[GNC] [gnc] Forecasting savings

[Michael or Penny Novack]

On 5/22/2024 1:48 AM, Adrien Laveau wrote:
> Hello community, I would like to know what is the best way (if there is) to
> project savings evolution in gnc based or scheduled transaction (income,
> tax, average spending, loan etc...).
>
> The goal is ti properly budget and know if at some time a more important
> transaction is reasonable or not (install A/C, buy a car etc...)
>
> Thank you

There are a number of ways. But before discussions about those that are 
only "on paper" we should discuss those that are "actual".

"actual" --- You have, or could have, more than one bank account 
(savings as well as checking) OR one of the special checking+savings 
accounts (I don't know exactly how that works, but a credit union I 
belong to offers it). In THAT case you would be tracking ACTUAL 
transactions putting money into the savings account (or later 
transferring back for one of those major purchases. Automation of 
transfers in depends on if the banks supports that. Even of you don't 
have a savings as well as checking account NOW, the question is "could 
you". Note that this approach enforces not spending from the savings 
reserve without explicit action on your part (transfer)

"paper" --- If you only have the one bank account and can't get another, 
you can "partition" that account in your books. In other words, a parent 
account for the full bank account under which children for current use 
and savings. This requires discipline as nothing would prevent you from 
writing a check that required dipping into savings. If you wanted 
separate savings accounts for future big purchases, you could partition 
the :savings" part the same way.

The budget module can be used for planning. That's what you would use 
for predicting things like "when will the A/C savings account reach $X". 
But note that the budget doesn't make it so (it doesn't enforce sticking 
to the budget)

Michael D Novack