My take on personal budgeting

[Darin Willits]

Hi,

I have started an initial implementation of a budgeting engine based on
our discussions so far, and I think it should satisfy your requirements
as well.  You can find some screen shots here:

http://www.darin.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

For each budget category you can specify the frequency of the expense
(Daily/Weekly/Monthly) etc.  Then the workbench will divide your
category values up over the budget periods.  I will have to add an
option to allow the user to specify that a $1200.00 annual expense
should be split evenly over the budget periods.  Currently you specify a
date for the category and the entire value will fall in the
corresponding period.  I do however think that this gives you an idea
where I am headed.

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Cheers,

Darin


On Mon, 2003-09-22 at 04:50, Bobby Goins wrote:
> I am new to gnucash, so new, that I cannot get a good install yet.  I am
> currently using MS Money 2001 and have used Quicken on an old OS/2
> machine many years ago.  I have not been happy with either's budgeting
> component.
> 
> 
> Anyway, here is my wife's and my take on personal budgeting:
> 
> 
> We look at things in both a long-term and short-term view.
> 
> --------
> 
> Long-term: 
> 
> For instance, Lets assume that we anticipate needing yearly: $1,200 for
> property taxes; $1,200 for Christmas presents; $800 for vehicle taxes;
> $300 for school supplies; and so on. 
> 
> 
> Ideally, we would set aside monthly: $100 for property taxes; $100 for
> Christmas presents; $67 for vehicle taxes, $25 for school supplies, an
> so on.  However, in my household there are no ideal months.  Some months
> are financially tighter than others, so the old 'divide by 12' rule does
> not work.  We end up working the actual funding for these items in our
> short-term view.  
> 
> --------
> 
> Short-term: 
> 
> This is where we do our true bi-weekly budgeting (which happens to match
> up with my pay periods).  
> 
> During this 2-week period, we anticipate that we will spend so much on
> Groceries, so much on Fuel, so much on Utilities, and so much on
> Miscellaneous items.  (Some items are fixed, while others very
> greatly.)  From this VERY fuzzy information, we set the budget, with an
> eye on long-term items.  
> 
> Lets say, however, that the cell phone bill is $50 over the anticipated
> amount, or that I received an unanticipated tax refund check from the
> Government.  Now, we must decide how to alter the budget to reflect
> these changes to the plan.  
> 
> Does the shortcoming need to be funded from the long-term items, or do
> we eat 'beans and rice' for the next two weeks?  Does the excess need to
> fund the long-term items, or can I purchase that 20"+ plasma flat screen
> I have my eye on?  This is what I need budgeting software for, not
> necessarily to answer the questions raised above, but to play 'what if'
> scenarios. 
> 
> -----
> 
> Someone mentioned that actual expenditures should be tracked in budgeted
> accounts.  I agree, however, it is nice to have a separate "what if"
> budget.
> 
> 
> I hope this adds to the budgeting discussion.
> 
> Bob
>  
> 
>      
> 
> 
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