gnucash budget

[David Reno]

Regarding "types" of budget items:
I think finding a general form for budget items is best.  I think any 
distinction between things like number of occurrences should be treated as
an 
attribute, not as a profoundly different type of item.  To support this,
lets 
consider the "types" that have been discussed so far:
IRA contribution:  $2000 budgeted to be spent over 1 calendar year period.
To 
be budgeted yearly, recurring.
	budget_item: (comparison expense category =IRA Contribution),
	(item start date=1/1/2001),
	(item end date=12/31/2001),
	(amount=2000)
Holiday Gifts:  $200 to be budgeted to be spent over 2 months.  To be
budgeted 
yearly, recurring.
	budget_item: (comparison expense category =Gifts Given),
	(item start date=11/1/2001),
	(item end date=12/31/2001),
	(amount=200)
Savings Goals:  Increase savings by $2000 this calendar year.  To be
budgeted 
yearly, recurring.
	budget_item: (comparison expense category =?),
	(item start date=1/1/2001),
	(item end date=12/31/2001),
	(amount=2000)
Toy:	$500 to be spent next week.  Not recurring.
	budget_item: (comparison expense category =Entertainment &
Recreation),
	(item start date=7/29/2001),
	(item end date=8/4/2001),
	(amount=8)
So my point about different types is that if we view them as being more
similar 
than different and treat the differences as attributes, we may have a
simpler 
model to work with.

Regarding different spending periods:
One of the features I want out of this is the ability to know my budgeted
cash 
position on a daily basis.  I think we should use a time period of 1 day for

everything; not to say that everything must occur within that period, just
that 
we can use multiple days to define when expenses may occur.  This gives more

freedom for future changes and helps to make budget items more similar than 
dissimilar.

Regarding budget reports:
Another feature that I want is the ability to update my budget as the
expense 
gets closer and more defined.  For example, a vacation: as the date
approaches 
I will have purchased my airfare and want that to adjust my predicted cash 
position in the future.  However, I don't want my original guess to be 
overwritten.  I want a feature that tells me how good I guess!  It always
seems 
that my budget looks good in three months time, but never looks good this 
month.  That's because I'm not budgeting enough for the unpredictable
expenses 
that always come up.  I want this reflected in the budget three months from
now 
so that it can be adjusted accordingly.  Bryan, does this contradict your 
concept of a static budget?

Regarding the formula: Income - Expense > 0
I think that the formula should be: Income - Expense = 0.  The reason for
this 
is that all income is allocated to something, even if just by not spending
it.  
For example, if your budget calls for spending all income except $32, then 
automatically, that $32 has been spent on savings.

Regarding definition of budget:
Budgeting is the allocation of income to maximize the ratio of value/cost
for 
expenses.  My justification for this definition is that we choose not to
spend 
too much on dining out because of the diminishing return.  Instead, we
believe 
that at a certain point of value/cost, we should instead spend that money on

savings since we believe in the future we will have the option to buy
something 
with a higher value/cost ration, like rent after we lose our job!  Making
this 
definition more complex, buying several things together has a higher value
than 
buying only a few.  (e.g. The purchase of a fishing pole has little value
until 
a reel is purchased.  Adding in lures and a fishing license, not to mention
a 
boat and an SUV to pull it all add up to more value than any individual 
part:  the sum is greater than the parts)

Regarding our process:
Should we keep bringing out these issues in e-mail, or should we attempt to 
capture the core issues that need to be agreed upon by some method of 
documentation?  I would hate for all of us to just go around in circles for 
a long time talking about all of the issues;  there are so many issues that
I 
think we could get lost in pontification very easily.

My home DSL is not up yet (I just moved), so I won't check e-mail until
Monday.

Regards,
David