General Category suggestion
Steve B
in getting a feel for how others have associated expense and income
activities with Quicken Categories. For example, how would you
associate the following items (as examples):
- Purchase stereo equipment for home (HOUSEHOLD?)
- Repair stereo speakers (HOUSEHOLD?)
- Purchase toilet paper, toothpaste, etc. (HOUSEHOLD:Toiletries?)
- Vet bills and pet supplies (??)
- Car wash expenses (AUTO?)
- Furniture for home (HOUSEHOLD?)
Thanks in advance,
Steve B
Ken Blake
wrote:
There's no answer to a question like this that's right for
everyone. It depends on how finely you want to be able to look at
where your money goes. To take an extreme example, if you want to
know how much you spend on toilet paper each year, you can make a
separate category called Toilet Paper. I'm not interested in
that level of detail and just call it, and most of the other
things you mention, Misc.
--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup
Armond Perretta
> ... I am
> interested in ... how others have associated expense
> and income activities with Quicken Categories ... how
> would you associate the following items ...
I agree with Ken that the level of detail is pretty arbitrary. Over the
years I've added many categories that match some of your entries. See below
for some category and sub-category suggestions.
Remember that the level of detail available in your reports is only as good
as your classification and categorization scheme.
> - Purchase stereo equipment for home (HOUSEHOLD?)
Entertainment/Equipment (other subs might be Video, Events, etc.)
> - Repair stereo speakers (HOUSEHOLD?)
Household/Repairs (other subs might be Durables, Supplies, etc.)
> - Purchase toilet paper, toothpaste, etc. (HOUSEHOLD:Toiletries?)
Toiletries (other subs might be Eyecare, etc.)
> - Vet bills and pet supplies (??)
Medical/Pets (or Pets/Medical)
> - Car wash expenses (AUTO?)
Auto/Service (other subs might be Fuel, Fees, Repairs, etc.)
> - Furniture for home (HOUSEHOLD?)
Household/Durables
--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.tripod.com
Andrew
You mean that if you buy these in a grocery store and pay a single check for
groceries as well as toiletries, one goes back and recategorizes from the
grocery bill? Wow...and I thought I was detailed oriented! Whatever
floats your boat.
There is a point where one can take this to an extreme....so for what it's
worth, here's my suggestions...
- Purchase stereo equipment for home (HOUSEHOLD:FURNISHINGS , but I *also*
log everything of this category into the Quicken home inventory and keep the
sales receipts in my safe deposit box in case the house burns down. All
items that I buy for the house in a permanent nature go into QHI)
- Repair stereo speakers (HOUSEHOLD:HOME REPAIR; yeh, this one isn't so hot
for me, but I'm too lazy to change it to something better)
- Purchase toilet paper, toothpaste, etc. (GROCERIES, pure and simple. If
I buy something in a supermarket, it's GROCERIES. All works out in the end)
- Vet bills and pet supplies PETS:MEDICAL and PETS:SUPPLIES)
- Car wash expenses (AUTO:WASH)
- Furniture for home (HOUSEHOLD:FURNISHINGS , see above)
--
Regards -
- Andrew
"Armond Perretta" <kerry...@REMOVEbigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:b1mju9$guk$1...@slb6.atl.mindspring.net...
Steve B
news:C7H%9.67345$HG.13...@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net...
> "Purchase toilet paper, toothpaste, etc. (HOUSEHOLD:Toiletries?)"
>
> You mean that if you buy these in a grocery store and pay a single check
for
> groceries as well as toiletries, one goes back and recategorizes from the
> grocery bill? Wow...and I thought I was detailed oriented! Whatever
> floats your boat.
Andrew, et al.,
Thanks for the suggestions. Currently, I *do* track toiletry items like
toothpaste, deodorant, soap, etc., in a sub-category named
HOUSEHOLD:TOILETRIES. In fact, I began questioning the value of that and
thus wanted to hear what experiences and successes others have had.
Sometimes seeing what others do will trigger another line of thinking which
can be quite helpful.
Thanks again,
Steve B
A Baffled User
business out of your home, you can deduct the percentage of your household
cleaning products (vacuum cleaner bags, paper towels, Endust, Murphy's Oil
Soap, etc.) that are used to clean your office. If you use your automobile
for business, then you'd also want to track anything auto-related for that
purpose.
As others have said, there's no one-size-fits-all answer to the
categorization question.
"Andrew" <and...@nospam.jkl> wrote in message
news:C7H%9.67345$HG.13...@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.net...
Spoking
because I had these large, very non-specific, categories, "Household,
Personal, Misc, Recreation" that were eating up most of my money - and I
still didn't really know where it was going. I gave up that approach, it
just took too much time.
But there is ONE categorization that gives me a problem - prescriptions
and medical supplies. We USUALLY buy other things at the drug store at
the same time as the above. But this is a tax category, and for my
family, a significant one. So, I fudge it, and arbitrarily assign one
'drugstoreX' to medical, and the next to household. Not pretty, and if
the tax man ever audits this line, it will be a mess.
But I sure don't have any better ideas, and I don't have time to spend on
that much record-keeping.
Spoking
Steve B posted...
--
Spoking
<^>
_|_
Victor Roberts
wrote:
>I've used very detailed categories, i.e. "toiletries" in the past,
>because I had these large, very non-specific, categories, "Household,
>Personal, Misc, Recreation" that were eating up most of my money - and I
>still didn't really know where it was going. I gave up that approach, it
>just took too much time.
>
>But there is ONE categorization that gives me a problem - prescriptions
>and medical supplies. We USUALLY buy other things at the drug store at
>the same time as the above. But this is a tax category, and for my
>family, a significant one. So, I fudge it, and arbitrarily assign one
>'drugstoreX' to medical, and the next to household. Not pretty, and if
>the tax man ever audits this line, it will be a mess.
>
>But I sure don't have any better ideas, and I don't have time to spend on
>that much record-keeping.
Why not just use a Split transaction, with the prescriptions charged
to Medical and the non-prescription items going elsewhere?
--
Vic Roberts
http://www.RobertsResearchInc.com