Earmark fixed percentage of income for charity

[Aryeh Leib Taurog]

Mike or Penny Novack wrote:
> Aryeh Leib Taurog wrote:
> 
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I'm just starting to use gnucash.  I want to make sure that I give 10%
>> (exactly) of my income to charity.  What's the best way to do this?
>>
> Aren't you over complicating this? Money in "fungible". You want to give 
> to charity an amount of money that is 10% the amount of your income over 
> some time period. It doesn't matter which of your current asset accounts 
> the money given to charity comes from, does it? Your income check could 
> be deposited in one account but a check for a donation to some charity 
> to another. At times during the period you might have given more than 
> 10% and at times less, but you'd need to check close to the end of the 
> period that you have met your donation goal.
> 
> You have an income account.
> You have a donations account.
> Surely in December (or whenever your fiscal year ends) you can check to 
> see if the latter is 10% of the former, and if short, make additional 
> donations to bring you to 10%. You need to automate a calculation that 
> is no more than a shift of decimal point? You can't eyeball that?
> 
> Michael
> 

Yes, I see your point.  I guess a report of my YTD income and 
income-related expenses and YTD charitable contributions is all I 
really need--but yes, if there is a way to automatically shift the 
decimal point, subtract YTD contributions, and just tell me how much I 
have left in my charity fund, I would really prefer that.

thanks,
Aryeh Leib