Budgeting/pre-allocation procedure?

[Robert A. Rawlinson]

Michael J. Barillier wrote:

>I've seen various threads related to aspects of budgeting in Gnucash
>but haven't seen anything concrete that I could implement.  Basically,
>I'd like to set aside funds in my checking account for upcoming bills,
>either known or estimated, so that if my wife or I look at the account
>balance we see what's available to be spent, not the actual balance.
>The best solution I've come up with is to create a separate asset
>account and transfer whatever I expect to spend on upcoming bills into
>that holding account, and when I pay the bills from the checking
>account I transfer back into the checking account to cover what I've
>written.  I'm wondering if someone hasn't come up with a more elegant
>or ``correct'' (from an accounting perspective) method that wouldn't
>be a tremendous PITA to implement?
>
>Thanks -
>
>  
>
What about using escrow accounts? What your are doing is like escrow on 
a mortgage.
Robert Rawlinson