New user Question

[DugB]

I'm a little confused on how to set something up, so any help is
greatly appreciated :)

My rent falls on the 5th, but my paycheck does not always fall before
that so to be safe I have to use money from the previous month's
paychecks (I get payed twice a month). Problem is, if my paycheck is
not deposited for the first half of the new month, I can't allocate
income to my rent bucket but I've paid my rent with money from last
month and the rent bucket says I've overspent.

If I set up my rent bucket for the full amount in my spending plan and
set it at either full month or first half and set up my other spending
plan buckets my balance for the first half of the month is in the red.

I'm not even sure I'm explaining this right! Help!

I have to pay my debts and rent at the beginning of the month when
they are due, but the Salary bucket will not fill up until the first
paycheck. How do I set up my spending plan so that it accounts for
money from the previous month?

thanks ahead of time

-Doug

[Kevin Hoctor]

On Aug 6, 2008, at 11:32 AM, DugB wrote:

> I'm a little confused on how to set something up, so any help is
> greatly appreciated :)
>

Hi Doug,

Let me know if the following doesn't help enough.

> My rent falls on the 5th, but my paycheck does not always fall before
> that so to be safe I have to use money from the previous month's
> paychecks (I get payed twice a month). Problem is, if my paycheck is
> not deposited for the first half of the new month, I can't allocate
> income to my rent bucket but I've paid my rent with money from last
> month and the rent bucket says I've overspent.
>
> If I set up my rent bucket for the full amount in my spending plan and
> set it at either full month or first half and set up my other spending
> plan buckets my balance for the first half of the month is in the red.
>
> I'm not even sure I'm explaining this right! Help!
>

This is not your fault. MoneyWell does not roll over money in your
buckets until the next month starts. In theory, this is the correct
way to do it, but your situation points out that reality is different.
Others have pointed out the same problem and I am changing the 1.4
release so you can move your rollover date back from the first of the
month.

I have to make sure that you still see that you have money left in the
current month though or you'll feel like you can't spend any money in
the last five days of the current month. The 1.4 release is currently
in beta test.

> I have to pay my debts and rent at the beginning of the month when
> they are due, but the Salary bucket will not fill up until the first
> paycheck. How do I set up my spending plan so that it accounts for
> money from the previous month?
>
> thanks ahead of time

Of course, the goal is to have a cushion so you are living off this
paycheck to pay each bill, but until you create that cushion, you
should treat the end of last months paycheck as part of the new month.
Your spending plan should be easy to work with because it sees your
total salary for the month historically even if you shift the usage to
the next month. If you make $1000 a month, the spending plan doesn't
care when that cash came into your possession.

For now, your salary bucket may look a little off until the first of
the month rolls around. That should change with the next release.

Peace,

Kevin Hoctor
ke...@nothirst.com
No Thirst Software LLC
http://nothirst.com
http://kevinhoctor.blogspot.com

[DugB]

Ok. That's reassuring. I thought I was missing something. :)

It's just strange to see that in my monthly cash flow the first half
of the month is crazy in the red (just where the big bills fall) and
the second half is way in the black. Of course the important thing is
that the balance at the end of the month is positive and not negative!
I just have to remind myself to make sure I have that cushion
available in the checking account and if it's getting low to NOT spend
the positive balance since it's going to be needed.

Maybe if there was a "Cushion" bucket? :)

thanks!

-Doug