On Feb 8, 2009, at 8:51 AM, Mark Hall wrote: > OK, I have done that and I created a new incoming bucket called "cash > in the bank" with the actual amount that I have in my checking account > (I excluded my savings and investments, as that is not money I intend > to spend). > Mark,
I usually just use one of my existing buckets (like Salary) to assign this initial amount. You just need to prime your pump with money but you don't need a special bucket to do it. > As an example, I have an outstanding check to the landlord which is in > my register as uncleared and a future bill payment to amex. Now the > check to the landlord is included in my closing balance on the > register and I have allocated the bucket appropriately (because I > entered it) but the future amex balance isn't, and in my traditional > thinking about money, I don't like not seeing this balance impact. I > guess this is where I need to trust the buckets. However, because the > Amex bill is effectively a transfer, there is no bucket for it (as per > the advice from the training video). > If you're paying off credit card balances, I consider this Debt Repayment and have a bucket for this. I would assign the outgoing payment transaction to this bucket for you AMEX payment. You would also allocate money to this Debt Repayment each month so you are making use of the envelope method. > So now I am tempted to keep this "cash in bank" bucket, so I can > physically see how much my 'real' balance is. Does anyone else work > like this - it seems like I am trying to work around your bucket > method rather than work with it. What's your advice on how to see > predicted cash flows that are made up of transfers. > I don't advise keeping a bucket like this. You need to think differently and focus on cash in your buckets instead. If you are going to focus on cash in bank then you are tossing away the envelope method. If you are allocating only what you earn and spending only what you allocate, your cash in bank will never be a problem. You might have to manage transfers a bit but even these can be seen with Savings and Debt Repayment expense buckets. > One other minor gripe. The scale of the graph depends on the largest > movement historically. So if one month I made a huge purchase (like a > car), then every graph afterwards scales to that and mine look tiny > most of the time. Any chance of adjusting the scale for each 6-month > period. I'm working on this for a future release. I have a couple of months that skew my graph as well. Peace, Kevin Hoctor [email protected] No Thirst Software LLC http://nothirst.com http://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 [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/no-thirst-software?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
