MMEX Discussion Forum

Posted: **Sun Feb 12, 2023 12:18 pm**

Hello MMEX users,
I would like to use the budget feature, but as I understand that needs a good category setup. The manual states:

Using the same category for an income and an expense will upset balance figures.

If a budget shall be combined of Income, Expense and Transfers, and span multiple accounts - because savings are on another account - how do I create my categories so that my budgets are clean and correct?

Could you give me some advice based on the following example of owning a car?

Accounts:
- I have two accounts, A and B
- A is used for Income and Expenses
- B is for savings and thus only has transfers

Transactions:
- My salary goes into A, a monthly transfer goes to B to save up for the car
- All car expenses (repairs, fuel, insurance, etc.) are booked from A
- When a large car payment is due I transfer savings from B to A
- Income generated by my car, for example insurence reimbursements after accidents, go into A

Category Setup (using Category:Subcategory)
- Automobile:Fuel (Expenses only)
- Automobile:Repairs (Expenses only)
- Automobile:Reimbursements (Income only)
- Automobile:Transfer (Transfers only between A and B)

Good Idea or not? Thanks

and regards,
Martin

Posted: **Sun Feb 12, 2023 8:42 pm**

MartinH wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 12:18 pm The manual states: "Using the same category for an income and an expense will upset balance figures."

It says that in section 9 and in section 6.1 there is a note which states: "Do not use the same category for Deposit and Withdrawal transactions"

The Help manual is wrong. These statements are incorrect.

Could you give me some advice based on the following example of owning a car?

Your approach looks OK.

I use a category of Transfer for all transfers rather than separating out the type of transfer as you are proposing with Automobile:Transfer

Posted: **Tue Feb 14, 2023 7:55 pm**

MartinArmstrong wrote: ↑Sun Feb 12, 2023 8:42 pm The Help manual is wrong. These statements are incorrect.
Your approach looks OK.

Thanks for the clarification and feedback

In the meantime I was continuing the thought train. What if no large car expense comes up within the current year and I have a lot of budget left. How do I accumulate this purpose allocted budget into the next year(s)? Do I see it correctly that budgets are either yearly or monthly?

I found my answer here in this thread: viewtopic.php?p=21769

Thanks again and have a great day!

MMEX Discussion Forum

Categories with mixed Income/Expense/Transfer and budgeting

Categories with mixed Income/Expense/Transfer and budgeting

Re: Categories with mixed Income/Expense/Transfer and budgeting

Re: Categories with mixed Income/Expense/Transfer and budgeting