Abstract: A method for managing credit card spending, including receiving a managed spending limit for a credit card account set by a user, where the managed spending limit does not exceed a credit limit for the credit card account, and where the managed spending limit is applied to a purchase category to obtain a managed spending plan, receiving an authorization query for a purchase associated with the credit card account, allocating the authorization query based on the purchase category to obtain an allocated purchase, responding to the authorization query based on the allocated purchase and the managed spending plan, and generating a spending report for the credit card account based on the allocated purchase and the managed spending plan.