Tracking-Only Slices

Most slices in Cake Budget work like envelopes: you put money in, and spending draws it back out. Tracking-only slices work differently — they don’t hold any money at all. Instead, you set a monthly spending limit, and the slice simply watches your spending against it.

Think of it as the difference between “I’ve set aside $200 for gas” and “I’d like to keep gas under $200 this month.” A tracking-only slice is the second one.

When to Use One

• Your savings come first: You’re putting every spare dollar toward a goal and don’t want to lock money into everyday categories — but you still want guardrails on them.
• The expense is unavoidable but uneven: Gas, groceries during a busy month, “life happens” spending. You don’t need permission to spend it; you need visibility into it.
• Cash flow is tight: A tracking-only slice never blocks a transaction — it just shows you where you stand.
• You’re easing into envelope budgeting: They work like the category budgets in other apps, and you can convert them to full envelopes later.

If you want to set money aside so it’s protected from other spending, use a regular spending slice instead — that’s still the best fit for bills, goals, and anything you fund ahead of time.

How to Create One

1. Go to Slices and click Add Slice (or edit an existing expense slice).
2. Choose Expense as the slice type — tracking-only mode is only available for expense slices.
3. Turn on the Tracking only switch.
4. Enter your Monthly Spending Limit.
5. Name it, pick an emoji and color, and save.

The form gets simpler when the switch is on: no due date, no auto-contribution, no recurring settings — none of those apply because the slice never holds or moves money.

Reading Your Tracking Slice

The slice card shows a Tracking badge and a progress bar of this month’s spending:

• Your slice color — comfortably under the limit
• Amber — 80% or more of the limit used
• Red — over the limit, with the exact amount shown

Going over the limit never blocks anything. The slice’s job is to tell you the truth, not to stop you.

How Spending Is Counted

• A transaction counts as soon as it’s assigned to the slice — manually, in bulk, or through a rule.
• Only spending counts; income and internal transfers are ignored.
• The count follows the transaction’s date: a June purchase assigned in July counts toward June.
• The counter starts fresh at the beginning of each calendar month — nothing to reset.
• Unassigning or deleting a transaction removes it from the count immediately.

Converting Between Slice Types

• Regular → Tracking-only: Edit the slice and turn the switch on. Any money it held is released back to your safe-to-spend and recorded in the slice’s balance history. Any auto-contribution is removed.
• Tracking-only → Regular: Turn the switch off. The slice becomes a normal spending slice starting at $0, ready to fund like any other.

What Tracking-Only Slices Don’t Do

Because they never hold money, tracking-only slices:

• Don’t appear in Move Funds as a source or destination
• Can’t be added to funding schedules or receive auto-contributions
• Can’t be targets of money-moving rules (round-ups and transfers)
• Don’t affect your safe-to-spend
• Don’t have due dates, recurring resets, or funding projections

Frequently Asked Questions

Does spending from a tracking slice reduce my safe-to-spend? Your safe-to-spend goes down because the money left your bank account — the same as any spending. Assigning the transaction to a tracking slice doesn’t change it further, since the slice holds no money.

What happens if I go over my limit? The bar turns red and shows how much you’re over. Nothing is blocked, and next month starts fresh.

Can I set a weekly limit, or a custom period? Not yet — tracking-only slices track the calendar month. Let us know on the feedback board if you’d use custom periods.

Can I split a transaction into a tracking slice? Yes — any portion assigned to a tracking slice counts toward its limit.

Why can’t my savings goal be tracking-only? Tracking measures money going out. Goals measure money you’ve set aside — that requires actually holding the money, which is what regular goal slices do.