Update

EEBA is now Goodbudget! Goodbudget has all the great features of EEBA (and more!) in a new and updated interface. Check out our updated article on this topic, and check out the Goodbudget Help Center for the most recent help content.

Tags are a way to keep track of spending that occurs in more than one Envelope. You can use this feature to keep track of pretty much anything, from spending on events or personal projects to tax deductions.

For example, I’ve always wondered how much I spend on tailgate parties. When I go tailgating I buy food from my Groceries Envelope, gas from my Transportation Envelope, and tickets from my Fun Money Envelope. Because the expenses are recorded to different Envelopes it’s hard to know how much I really spend. With tags I can add a “tailgate” tag to each of these expenses and see how much I spend on tailgating no matter how many Envelopes the expenses are recorded to.

How do I add a #tag to an expense?

To add a tag simply type “#” and then the name of your tag into the notes field of the expense. Here, I’m buying food for my next tailgate party. I record the expense to my Groceries Envelope as usual, but now I add “#tailgating” into the notes field.

Below the notes field you’ll see the tags EEBA currently recognizes for the expense, as well as a list of your most commonly used tags. You can add as many tags as you like to a single transaction.

Using #tags with Reports

At the end of the month I want to know how much I spent on tailgating parties. So I head to the Expense Breakdown report, select “tailgating” under the Tagged filter, and click “Go.” This shows me a breakdown of all the expenses I’ve recorded with the tag “tailgating.”

Here I see that I spent $114.86 last month! That’s more than I thought. I know I spent $55 for the ticket, but I didn’t realize how much the $24.86 for food and $35 for gas would add up. I’d like to go to another game next month, but I may want to cut back on my other spending to make sure I don’t overspend.

Filter your Transaction History by #tag

You can also filter your transaction history by tags. Select the tag you want filter by in the “Tagged” menu and click “Go.”

Thanks K.B. for the question!