OK, most of those things I can go with and try. Just a few more questions. My wife is a consultant and we've agreed one of her jobs would pay money directly into our vacation fund (in a Money Market account). Should a create a bucket called "vacation" and just build it up over the year? It would obviously build up a credit balance, as we would not spend the cash until we went away.
Tax - Big question. Do people use buckets to track tax? I'd prefer to track gross pay than net pay. One last thing. I just tried to rename my "Salary: Gross Pay" bucket (a hangover from MS Money) to something a little cleaner, and Moneywell hung. Is this because I have several years of transactions, all splits? I quit the app (normally, not a force quit) and it offered to save, but the name change did not save when I relaunched. Best -Mark On Feb 8, 2009, at 10:50 AM, Kevin Hoctor wrote: > > 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 > > > > Mark Hall --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
