The Spending page is your transaction ledger. Every expense you import from a bank statement — or add manually — appears here, organized by month, date, and category. It is the clearest view of where your money actually goes.
What You See on the Spending Page
At the top of the page you will see summary cards showing your total spending for the selected month, broken down by your top spending categories. Below that is the full transaction table.
The transaction table shows:
- Date — when the transaction occurred
- Merchant — the business or payee name
- Category — one of the 17 ZhanPlan categories (editable)
- Subcategory — a more specific label (e.g., Gas Station, Streaming Service)
- Amount — how much was spent
- Note — optional personal note you can add
- Recurring — marked if ZhanPlan detects this merchant appears regularly
How to Navigate by Month
Use the month picker at the top right of the Spending page to jump to any past month. ZhanPlan shows you all imported transactions for that month. If you have not imported a statement for a given month yet, the page will show empty — a prompt to go to Bank Import.
How to Filter by Category
Click any category badge in the summary cards at the top to filter the transaction list to that category only. This is useful when you want to see all your Dining Out charges for a month, or review every Subscription charge.
To clear the filter, click the active category badge again or click All Categories.
How to Edit a Transaction
Click any row in the transaction table to open the edit panel. You can change:
- Category — select from the 17 ZhanPlan categories
- Subcategory — more specific label
- Merchant name — correct a garbled bank description
- Amount — fix any extraction errors
- Note — add context (e.g., "birthday dinner" or "work reimbursed")
- Recurring toggle — mark or unmark a transaction as recurring
Changes save instantly. The spending totals and category breakdowns on the page update in real time.
How to Add a Transaction Manually
If you made a cash purchase or a transaction did not appear in your bank import, click Add Transaction at the top of the page. Fill in the date, merchant, amount, and category. Manual transactions appear in your spending list alongside imported ones.
How to Delete a Transaction
Click the row to open the edit panel, then click Delete. You will be asked to confirm. Deleted transactions are removed from your spending totals, budget tracking, and cash flow calculations immediately.
If you want to delete many transactions at once — for example, to remove an entire import — use the bulk delete checkboxes. Check the box at the top of the table to select all, or check individual rows, then click Delete Selected.
The 17 Spending Categories
ZhanPlan organizes every expense into one of these 17 categories:
- Food & Groceries — supermarkets, grocery stores, produce markets
- Dining Out — restaurants, fast food, coffee shops, food delivery
- Housing — rent, mortgage payments, property taxes, home repairs
- Transportation — gas, rideshare, parking, car maintenance, tolls
- Utilities — electric, gas, water, internet, phone bills
- Health & Medical — doctor visits, pharmacy, insurance copays, gym
- Subscriptions — streaming services, software, memberships billed monthly
- Entertainment — movies, events, concerts, hobbies
- Clothing — apparel, shoes, accessories
- Personal Care — haircuts, salon, skincare, grooming
- Education — tuition, books, courses, tutoring
- Kids & Family — childcare, school supplies, activities
- Savings — transfers to savings accounts (when marked as intentional)
- Debt Payments — credit card payments, loan payments (above minimum)
- Gifts & Donations — presents, charity, tithing
- Friends & Social — social activities, shared expenses, nights out
- Other — anything that does not fit the above
Consistent categorization is what makes ZhanPlan powerful over time. The more months you import, the more clearly you see patterns — which categories creep up over summer, which ones spike in December, and where the quiet leaks are happening.
Why Your Spending Data Matters
The Spending page feeds directly into your Budget (actual vs. limit comparisons), your Cash Flow (monthly expense totals), your Health Score (spending control dimension), and your monthly Comparison view.
The more accurately your spending data reflects reality, the more accurate every other ZhanPlan feature becomes.
Why do some transactions show up as Excluded?
Transactions that ZhanPlan detects as internal transfers — like moving money from savings to checking, SoFi vault moves, or Zelle to yourself — are automatically excluded from spending. They appear in the Bank Import review screen in amber. You can override this and include them if needed.
Can I add custom categories?
Yes. When editing a transaction, you can type a custom category name in the category field. Custom categories appear in your spending breakdowns alongside the 17 standard categories.
Does ZhanPlan show spending trends over multiple months?
Yes. Go to the Comparison page under Reports to see up to 4 months of spending side by side, with category breakdowns and percentage changes between months.