Future balance question

[Tommy Trussell]

I didn't see a follow-up to this so I thought I might tackle a couple of points:

On Thu, Nov 25, 2010 at 4:03 PM, Ian X Waddington <iwaddox at gmail.com> wrote:
> Also, do you know the difference between ignored and postponed?

I have not looked at the code for this, but from my observations here
are what the Scheduled Transaction statuses mean. (Note to self: This
needs to be added to the new Tutorial and Concepts guide, if it hasn't
already.)

Scheduled Transaction Status in Since Last Run dialog

Reminder: The scheduled transaction "Reminder" status means today's
date is fewer days than the "Remind in advance" setting, but not yet
the creation date. Unless you change the transaction's status, it will
automatically progress from "Reminder" to either "To-Create" or
"Created" on the scheduled transaction date.

Postponed: The scheduled transaction will remain in the Since Last Run
dialog with the "Postponed" status until you change its status. [I use
this status for items I want to create eventually but the scheduled
date has already passed.]

Ignored: When you set the status to "Ignored," when you press the OK
button the scheduled transaction will be cleared from "Since last run"
without creating a transaction for the current cycle. [I use this
status for transactions I want to remember, such as a credit card
payment, but get created elsewhere OR are not needed. If I owe nothing
on a account for the month, I can set the transaction status to
Ignored. Alternatively, when I balance the credit bill, GnuCash will
automatically create a payment transaction so I can use that created
transaction and I can set the scheduled transaction to Ignored.]

To-Create: When the transaction status is "To-Create" the transaction
will be created when you click the OK button. You can see AND edit all
the created transactions if you set the "Review Created Transactions"
checkbox in the Since Last Run dialog and click OK.

Created: This status means the transaction has already been created
automatically. This will only happen if you set the "Create
Automatically" checkbox in the Scheduled Transaction editor and
today's date is or is or beyond the scheduled date. You can see AND
edit the created transaction if you set the "Review Created
Transactions" checkbox in the Since Last Run dialog and click OK.


> So now I can get the future balance of my checking account by entering all
> my planned transactions in advance. But this does not seem to be following
> any form of best accounting practice as it then relies on me remembering to
> delete transactions that don't happen.
>
> One of the most basic requirements of any personal accounting package must
> be to allow the user to manage the future balance on the account - I am very
> interested to learn how people worked around this issue and answered
> questions like "Can I afford to withdrawal £100 from the ATM this evening
> and still pay all my direct debits towards the month end?"

Here is an idea you may or may not be keen on... you may need to
change the way you think about that £100.

If your rich uncle gave you a £100 note and instead of putting it in
the bank, you could put it in your vest pocket as "mad money" to spend
on whatever. OR you could put it in a different bank -- a "piggy" bank
in your bedroom, or a different neighborhood bank or bank account or
whatever.

You are keeping the mad money away from the same "book" as the account
you use for your daily expenses. You don't want to touch your bank
account for fear of overspending.

Now think about how maybe you don't HAVE a rich uncle, but you can
create that £100 yourself by setting aside £1 a day for 100 days. Or
£10 a week. Or £100 off the top of each paycheck, if you're so lucky.
You can put a paper note in your piggy bank OR you can create a
virtual account in GnuCash.

Go into your Accounts list, select your bank account, and create a new
sub-account with your bank account as the "parent" account. Call the
account "Mad Money" (or whatever suits you) and transfer however much
money you think you can afford into it, either as a one-time thing, or
by creating a scheduled transaction. When you spend your Mad Money,
transfer the transaction amount from the Mad Money account, and as
long as you don't deplete your Mad Money AND you know the account in
the regular account retains enough to cover your regular expenses you
are good to go.

When you balance your bank account against your bank statement, be
sure the "Include Subaccounts" checkbox is checked. That way the money
in your Mad Money account (plus any other sub-accounts you might want
to create) gets included in the reconcile totals, BUT the running
total in the GnuCash register for the bank account will NOT include
the Mad Money account. It's as if it's stashed in the glass piggy bank
in your bedroom, and as long as the main account never goes negative
your Mad Money is safe. If your bank account register goes in the red,
you know it's time to reduce expenses or transfer some Mad Money back
to the main account to keep it in the black.


That didn't exactly address your question -- it's actually a way to
use GnuCash to help you change your saving/budgeting behavior INSTEAD
of trying to use GnuCash to foretell the future.