I'd like the debt to be paid off a lot sooner. I could have the option of putting 50 dollars per month into a savings account and once i reach my loan payoff, I could just pay it in one check. However, I choose to pay the 50 per month towards principle payments to save on interest payments. If I can save 5-10 dollars per month in interest, over a 5 yr loan, that's extra money to do something else with it.
Maybe I should average my monthly payments and make the average my 'spending plan' for the car payment? On Dec 23, 7:45 pm, Blair Watkinson <thewatkins...@mac.com> wrote: > Mark, > > The only caveat I would add is that perhaps you shouldn't just plan > your minimum payment as your Spending Plan amount. > > Rather, take a different approach--when do you want the debt paid > off? What will you have to pay each month to make that happen? Can > you make the sacrifices to achieve that goal? Balance your sacrifices > and your debt pay-off goals, and prescribe that as the minimum amount > in MoneyWell. > > I have found that when I don't plan for an expense (like Savings), and > just put away "what's left over," I don't have anything left over. > Money, like other things in life, is a limited resource with many > demands on it. If we're not deliberate about how to use it, we will > find that we are using it in a way that we would not have planned had > we taken a more deliberate approach (I really wanted to pay off my Car > loan, but I didn't set the money aside, and instead went out to eat 25 > out of 30 nights this month). Therefore, my spending plan needs to be > a reflection of my priorities--if eliminating debt is a priority, plan > for that, and don't do it as an after-thought. > > Now, you can still catch additional money on the back-side of the > month as well--if you have money left over. But, I'd encourage you to > deliberately plan an amount that meets your goals and is doable within > your personal lifestyle, sacrifices, etc, when dealing with the > limited commodity that money is. > > Blair > > On Dec 23, 2008, at 7:33 AM, Jaysen wrote: > > > > > Budget your minimum payment including interest (the $200). You can > > still pay more, but it will need to come from your surplus. The idea > > with MoneyWell is to let you control expenses and show you where you > > are (sorry if that is slightly off Kevin). You can always spend more, > > but you will need to "steal from Peter to pay Paul" and MoneyWell will > > let you. Here is how. > > > 1. Do your spending plan > > 2. Allocate income > > 3. Over spend in a bucket (over pay your loan) > > 4. Find a bucket that has "extra" allocation right now. > > 5. "Flow" money from that bucket into the over spent. Easiest way to > > so drag the source bucket to the destination bucket. > > 6. Indicate how much you are moving from bucket A to bucket B then hit > > add. > > > Presto. Instant balancing of the flow. > > > Hope that helps. > > > Jaysen > > > On Dec 23, 12:07 am, "mhadja...@gmail.com" <mhadja...@gmail.com> > > wrote: > >> I was messing around with iBank and it seems to do what I want, > >> however, I'm still willing to give MW a shot till the end of the > >> week. > > >> What I want to know is my principle balance on the car. I don't need > >> it down to the exact dollar, as this amount will change on a daily > >> basis since that's how interest is calculated with this loan. > >> However, > >> I would like it to be more ballpark. So updating it once a month is > >> sufficient. > > >> My starting balance is a -xx,xxx > > >> So what your saying is, when you make the payment, you move X dollars > >> from your checking into your car loan bucket. Since I pay mine > >> differently each month, I can't really budget for this, or can I? I > >> have to make at least (eg, $350.00) - anything more goes towards > >> principle like I said. So should I set my budget for 350, or should I > >> make it lets say double this amount? Most likely I don't plan on > >> making more than double payments. > > >> Then when you receive your next months statement, you update the > >> interest and principle (doing a split transaction) ? > > >> I'll try that out as i'm doing something close to it, but mine seems > >> to involve a few more steps. > > >> Mark > > >> On Dec 22, 11:41 pm, The Watkinson Family <thewatkins...@mac.com> > >> wrote: > > >>> Hi, Mark, > > >>> I take a different approach to loans than the others that have > >>> responded. I like that MoneyWell helps me spend only the money > >>> that I > >>> have by allocating it to specific purposes. However, as your > >>> example > >>> demonstrates, finance software should do more than that. I refuse > >>> to > >>> keep two money softwares to track overall net worth as well as keep > >>> spending under control, and I have found that MoneyWell will > >>> actually > >>> do both. > > >>> Consider the fact that both your interest payment as well as the > >>> principal payment are Car Loan expenses. > > >>> Here's what I do. When I first pay the bill every month, I don't > >>> know > >>> how much I am paying towards interest and how much towards > >>> principal... I'm just paying the bill. I create this expense as a > >>> single transfer from my Checking account to my Car loan account. I > >>> put this transfer in the Car Loan bucket. > > >>> Later, when I receive my loan statement, or look at it on-line, I > >>> can > >>> see how much of my payment was for interest and how much was for > >>> principal. > > >>> I edit the original transaction, creating a split. I put "Interest" > >>> and "Principal" in the memo of the two split items. The "Interest" > >>> item should not be a transfer, but it should be assigned to the Car > >>> Loan bucket. "Principal" should be a transfer from Checking to Car > >>> loan, and it should also be assigned to your Car Loan bucket. > > >>> This way, your Car loan account will show approximately what you owe > >>> on your car loan as far as the principal is concerned (of course > >>> this > >>> amount changes every day), and you will be able to track your > >>> spending > >>> with buckets, as well. > > >>> Hope this helps. Please let me know if you need further detail. > > >>> Grace to you, > >>> Blair > > >>> On Dec 22, 2008, at 10:08 PM, mhadja...@gmail.com wrote: > > >>>> My monthly payment from the bank is lets say 200 bucks. Each > >>>> month, I > >>>> pay a different amount, sometimes 225, sometimes 250, sometimes > >>>> even > >>>> 300. Now any extra over the 200 goes towards principle. > > >>>> So I can't track a steady cash flow because depending on how much > >>>> extra money I have left is what I put in towards the car payment. > > >>>> So my 60 month loan should be paid off within 48 months hopefully. > >>>> Which makes having to do more work in MW to see my remaining loan > >>>> balance as well as track cash flow. > > >>>> Mark > > >>>> On Dec 22, 9:59 am, Kevin Hoctor <ke...@nothirst.com> wrote: > >>>>> On Dec 21, 2008, at 7:01 PM, mhadja...@gmail.com wrote: > > >>>>>> Maybe i'm missing something, but my interest goes down each > >>>>>> payment as > >>>>>> I'm paying more towards principle. It also changes depending on > >>>>>> how > >>>>>> many days sooner my payment clears. The reason for tracking is to > >>>>>> see > >>>>>> how much money is leaving my checking account each month, as > >>>>>> well as > >>>>>> the remaining principle left to pay my auto loan. > > >>>>>> When I receive my statement, it tells me the prior months > >>>>>> interest > >>>>>> payment, which I tack on to the remaining auto loan balance. So > >>>>>> the > >>>>>> actual amount owed for my vehicle isn't exact, but its within 100 > >>>>>> bucks typically. > > >>>>> But your loan payments are the same all the time, correct? And > >>>>> this > >>>>> is > >>>>> what comes out of your checking account each month so this is what > >>>>> you > >>>>> are trying to track to control cash flow, right? > > >>>>> What I am saying is, tracking the principal and interest is fine > >>>>> but > >>>>> excessive work because you are not affecting it unless you > >>>>> decide to > >>>>> pay more than you calculated loan payment. If you are going to do > >>>>> that, then you still will have a static amount going to your loan > >>>>> each > >>>>> month and you just have to check with the bank to see what you > >>>>> balance > >>>>> is prior to your last payment because it will get paid off early. > > >>>>>> I'm trying to learn this program and use it to my advantage, > >>>>>> but I > >>>>>> feel like i'm struggling more to figure this out and having to > >>>>>> hold > >>>>>> back from a lot of the 2.0 features. > > >>>>> MoneyWell 2.0 will have some great additions but the core > >>>>> process of > >>>>> managing your cash flow better is already in place. If this is > >>>>> what > >>>>> you're trying to accomplish or you just enjoy a cleaner register > >>>>> manager, then MoneyWell 1.4 should be helpful. > > >>>>> Peace, > > >>>>> Kevin Hoctor > >>>>> ke...@nothirst.com > >>>>> No Thirst Software LLChttp://nothirst.comhttp:// > >>>>> kevinhoctor.blogspot.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "No Thirst Software User Forum" group. To post to this group, send email to no-thirst-software@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to no-thirst-software+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/no-thirst-software?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
