How do _you_ use GNUCash for personal finances?

[Richard Bishopp]

Hi Patrick.   I am not an accountant or have any sort of that type of
education except math in HS and college so I've been following your other
email chain to glean new info.

To answer your question here, I use gnucash to see where my money goes. I
know where it comes from, my paycheck.  I normally look at the asset
accounts values only and rarely look at the expense account values.   I do
99% of my recording in the asset account from which I spend the money.
Even with my container deposits when I take them back for a nickel each is
recorded in my asset account:cash on hand and refers to expense:groceries
since I paid the deposit when I bought the drinks.  The two dollars cash
goes in my pocket not the checking account.
I do the same with my credit card.  I record transactions there in the
liability:credit card and it refers to the expense i charged.  Gas,
groceries whatever.

I do on occasion look at expense accounts but usually this is to see
something specific like how much I spent last week for gas. Generally the
reports work for that too but I am somewhat challenged by the reports
options, its me not gnucash.  I tried to do my work in the expense accounts
but it gets confusing so just work in the asset side since that is where
the money is anyway.

The mortgage stuff challenges me too but I'm getting better with that.

I have changed things on the fly. Added sub accounts mostly to expenses to
show more detail when I go back to look it over or run reports.

More simply I use gnucash to see my balances all in one place and up to
date immediately regardless what has cleared or not cleared the bank.

Hope this helps.

Rich...
On Jan 2, 2015 9:20 PM, "Patrick Doyle" <wpdster at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks to all who have patiently and gently tried to educate me over
> the past couple of days.  This has led me to ask myself the very
> fundamental question, "What do I want my financial management software
> to do for me?"  And I've realized that I don't really know the answer
> to that question.
>
> So I thought I would turn the question around:
>
> How do _you_ use GNUCash to manage your personal finances?
>
> Did you write a blog about it?
> -- Lance Edgar pointed me at these three educational links:
> http://allmybrain.com/2008/12/15/better-budgeting-with-gnucash/
> http://allmybrain.com/2009/04/08/gnucash-budget-followup/
> http://allmybrain.com/2011/01/26/simplified-envelope-budgeting-for-gnucash/
>
> Did you describe it on this list?
> -- feel free to point at your post in the archives.
>
> If there is enough of a response, I would be happy to summarize the
> responses on the Wiki.
>
> --wpd
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