[moneydance] Budget manager questions

Don dlbrett at zoominternet.net
Mon Sep 10 22:10:41 EDT 2007 

Oh, maybe that's what I missed, this is just the setup?  Where will I 
see the recurring interval, in the budget reports? 

Don



Brett Russ wrote:
> No, everything in the budget keeps recurring at whatever interval you
> selected for each individual line item.  My budget is created with an
> annual time frame in mind.  Most items are monthly like I said, but I
> also have semi-monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual, and annual line
> items too.  Once it's setup, the only things you need to do are 1)
> monitor your progress against the budget (using budget reports) and 2)
> adjust the budget to reality or to better meet your savings/expense
> goals as needed.
>
> -BR
>
> On 9/9/07, Don <dlbrett at zoominternet.net> wrote:
>   
>> Thanks Brett, I think I'll give that a try.  So, I'll name the plan
>> "Monthly Budget", start in September, and see how it goes.  What do I do
>> when October rolls around, change all the dates and start over?
>>
>> Don
>>
>>
>> Brett Russ wrote:
>>     
>>> Don,
>>> Let me try to answer at least one of your questions below.
>>> A budget is nothing more than a financial plan.  It allows you to set
>>> categorized income and expense values.  Then, by adding all of your
>>> transactions to MD like you always do, you can assess your progress
>>> against the budget by creating a budget report.  The start/end dates
>>> define the date at which that budget line item goes into (or comes out
>>> of) effect.  So if I were you I'd create the budget with a start date
>>> of Sept 1, 2007 which will begin counting all of this months expenses
>>> against that budget.  I agree that monthly works for most expenses,
>>> but some bills are issued at different frequencies, such as quarterly,
>>> etc.  Therefore, those budget line items can be set to the
>>> corresponding frequency.
>>>
>>> So I think the key that you may be missing is the budget report,
>>> accessed by clicking on the "graphs and reports" link in the top right
>>> of the MD home page.  You can define the period of time you evaluate
>>> your progress against the budget and then see how you did.
>>>
>>> Does this help?
>>> BR
>>>
>>> On 9/9/07, Don <dlbrett at zoominternet.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>       
>>>> Thanks for the reply, I appreciate your insight.  You gave me some great
>>>> answers, unfortunately, my questions might not have been so good!  On
>>>> the budget intent question, maybe I should just state the problem I have:
>>>>
>>>> I would like to create a personal family budget.  I think I need to
>>>> determine my income and expense patterns on a periodic basis, probably
>>>> monthly.  I would like to figure out how much I will owe, who to pay,
>>>> when to pay them, how much to pay them, and divert as much as I can to
>>>> expensive loans or savings accounts; all in September, then October,
>>>> etc.  By the way, is this how a budget is normally done, or ...?
>>>>
>>>> The budget manager does a good job of calculating income and expenses
>>>> (calculate button), but where does it go from there?  Are the start and
>>>> end dates used for anything other than notes?  Should I spread the dates
>>>> over the entire year, or ...?  Thanks again for the help,
>>>>
>>>> Don
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Yehudit Winiarz wrote:
>>>>
>>>>         
>>>>> Don,
>>>>>
>>>>> To answer your questions:
>>>>>
>>>>> 1. a budget can be created either for comparative purposes or to track
>>>>> different income and expenses. Take for example, your budget for heating
>>>>> your home in the winter is much different than it is in the summer (unless
>>>>> you live in sub zero areas).
>>>>>
>>>>> 2. I don't find that putting a different past or present date in the
>>>>> "effective date" changes the bottom right calculations in that it will
>>>>> calculate how much income and expenses will be used from this month, year,
>>>>> past 30 or 365 days, by following this particular budget. If you put a
>>>>> future date, you are not yet using this budget, thereby giving you a $0.00
>>>>> output for the current month or any previous dates.
>>>>>
>>>>> 3. From what I gather, yes. But if you are making a Winter budget and a
>>>>> summer budget you'll probably want them to start and end at different times.
>>>>>
>>>>> 4. It's a good idea to have some budget goals in mind, written down on
>>>>> paper, before using the budget manager. If you are starting without any
>>>>> prior records, you'll have to use your own estimates. If you already have a
>>>>> few months' worth of data entered, you can print a copy of the Cash Flow
>>>>> Report for those months and use them to estimate your budget. I saved up and
>>>>> entered all my data over a few months and then used the manager to calculate
>>>>> estimates, and then tweaked them when necessary.
>>>>>
>>>>> 5. That's how I understand it.
>>>>>
>>>>> 6. See #3
>>>>>
>>>>> 7. See #3
>>>>>
>>>>> 8. That is what I have found. However, this is where I have questions -
>>>>> which I will post separately. BTW,you can use the + and - in the lower left
>>>>> corner to remove or add budget lines. Also, usually everything is editable -
>>>>> just double click the field.
>>>>>
>>>>> Take care,
>>>>> Yehudit
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 9/3/07, Don <dlbrett at zoominternet.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>           
>>>>>> I'm trying to figure out how to best use the budget manager.  I read the
>>>>>> online instructions, but it's still not obvious to me, so I have some
>>>>>> questions: (Note - Starting path is: Tools -> Budget Manager -> New)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 1. What is the intent of a given budget plan?  The manager supports up
>>>>>> to ten plans, so it must not be a monthly thing.  Is it a plan for the
>>>>>> entire account or ......?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 2. Pressing the "Calculate" button offers some options.  If I enter a
>>>>>> date from a future month, the totals at the bottom right are zero.  A
>>>>>> future date from this month gives low numbers, a past date from any past
>>>>>> month gives a high number.  What is the purpose of the "Effective On"
>>>>>> entry?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 3. When calculating, the "Effective On" date ends up in the "Start Date"
>>>>>> column.  Does "Effective On" equal "Start Date"?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 4. What should be the "Effective On" date for the budget plan?  Should
>>>>>> this be a future date, or match the first date of the selected "Date"
>>>>>> field, or today, or the first date of some month, or ....?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 5. Pressing the "Calculate" button results in the amount field being
>>>>>> populated.  It looks like the amount values are based upon past
>>>>>> payments, averaged over the selected "Date" period, for a period
>>>>>> (monthly, yearly, etc).  Is this correct?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 6. What is the intended purpose of the "End Date" column.  Is it a
>>>>>> monthly payment, or approximate payment time, or ....?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 7. Is the "End Date" field meant for one-time or recurring payments?.
>>>>>> If recurring, what time span should it cover?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 8. The calculate function results in values populated in the "Amount"
>>>>>> column.  It seems to search every account for every transactions, in
>>>>>> every category, for the specified time period.  Is this correct?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Well, that's probably enough for today.  Thanks for the help!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Don
>>>>>>
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>>>>>>
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