Allow users to set one total budget at a parent category level (e.g., “Total Food”) that covers all subcategories (Groceries, Restaurants, Food & Dining, etc.) without requiring a fixed allocation to each subcategory in advance.

Today, budgeting at the subcategory level forces users to decide upfront how much to assign to Groceries vs. Restaurants vs. other food subcategories. In practice, spending naturally shifts between these from month to month – more restaurants while traveling, more groceries at home – and a rigid split makes the budget harder to use.

A flexible parent-level budget would let the total remain fixed while letting actual spending flow to whichever subcategory it falls in. This matches how many people naturally think about food (or other category groups) as a single spending envelope, not a set of pre-divided buckets.