Assigned, Activity, Available (Explained)

The three numbers you see on every category

Most questions about “why does this look wrong?” come down to understanding these columns. Purpose Budget uses the same core model across categories:

• Assigned: how much you explicitly allocated to the category for the current month.
• Activity: the sum of transactions in that category for the month (spending is negative; refunds/income can be positive).
• Available: how much you can spend right now from that category.

How Available is calculated

In a standard spending category, a simple mental model is:

Available = (last month’s Available carryover) + Assigned + Activity

That means:

• If you assign more money, Available goes up.
• If you spend money, Activity goes down and Available goes down.
• If you get a refund, Activity goes up and Available goes up.

What counts as Activity?

Activity is driven by transactions. If something is categorized to a category in the current month, it contributes to Activity for that month.

• Outflows (spending) typically reduce Activity.
• Inflows (refunds, reimbursements, or categorized income) can increase Activity.
• Transfers between accounts generally shouldn’t be categorized as spending (see Transfers vs Spending).

Common confusion: “I changed my budget and Activity didn’t change”

That’s expected. Assigned changes when you budget money. Activity changes only when transactions happen. If you want to change Activity, you do that by fixing transactions (date, category, amount) — not by changing the budgeted amount.

Quick checklist when something looks off

1. Click the category’s Activity amount and verify the transactions listed match what you expect.
2. Check the transaction dates (month matters).
3. Check the transaction category (especially for transfers and credit card payments).
4. Reconcile the account if balances don’t match your bank (see Reconciliation & Budget Checkup).