# Odometer but /stay below/ **URL:** \ **Category:** Bugabee\ **Created:** [October 11, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/odometer-but-stay-below/10569 "2022-10-11T01:44:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chris\_s](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/chris_s/32/3312_2.png) [@chris\_s](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/chris_s)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/odometer-but-stay-below/10569/1 "2022-10-11T01:44:11Z")
Hi all, Can’t seem to find this asked with a quick search of the forum. I would like an odometer but “stay below” (I want a “do less” goal, but with the functionality of odometer rather than a standard do less goal, including the resetting by entering “0”). I have a “smoking cessation” device which counts to 1000 then resets; basically, I want to Beemind that with the odometer. Anyone have any straightforward ideas on how this might be possible? Is there an obvious solution I’m overlooking? Thanks, Chris. ---
**Author:** ![adamwolf](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/adamwolf/32/484_2.png) [@adamwolf](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/adamwolf)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 9:04pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/odometer-but-stay-below/10569/2 "2022-10-12T21:04:43Z")
Is it a Whittle Down goal? [Whittle Down goals - Beeminder Help](https://help.beeminder.com/article/69-whittle-down-goals) ---
**Author:** ![chris\_s](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/chris_s/32/3312_2.png) [@chris\_s](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/chris_s)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/odometer-but-stay-below/10569/3 "2022-10-13T20:52:14Z")
No; the number is going to keep increasing, but at a lesser and lesser rate. It could be done as a whittle down if I could have the slope of the whittle down goal going the “wrong” way, I suppose (in fact, such a whittle down goal might be useful in some other circumstances I can think of; like if you’ve got some sort of kobiashi maru inbox that, no matter what you’re gonna do, it’s going to get bigger, but you want to make a valiant effort, in any case). I’ll think about it though! ---
**Author:** ![rperce](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/rperce/32/4197_2.png) [@rperce](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/rperce)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 9:23pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/odometer-but-stay-below/10569/4 "2022-10-13T21:23:35Z")
You can definitely have a whittle-down goal with positive slope! The biggest difficulty, I think, will be in ensuring accurate data-entry, but as long as you can pull that off it should work correctly! ---
**Author:** ![adamwolf](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/adamwolf/32/484_2.png) [@adamwolf](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/adamwolf)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2022, 10:46pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/odometer-but-stay-below/10569/5 "2022-10-13T22:46:12Z")
“whittle up” 😂 ---
**Author:** ![chris\_s](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/chris_s/32/3312_2.png) [@chris\_s](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/chris_s)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2022, 7:04pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/odometer-but-stay-below/10569/6 "2022-10-14T19:04:23Z")
So I suppose then I would just have to do the math in any case? Then I guess it would be simpler to make it like almost every other goal I make: a “do more” goal where i get a point for success on any given day where I stay below the rate I propose for myself, and don’t get a point if I don’t. It seems every goal can be boiled down into this format, but then I lose the coolness of the novelty of different graph types and the intrigue of how they visually display what they are tracking! Thank you though, your help was insightful. Do I literally put a negative symbol in when I make the whittle down goal, or is it a specific setting? Chris ---
**Author:** ![rperce](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/rperce/32/4197_2.png) [@rperce](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/rperce)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/odometer-but-stay-below/10569/7 "2022-10-15T16:29:35Z")
Yeah, I think you’d have to do the odometer-math yourself. You… might be able to do something sneaky with the API or with bulk export/import to shift all your data points by 1000 but it feels like that way lies madness. I think you should be able to just put a negative symbol at goal creation, but if the new-goal wizard is too clever you can set whatever rate, then use [graph.beeminder.com](http://graph.beeminder.com) to adjust it properly. That’ll leave you subject to the akrasia horizon, note. ---
**Author:** ![philip](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/philip/32/1505_2.png) [@philip](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/philip)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 5:58pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/odometer-but-stay-below/10569/8 "2022-10-18T17:58:42Z")
Every possible goal type exists, one way or another. Above or below the line being good (a.k.a. `yaw`), datapoints as totals or as increments (a.k.a. `kyoom`), line sloping upward or downward (a.k.a. `dir`). The [API docs](http://api.beeminder.com/#attributes-2) have some of the gory details (and even more tongue-in-cheek namings, some now deprecated). At the bottom of the linked section is a handy table that tells you what each of the six pre-configured goal types defaults those (and many other!) variables do. ---
**Author:** ![chris\_s](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/chris_s/32/3312_2.png) [@chris\_s](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/chris_s)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/odometer-but-stay-below/10569/9 "2022-11-03T19:22:18Z")
Woah did the custom goals help always say right at the beginning “an Odometer goal that makes you stay below the red line,” and I didn’t know and then I asked this question and looked like a knob!? 🙂 (By the way, I just upgraded to the level that allows me to make custom goals, so I’ll try and figure it out.) ---
**Author:** ![philip](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.beeminder.com/philip/32/1505_2.png) [@philip](https://forum.beeminder.com/u/philip)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://forum.beeminder.com/t/odometer-but-stay-below/10569/10 "2022-11-04T15:01:52Z")
No idea, but if so, a very useful knob indeed, not least for folks who search the forum rather than the help site. 😃 Equally possible that this question prompted an edit; there’s a perpetual cycle of improving the helpful help articles.