Explorer

The Explorer is your tool for answering specific questions about your spending. Unlike the Cash Flow report's time-based view, Explorer lets you group and analyze transactions by any dimension—category, merchant, tag, or time period.

How Explorer Works

Flexible Grouping

Choose how to organize your transactions:

• By Category - See spending per category
• By Merchant - See where you shop most
• By Tag - See spending per tag
• By Month - See monthly totals
• By Account - See spending per account

Drill-Down Navigation

Explorer supports drilling down through levels:

1. Start with a high-level grouping (categories)
2. Tap a category to see subcategories or merchants within
3. Tap further to see individual transactions
4. Navigate back up at any time

Visual Breakdown

See spending distribution as:

• Bar charts - Compare groups visually
• Percentages - What portion each group represents
• Dollar amounts - Exact spending per group

Grouping Options

By Category

Groups transactions by their category:

View shows:

• Each category with total spending
• Percentage of total expenses
• Visual bar indicating relative size

Drill-down to:

• Individual transactions in that category

Best for:

• "Where does my money go?"
• Comparing spending across expense types
• Finding your biggest spending areas

By Merchant/Recipient

Groups by who received the money:

View shows:

• Each merchant with total spending
• Number of transactions per merchant
• Sorted by total or frequency

Drill-down to:

• All transactions with that merchant
• Transaction details

Best for:

• "Who am I paying the most?"
• Finding subscription services
• Identifying frequent small purchases that add up

By Tag

Groups by tags you've applied:

View shows:

• Each tag with total spending
• Percentage of tagged transactions
• Untagged transactions as a group

Drill-down to:

• Transactions with that tag
• Further filtering options

Best for:

• Project expense tracking
• Shared expense analysis
• Custom grouping beyond categories

By Time Period

Groups by when transactions occurred:

Options:

• By month
• By week
• By day

View shows:

• Spending per period
• Comparison to adjacent periods
• Trend direction

Best for:

• Finding expensive months
• Tracking spending trends
• Seasonal pattern analysis

By Account

Groups by which account was used:

View shows:

• Spending per account
• Percentage of total per account
• Account types (checking, credit, etc.)

Best for:

• Understanding payment method usage
• Credit card spending analysis
• Account-specific budgeting

Filtering in Explorer

Date Range

Set the analysis period:

• This month, last month
• This quarter, this year
• Custom date range

All groupings respect the date filter.

Category Filter

Focus on specific categories:

• "Show only Food & Dining"
• Then group by merchant to see where you eat
• Or group by time to see dining trends

Tag Filter

Focus on tagged transactions:

• "Show only Business Expenses"
• Then group by category to see business spending breakdown
• Or by merchant for vendor analysis

Account Filter

Focus on specific accounts:

• "Show only Credit Cards"
• Understand credit spending separately from debit
• Compare spending across cards

Combining Filters

Filters stack for precise analysis:

• Date: "This Year"
• Category: "Entertainment"
• Account: "Personal Checking"
• Grouping: "By Merchant"

Result: All entertainment purchases from your personal checking this year, grouped by merchant.

Spending Indicators and Budget Creation

Average Spending Indicators

When grouping by category, unbudgeted categories with sufficient transaction history display right-aligned text beneath the total amount:

• Average monthly spending (e.g., "Avg. -$150.00/mo") — shown when there are 2 or more months of data, rounded up to the nearest $5
• Data confidence (e.g., "3 months of data") — always shown

These indicators help you spot spending patterns and decide which categories deserve a budget. More months of data means a more reliable average.

Categories that already have a budget show the standard colored budget progress bar instead.

Creating Budgets from Explorer

When you see a spending indicator and want to set a limit:

1. Long-press on the category
2. Tap Create Budget in the action menu
3. The budget amount is pre-filled with the suggested average
4. Adjust the amount and period, then save

The category immediately switches from the spending indicator text to a full budget progress bar. Your Explorer data refreshes automatically.

This is a quick way to build out your budgets based on actual spending patterns—see Creating Budgets for more details on the quick-create workflow and other ways to set up budgets.

Reading Explorer Results

Amount Display

Each group shows:

• Total amount - Sum of all transactions in the group
• Transaction count - Number of transactions
• Average - Average transaction size (total/count)

Percentage

For each group:

Percentage = (Group Total / All Groups Total) × 100

Helps understand relative importance of each group.

Sorting

Sort results by:

• Amount (high to low) - See biggest spending first
• Amount (low to high) - See smallest spending
• Count (high to low) - See most frequent first
• Alphabetical - Find specific groups easily

Visual Indicators

• Bar length - Proportional to spending amount
• Color coding - Categories use their assigned colors
• Trend arrows - When comparing to previous period

Drill-Down Navigation

Going Deeper

Tap any group to see more detail:

Category → Subcategory → Transactions

1. See all categories
2. Tap "Food & Dining"
3. See "Restaurants," "Groceries," etc.
4. Tap "Restaurants"
5. See individual restaurant transactions

Merchant → Transactions

1. See all merchants
2. Tap "Amazon"
3. See all Amazon transactions with dates and amounts

Breadcrumb Navigation

As you drill down, a breadcrumb trail shows your path:

All Categories > Food & Dining > Restaurants

Tap any level to jump back up.

Back Button

Navigate up one level at a time or jump to the top.

Common Explorer Uses

Finding Spending Leaks

"Where is my money going?"

1. Set date range to last 3 months
2. Group by merchant
3. Sort by amount (high to low)
4. Review top 20 merchants
5. Look for surprises or forgotten subscriptions

Subscription Audit

"What am I subscribed to?"

1. Group by merchant
2. Filter to recurring amounts (same amount appears monthly)
3. Look for streaming services, software, memberships
4. Decide what to keep or cancel

Category Deep-Dive

"I spent $800 on 'Shopping' — what was that?"

1. Filter to Shopping category
2. Group by merchant
3. See breakdown (Amazon, Target, etc.)
4. Drill into specific merchants if needed

Project Expense Summary

"How much did the kitchen renovation cost?"

1. Filter by "Kitchen Renovation" tag
2. Group by category
3. See breakdown: materials, labor, appliances
4. Export or screenshot for records

Monthly Comparison

"Am I spending more this month?"

1. Group by month
2. View last 6 months
3. Compare current month to average
4. Drill into high months to understand why

Merchant Frequency

"Where do I shop most often?"

1. Group by merchant
2. Sort by count (not amount)
3. See where you make the most transactions
4. Small frequent purchases often add up

Tips for Effective Exploration

Start Broad, Then Narrow

1. Begin with all transactions, group by category
2. Identify interesting areas
3. Filter to that area
4. Regroup by a different dimension
5. Drill into specifics

Compare Time Periods

Use date filters to compare:

• This month vs. last month
• This quarter vs. last quarter
• This year vs. last year

Look for Anomalies

Big spending months or unusual merchants often reveal:

• One-time expenses (car repair, medical)
• Lifestyle changes (new subscriptions)
• Opportunities to save

Combine with Cash Flow

Use both reports together:

• Cash Flow shows the big picture over time
• Explorer explains what's behind the numbers

Related Features

• Cash Flow Report - Time-based income/expense view
• Categories - How transactions are classified
• Tags - Custom transaction dimensions
• Budgets - Set limits based on Explorer insights