noteobserved
A budget needs planned, actual, and extra
One savings total can hide whether the plan worked or whether unrelated extra contributions inflated the number.
A dashboard said more money had been saved than planned. Nice problem, until the total made it impossible to see whether the intended monthly routine actually happened. The difference came from several legitimate extras: small automatic contributions and money added to goals outside the plan.
The number was correct, but it answered the wrong question. Showing Planned, Actual, and Additional side by side preserves both stories: did I follow the plan, and did I do anything extra? A single impressive total can accidentally make a useful dashboard less honest.