. After accounting for these fixed payments from my $2,000 income, I want the remaining $1,000 to be my visible ‘spending budget.’ The feature should allow me to hide the mortgage and savings categories from this budgeting view entirely, so I only track the $1,000 for variable expenses.
For example, if I overspend by $600 on discretionary items, the app should clearly warn: _‘You’re $600 over your $1,000 budget,’_ rather than showing a total overspend of $1,600 (which incorrectly includes the fixed $1,000 I’ve already allocated). This way, I can focus on managing the flexible portion of my income without distractions from pre-committed funds.
I know I can set a total budget to 2000$ and deduct from there but in real life when fixed obligation are not always happening at the beginning of the month+ there are more than 10 of them doing a hack around this manual become really crumble some and makes the budget feature almost unusable.
Hope that helped!
#2
That is such a good news!! Looking forward to that!
And thanks again for this awesome app!
---
### Author:  [@sonrisa](https://community.emma-app.com/u/sonrisa)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2025, 6:47pm UTC](https://community.emma-app.com/t/request-for-simpler-budgeting-feature/7359/4 "2025-03-17T18:47:05Z")
I just realized that I can add mortgage and other expenses as recurring monthly committed spending! My debit card might not have been linked to the same account before today, which is why I didn’t notice it. So, no need for #1!
This is awesome though! Falling in love with Emma again haha.
Thanks!