Vylo starts with categories for common household expenses and income. They give imported transactions somewhere to go and give your first budget a useful starting point.
The groups separate recurring commitments, everyday spending, occasional costs, subscriptions, money movements, and income. That makes it easier to see what changed without checking every purchase.
Below is the full default list. Your household’s list may look different if you’ve already changed it. You can rename categories, create your own, and adjust the matching rules to suit your household.
Fixed
Recurring commitments you plan around each month. “Fixed” doesn’t mean the amount never changes—an electricity bill can vary while still being a regular household cost.
| Category | What it means | How to use it, with examples |
|---|---|---|
| Rent/Mortgage | Regular payments for your home. | Put monthly rent or a mortgage payment here. Use Home Repairs for a plumber or other repair work. |
| Car Payment | Payments on vehicle financing. | Use for a monthly car loan or lease payment. Fuel belongs in Gas; repair bills belong in Auto Repairs. |
| Car Insurance | Insurance premiums for a vehicle. | Use for your insurer’s car-policy charge. If the insurer also covers your home, check which policy the charge belongs to. |
| Phone | Mobile and home phone service. | Use for a phone-plan bill, such as a monthly Fido charge. Buying a handset outright can go in Electronics. |
| Internet | Home internet service. | Use for a broadband bill. If internet and phone arrive as one combined charge, choose a consistent category or rename it to cover both. |
| Electricity | Electricity supplied to your home. | Use for a power bill, such as Toronto Hydro. Keep it separate from a natural-gas or water bill. |
| Utilities | Household utilities other than electricity. | Use for natural gas, water, or a combined utility bill. For example, an Enbridge gas bill belongs here. |
| Life Insurance | Life-insurance premiums. | Use for a recurring term-life or whole-life policy payment. Car premiums belong in Car Insurance. |
| Rental Insurance | Tenant or renter insurance. | Use for the policy protecting your belongings and liability in a rented home. The rent payment itself belongs in Rent/Mortgage. |
| Daycare | Regular childcare costs. | Use for daycare, preschool care, or a regular childcare provider. School tuition belongs in Education. |
| Bank Fees | Fees charged for your bank accounts. | Use for a monthly account fee, overdraft fee, or insufficient-funds charge. Credit-card fees have their own category below. |
| CC Fees & Interest | Credit-card fees and interest charges. | Use for an annual card fee or purchase interest. The payment that settles the card balance belongs in CC Payments under Excluded. |
| Retirement Savings Fund | Contributions you include in your monthly retirement-saving plan. | Use when you want to budget for a recurring RRSP or other retirement contribution. Check the Transfers guidance below if both accounts are connected. |
| Child Education Fund | Contributions toward a child’s future education. | Use for a recurring RESP or other education-savings contribution. A school bill you’re paying now belongs in Education. |
| Line of Credit | Repayments toward a line of credit. | Use for the payment you include in your monthly plan. Drawing money from the line of credit is borrowing, not salary. |
| Education Loan | Student or education-loan repayments. | Use for a monthly student-loan payment. A new course or tuition charge belongs in Education. |
Flexible
Everyday spending whose amount or timing changes. These categories help you spot patterns—for example, whether a higher food total came from groceries, takeout, or restaurant visits.
| Category | What it means | How to use it, with examples |
|---|---|---|
| Groceries | Food and everyday grocery purchases for home. | Use for a supermarket shop. If a big-box-store purchase was mainly furniture or clothing, choose the category for what you bought. |
| Restaurants | Meals bought directly from restaurants. | Use for dinner out or takeout collected from a restaurant. Delivery-platform orders can go in Food Delivery. |
| Food Delivery | Meals ordered through a delivery service. | Use for an Uber Eats or DoorDash order, including its delivery charge. An Uber ride belongs in Rideshare. |
| Coffee & Snacks | Smaller café, bakery, and snack purchases. | Use for a morning coffee, a pastry, or a juice-bar stop. Keeping these together makes frequent small purchases easier to notice. |
| Entertainment | Leisure activities and outings. | Use for cinema tickets, a concert, or a day at an attraction. A recurring video-streaming membership has a subscription category. |
| Clothing | Clothes, shoes, and accessories. | Use for a coat, shoes, or work clothes. Kids & Clothing is available if you want children’s clothing tracked separately. |
| Personal Care | Grooming, beauty, and personal-care purchases. | Use for haircuts, salon visits, cosmetics, or skincare. A prescription or pharmacy health purchase belongs in Health. |
| Health | Routine health-related purchases and services. | Use for prescriptions, pharmacy purchases, or regular treatment. You can keep larger occasional bills in Medical or Dental. |
| Gifts | Presents and gifts for other people. | Use for a birthday present, flowers, or a wedding gift. A donation to a charity belongs in Donations. |
| Gas | Fuel for a vehicle. | Use for filling the car’s tank. A household natural-gas bill belongs in Utilities. |
| Public Transit | Local and commuter public transport. | Use for a transit pass, bus fare, or Presto top-up. Taxi and ride-hailing trips belong in Rideshare. |
| Rideshare | Ride-hailing and similar paid rides. | Use for an Uber or Lyft trip. Check the description so a food-delivery order doesn’t end up here. |
| Parking | Parking charges. | Use for a meter, a parking garage, or a monthly parking pass. |
| Shopping & Retail | General retail purchases without a more useful category. | Use for a mixed shopping order you want to keep together. Choose Electronics or Clothing instead when that better describes the purchase. |
| Home & Household | Items and supplies used around the home. | Use for cleaning supplies, bedding, kitchenware, or furniture. A contractor’s repair bill belongs in Home Repairs. |
| Shipping | Postage, courier, and parcel charges. | Use for mailing a parcel through Canada Post, UPS, or FedEx. A shipping fee already included in a shop’s total doesn’t need a second transaction. |
| Pets | Spending on your pets. | Use for food, supplies, grooming, or a vet bill. Keeping these together shows the household’s total pet costs. |
| Electronics | Electronic devices and equipment. | Use for headphones, a laptop, or a television. A recurring software subscription belongs in Software. |
| Kids | Children’s expenses without a more specific category. | Use for toys, baby supplies, or swimming lessons. Daycare and Kids & Clothing let you track those costs separately. |
| Kids & Clothing | Clothing and footwear for children. | Use for school shoes, baby clothes, or winter coats. You can combine this with Clothing if the extra detail isn’t useful. |
Non-Monthly
Costs that arrive occasionally or in larger bills. Keeping them visible helps explain an expensive month: a dental bill or holiday is different from an increase in everyday spending.
| Category | What it means | How to use it, with examples |
|---|---|---|
| Travel - Airfare | Flights and airline charges. | Use for airline tickets, baggage charges, or seat-selection fees. |
| Travel - Lodging | Accommodation while travelling. | Use for a hotel, holiday rental, or Airbnb stay. Flights belong in Travel - Airfare. |
| Travel - Other | Travel costs outside flights and accommodation. | Use for a rental car, travel insurance, or a tour. If you prefer to keep holiday meals in Restaurants, apply that choice consistently. |
| Medical | Occasional medical bills. | Use for an unexpected clinic bill or a larger treatment expense. Health can hold routine pharmacy and care purchases. |
| Dental | Dental treatment and services. | Use for a cleaning, filling, braces, or another dental bill. |
| Home Repairs | Repairs and maintenance to your home. | Use for a plumber, roof repair, or electrician. Household supplies and furniture belong in Home & Household. |
| Auto Repairs | Vehicle repairs and maintenance. | Use for servicing, replacement tires, or a mechanic’s bill. Keep loan payments in Car Payment. |
| Taxes | Tax payments made separately from everyday purchases. | Use for a property-tax bill or a tax payment to the CRA or IRS. Sales tax included in a purchase can stay with that purchase’s category. |
| Education | Current education and training costs. | Use for tuition, a course, or textbooks. Education Loan tracks repayments; Child Education Fund tracks saving for later. |
| Donations | Contributions to charities and causes. | Use for a charity donation or fundraiser contribution. A personal birthday present belongs in Gifts. |
Digital Subscriptions
Recurring digital services. Separate categories make it easier to see which subscriptions you’re paying for and notice a price change.
| Category | What it means | How to use it, with examples |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix | Netflix membership charges. | Use for your monthly Netflix plan or a separately billed membership add-on. |
| Disney+ | Disney+ membership charges. | Use for a monthly or annual Disney+ subscription. Check which service a bundled charge actually covers. |
| Hulu | Hulu membership charges. | Use for a Hulu plan or its billed add-ons. If a bundle arrives as one charge, use a category name that makes that clear to you. |
| Spotify | Spotify membership charges. | Use for an Individual, Duo, or Family plan payment. A concert ticket belongs in Entertainment. |
| Apple Music | Apple Music membership charges. | Use for the music subscription. Other Apple charges may be hardware or software, so check the receipt before assigning them. |
| Amazon Prime | Amazon Prime membership charges. | Use for the membership fee. An Amazon shopping order belongs in the category for what you bought. |
| YouTube Premium | YouTube Premium membership charges. | Use for the recurring Premium plan. A different Google service, such as cloud storage, can go in Software. |
| Streaming | Video-streaming services without their own category. | Use for Crave, Paramount+, or another service you haven’t separated out. You can create a named category if you want to track it on its own. |
| Music Streaming | Music services without their own category. | Use for Tidal, Pandora, or a similar subscription. Keep Spotify or Apple Music in their named categories if you want that breakdown. |
| Software | Paid apps, software plans, and cloud services. | Use for Microsoft 365, Adobe, iCloud storage, or another software subscription. Hardware belongs in Electronics. |
Excluded
These transactions stay in your records but are excluded from budget spending. This helps avoid counting the same money twice—for example, once when you buy groceries on a credit card and again when you pay the card bill.
| Category | What it means | How to use it, with examples |
|---|---|---|
| Transfers | Money moving between accounts, rather than a new purchase or earnings. | Use for moving money from your chequing account to your savings account. An e-transfer to a babysitter is still spending and belongs in the appropriate expense category. |
| CC Payments | Payments toward a credit-card balance. | Use for the payment from chequing to your card. The purchases on the card already describe what you spent; card interest belongs in CC Fees & Interest. |
| Refunds | Money returned for an earlier purchase. | Use for the credit from returned shoes or a cancelled order. A refund is not new salary. This default category keeps the returned money out of budget spending. |
Moving money to savings doesn’t buy anything. If you deliberately include a retirement or education contribution in your monthly budget, check both sides of the transfer so the same contribution isn’t counted twice.
You can add your own category under Excluded for costs outside your household budget, such as a work expense your employer will repay. See how to handle both the purchase and reimbursement.
Income
Money your household receives as income. Keeping this separate from transfers and refunds helps your income total describe what you actually earned or received.
| Category | What it means | How to use it, with examples |
|---|---|---|
| Salary | Regular pay from employment. | Use for your usual payroll deposit. You can rename Salary to something like Paycheques, but this category cannot be deleted. |
| Variable Income | Income that changes in amount or timing. | Use for freelance work, commissions, or other irregular work payments. |
| Other Income | Income that doesn’t fit regular salary or variable work. | Use for income such as a benefit payment or rental income. A cheque deposit needs checking: it could also be a refund or a transfer. |
You can also add categories inside Income for Tutoring, Freelance design, or another side gig. See how to track those earnings and their related expenses.
What about Uncategorized?
Uncategorized holds expenses that still need a category. It isn’t a spending plan of its own. Review those transactions and put them where they belong so your category totals are useful.
Can I change or delete the defaults?
Yes—many default categories are editable. You don’t need to use every category or give every one a budget. Most default group names are protected, and Salary cannot be deleted. Vylo shows the actions available for each item.
Before deleting a category:
- Rename it if only the label is wrong. Renaming keeps its existing transactions together. Deleting and recreating the name is a different action.
- Choose where its transactions should go. Deletion moves them to another category, or to Uncategorized for expenses. Income must move to another income category.
- Check the budget and past comparisons. Moving old purchases changes the category totals you’ll compare. Review the budget for the category you’re keeping.
- Review the matching rules. Rules attached to the deleted category are deactivated. Check how future purchases from those merchants should be sorted.
- Don’t rely on deletion to stop automatic matching. Vylo can recreate a built-in category during an import or budget setup. Adjusting a merchant choice or category keyword is a better way to change where purchases go.
For the steps, see rename a category, add a category, edit matching rules, or move, combine, and delete categories.