Set a monthly spending budget
You can set a monthly spending cap for any spending category. When you get close to the limit, Clarity will let you know. Budgets are checked against your live Plaid transaction data automatically each month.
How to do it
Ask Clarity:
"Set a $400 grocery budget for the month." "Limit my dining spend to $200 a month." "I want to cap travel at $500 monthly."
Clarity will show you a preview of the budget before saving it. Confirm and it goes live immediately.
Updating a budget
To change the cap amount or alert threshold, just set the budget again with the new amount. The existing budget is updated automatically — no need to delete and recreate.
"Update my grocery budget to $450."
Alert threshold
By default, Clarity alerts you when you hit 80% of your monthly cap. You can change this:
"Alert me when I reach 90% of my dining budget."
Spending categories
Budgets are tied to Plaid's spending categories (called pfcPrimary). Common ones:
| Category | What it covers |
|---|---|
| FOOD_AND_DRINK | Groceries, restaurants, coffee shops |
| TRAVEL | Flights, hotels, rideshare, parking |
| GENERAL_MERCHANDISE | Amazon, Target, Walmart, Costco |
| ENTERTAINMENT | Streaming, events, games |
| PERSONAL_CARE | Pharmacy, haircuts, gym |
| HOME_IMPROVEMENT | Hardware stores, home goods |
| TRANSPORTATION | Gas, tolls, auto maintenance |
If you name a familiar category (groceries, dining, travel), Clarity maps it to the right Plaid category automatically.
Common questions
How does ClarityTrack know my current spend?
Budgets pull from your Plaid-linked bank transactions for the current calendar month. You need at least one connected bank account for budget tracking to work.
Can I set a budget without a bank connection?
You can create the budget, but spend tracking will show $0 until a bank account is connected and synced.
What happens at the start of a new month?
Spend tracking resets to $0 on the first of each month. Your budget caps stay in place.