Tell Today the goal, the date and roughly what you can set aside — once. It works backwards to what every payday should hold back, re-paces the plan automatically when a month runs lean, and brings the number back on each payday with a simple confirm.
Plans like this usually fail in the first lean month, not the last: there is no date, no per-payday amount, and one short month wipes the momentum you spent three building. The fix is not more willpower — it is a pace you can actually keep.
$2,400 for the trip, 12 paydays away — Today divides the distance by the paydays you will actually have, adds a small buffer for the months that run late, and tells you the exact amount to set aside each time. One goal, one date, one number you can actually repeat.
When a month comes up short — a car repair, a slow freelance month — Today recalculates on the spot: a smaller share this payday, a slightly bigger one later, and an honest answer about whether the date still holds. You re-pace. You never restart from zero.
An emergency fund and a trip at the same time? Today ranks the goals by deadline and priority, splits each payday's set-aside across them, and when money gets tight it protects the goal you ranked first. You set the order once; it keeps the math honest from then on.
Today treats a six-month buffer as the goal that outranks the others: it schedules the runway first and only layers a trip or a gift fund on top of a pace you are actually keeping.
Rent, groceries, the bills — tell Today once which lines are off limits, and it never plans a set-aside that would raid them. When a month is tight, it re-paces from what is genuinely left after the non-negotiables.
Each payday updates one honest line per goal: months on pace, months behind, what is still missing before the date. Every number can be corrected or deleted any time — the truth stays visible, and so does the fix.
The goals differ — a runway, a trip, two goals at once, an income that never behaves — but the mechanism is the same: a per-payday number, re-pacing when needed, and progress you can actually see.
Monthly fixed costs of $2,800 mean a six-month buffer is $16,800. Today schedules it across the next 15 paydays, front-loads the number so a light month in the middle won't break the date, and treats this goal as the one that outranks everything else you add later.
A $4,800 trip on 14 June, monthly paydays, and a January that always runs expensive. Today sets a $240-per-payday pace, holds a little extra back before January, and each month shows the countdown: $4,560, $3,840, then the last stretch before you book.
The six-month buffer is half built and the trip is nine months away. Today runs both: the emergency fund keeps its pace first, the trip gets what is left, and when a surprise expense appears it dips the trip share — never the runway — then catches the trip back up over two paydays.
Invoices land in bursts, so some months payday is four times and others none at all. Today paces from the quieter months, not the loud ones: a base share when nothing clears, a larger top-up the week a big invoice does — and the emergency fund built first to smooth the gaps.
The trip in nine months for $4,500, the deposit, the emergency fund — plus the months that are always tight, like December or a quarter when invoices lag. Two minutes, once. Nothing is connected; every figure is yours.
Today maps the paydays left before the date, sets a share for each one, and holds back enough room that an occasional light month won't sink the deadline. The plan adapts to real paydays, not to 'the 1st of every month'.
Each payday Today brings back the amount with a simple confirm, and you log what you actually set aside. If income dips, it eases the pace on the spot; if the goal lands early, it asks what is next. Money only moves when you move it — Today plans, tracks and reminds, nothing more.
| Capability | Today | Bank standing-order transfer | Spreadsheet | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A per-payday amount worked backwards from goal and date | Partial | Partial | Partial | |
| Re-paces automatically when a month runs lean | Partial | |||
| Several goals at once, ranked and kept on pace | Partial | Partial | ||
| Never plans around the money you marked untouchable | Partial | |||
| Honest progress you can see, correct or delete | Partial | Partial | ||
| Brings the plan back on payday, month after month | Partial |
Today is a money and organisation assistant, not a bank, broker or financial adviser. It plans and tracks your goals but never touches an account — transfers stay yours to make, and everything it remembers can be read, edited and deleted.
Today works backwards: the goal amount, the target date and the paydays in between. A $3,600 trip 12 paydays away works out to $300 per payday before any buffer — and Today checks that number against what you said you can realistically set aside, easing the pace if the math doesn't fit your actual months.
No. Today plans and tracks; it has no access to your accounts and no way to move money. You set the amount aside in whatever account you already use — Today tells you when and how much, you make the transfer, and you log or confirm it so the plan stays honest.
No — that is exactly what re-pacing is for. When a month comes up short, Today lowers that payday's share, spreads the difference across the months that follow, and tells you plainly if the date needs to move and by how much. Momentum continues; only the pace changes.
Yes. Add the emergency fund and the trip together, tell Today which has the harder deadline or matters more, and it splits each payday's set-aside across them in that order. When money gets tight, the goal you ranked first is protected before the others.
Most apps ask you to pick an amount and a recurring transfer, then show you a balance going up. Today starts from the outcome — the trip, the deposit, six months of runway — and does the backwards math, re-paces when your months misbehave, keeps several goals honest at once, and works entirely from the numbers you already have, with nothing to connect.
Set the goal and the date; Today works backwards to what this payday needs and re-paces when the month gets lean. Free to use on iPhone, Android, macOS and the web.
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