Future Liabilities

[Alan Milnes]

Hi

I've just started using GNUCash and have a question.  I've read the 
manual and googled but can't find the answer (perhaps haven't hit the 
correct term to look for?).  I've tried to search the list archive but I 
get the message:-

"References: [ (can't open the index) ]

No document matching your query."

Anyway my question is this - when I get paid I want to set some money 
aside for certain expenses I know i will incur e.g. Food, Entertainment. 
I need to allocate this on payday and then effectively "draw against" it 
during the month, whilst being able to track my real current (checking) 
account balance i.e. take into account any unspent money in these 
categories.

I thought of something like this but it seems very long winded and I'm 
not sure how to then report my true available funds:-

On payday
Expenses:Food -150
FutureSpend:Food +150

When spent
CurrentAccount -150
FutureSpend:Food -150
Expenses:Food +300

Thanks for any hints or pointers.

Alan