How useful is "cash in wallet"

[James Roman]

Originally, I used "cash-in-wallet" as just a place to record ATM
withdrawals. I didn't want to get into tracking every penny I spent, and
where. I was primarily concerned with rectifying my personal checking
account.

Then my financial situation changed. I started a small business, and
this account amounted to a petty cash account. (Although in this day and
age, petty cash is much less used than it might have been 10 years ago.)
I had a couple of kids, and my money got much tighter. I was keenly
interested in budgeting my personal expenses. This is when keeping track
of cash in wallet became necessary. Otherwise cash in wallet becomes the
way to bypass your budget. (Or at least make it look like you're meeting
your spending targets while you spend frivolously on the side.) I
rectify all cash receipts against the cash-in-wallet account, and keep
track of most undocumented usages of the money in my wallet. When I
balance my accounts, any missing money is deducted from my monthly
dining targets (which since I do the cooking, I have a vested interest
in maintaining.) It may not be the most accurate method for
accountability, but I find that it has worked reasonably wel 

On Sun, 2006-03-19 at 10:53 -0500, Bill Jacqmein wrote:
> I use my cash account just a place holder for money coming out of my
> checking via withdraws. With respect to the checking account it is
> normally on. I dont account for finding money on the street, me paying
> for lunch (on a credit card) and them giving me cash, etc.
> 
> The simple answer is I have it just to keep my checking account sane.
> 
> On 3/19/06, Pete <null_geodesic at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > New gnucash user...
> >
> > It seems like there's really two broad class of
> > accounts in gnucash:
> >
> > 1. Accounts I really care about, like my checking or
> > savings account.  I want to reconcile these accounts
> > and am keenly interested in what's inside of them.
> >
> > 2. Accounts that are really nothing more than place
> > holders for the double entry system, like
> > Expenses:Phone or Income:Salary.  I have no intention
> > of reconciling my telco's books, and this account
> > serves nothing more than to provide a place for my
> > money to go.  Like an infinite sink.  Or an infinite
> > source.  To really boil it down, these accounts serve
> > as a glorified "description" field for where money
> > goes or comes from in the accounts I really care
> > about.
> >
> > So I'm curious about the "cash in wallet" account.  It
> > seems rather granular.  Does anybody really keep track
> > of the money in their wallet?  It seems pretty
> > compulsive -- you'd need a "money found on the street"
> >  or "money given by friend to help pay for french
> > fries" account to reconcile it.
> >
> > Do people really reconcile this account?  Or is it
> > mainly used as a placeholder account (type 2)?
> >
> > Also, suppose I'm going to lunch with some friends.  I
> > go to the ATM and take out $20.  Walk to the
> > restaurant and make my purchase.  How would this look
> > *for most people* in gnucash?
> >
> > 1. $20 from Asset:Checking to Asset:Cash in wallet.
> > 2. $20 from Asset:Cash In Wallet to Expense:Food.
> >
> > or
> >
> > 1. $20 from Asset:Checking to Asset:Cash in wallet.
> >
> > and leave it at that?
> >
> > I realize the _real_ answer to this question is
> > "whatever suits your needs".  But I'm a basic average
> > working Joe and would like to know what, nominally,
> > other basic average Joes _tend_ to do.
> >
> > I've never used Quicken or gnucash before.  In fact,
> > I've never really managed my money at all.  When my
> > accounts look like they can handle my expenses, I
> > bought stuff.  When they felt low, I saved money.
> >
> > I'd like to change all that, and gnucash is my first
> > stab at this.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Pete
> >
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