How to create and manage custom categories in Granite

Categories make spending easier to understand

Granite uses categories to organize transactions in search results, monthly summaries, charts, and Insights. Built-in categories cover common activity, while custom categories let you use language that better fits your household or priorities.

A category explains the purpose of a transaction. For most expenses, changing the category changes where the spending appears rather than whether the money left your budget.

Create a custom category from Settings

Open Settings, then Categories. Choose the option to add a category, enter a unique name, select an emoji and color, and save it.

Custom categories created here become available in category selectors throughout Granite. New custom categories are expense categories; use Granite’s supported income treatment when a transaction represents money coming in.

• Use a short name you will recognize in charts and filters
• Choose an emoji that remains clear at a small size
• Use color to distinguish categories with similar names
• Avoid creating several categories for the same spending purpose

Create a category while editing a transaction

You can also create a custom category from the transaction-editing experience. This is useful when you discover a new recurring use case while reviewing activity.

After the category is saved, assign it to the current transaction and reuse it for other matching purchases. The new category also appears in Settings, where you can rename, recolor, or remove it later.

Assign or change a transaction category

Open the transaction, choose Edit, and select the built-in or custom category that best reflects the purchase. Save the change, then allow affected Insights or summaries to refresh.

Recategorizing a purchase can move its amount between category totals, alter category charts, and change which transactions appear under a category filter. It normally does not change total spending because the amount itself has not changed.

Be careful when a transaction is actually income

Income changes the direction in which a transaction affects the budget. Do not use an expense category to disguise income or mark ordinary spending as income only to make the daily number larger.

If a deposit, refund, reimbursement, transfer, or card payment is categorized incorrectly, review the meaning of the money movement before changing it. The correct treatment depends on whether the activity represents new income, new spending, an offsetting credit, or movement between your own accounts.

Renaming a category updates its transactions

Edit a custom category in Settings to change its name, emoji, or color. When the name changes successfully, Granite updates transactions that were using the old custom-category name so they continue to appear together.

If Granite reports that some transactions could not be updated, review recent activity for the earlier name. The category itself may be saved even when an individual transaction needs another refresh.

Deleting a category does not delete transactions

When you delete a custom category, Granite removes the category choice and clears it from affected transactions. Those transactions remain in your history and appear as Other until you assign another category.

Deletion does not remove the purchase, change its amount, ignore it, or erase it from the budget. Recategorize important affected transactions if you still want them grouped in Insights.

Build categories that stay useful

A small category system you consistently understand is usually more useful than a long list you rarely review. Granite’s categories should reduce friction when you look back at spending, not create another bookkeeping project.

• Start broad, then create a category when the distinction changes a decision
• Prefer categories such as Childcare, Pet Care, or Work Expenses over individual merchant names
• Use transaction search before creating a near-duplicate category
• Review categories after a major lifestyle or household change
• Rename an existing category when its purpose evolved instead of creating a second copy