Grocery Coupons - How to post transaction

I have MM2007. How do I post grocery coupons when I split the category's.
Is it an expense or a income? Really confused because when I post it as a
negative expense in a category it doesn't reduce what is the category total.

Like I spent 5.00 on Laundry detergent. I had a $2.00 coupon. I listed
$5.00 under household-laundry expense, then I posted a negative $2.00 to
Household Laundry expense. When you look at Laundry expense it shows $5.00.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cal
Sat Feb 24 22:56:31 CST 2007

In microsoft.public.money, JDJ wrote:

>I have MM2007. How do I post grocery coupons when I split the category's.
>Is it an expense or a income? Really confused because when I post it as a
>negative expense in a category it doesn't reduce what is the category total.
>
>Like I spent 5.00 on Laundry detergent. I had a $2.00 coupon. I listed
>$5.00 under household-laundry expense, then I posted a negative $2.00 to
>Household Laundry expense. When you look at Laundry expense it shows $5.00.
>

While I would just call it a $3.00 expense for simplicity, to show
negative expenses in a report such as "Transactions by category",
when you customize, make sure the Details tab chooses AllTypes,
rather than Payments.

Dick
Sat Feb 24 23:02:46 CST 2007

In a case like this, I'd just enter the $3.00 and skip how you got there.

Some reports are set in their options to only show income or only show
expenses and they will not show offsetting (opposite sign) transactions like
this case. Check the report. (Oh, and use Advanced Reports if you aren't
already.) Check the Rows and Columns tab, Type, IIRC.

"JDJ" <JDJ@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8D16B7F2-2448-44FE-9209-53F8F88DDDA3@microsoft.com...
>I have MM2007. How do I post grocery coupons when I split the category's.
> Is it an expense or a income? Really confused because when I post it as
> a
> negative expense in a category it doesn't reduce what is the category
> total.
>
> Like I spent 5.00 on Laundry detergent. I had a $2.00 coupon. I listed
> $5.00 under household-laundry expense, then I posted a negative $2.00 to
> Household Laundry expense. When you look at Laundry expense it shows
> $5.00.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.

theorbo
Sun Feb 25 00:35:40 CST 2007

"JDJ" <JDJ@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8D16B7F2-2448-44FE-9209-53F8F88DDDA3@microsoft.com...
>I have MM2007. How do I post grocery coupons when I split the category's.
> Is it an expense or a income? Really confused because when I post it as
> a
> negative expense in a category it doesn't reduce what is the category
> total.

Like the other guys said, I would probably just record my actual purchase
price (including the coupon) but I'm wondering if you are interested in
knowing how much you save over time by using coupons. If that's the case
maybe you could create a category called "Coupons" and then record your
savings as a negative amount in this category ...

Ed
Sun Feb 25 01:08:00 CST 2007

When does a neg entry show up as an income? If you use a category of
"coupons" do you sub-classify it as grocery (and expense), will a neg entry
still be an expense?

"JDJ" wrote:

> I have MM2007. How do I post grocery coupons when I split the category's.
> Is it an expense or a income? Really confused because when I post it as a
> negative expense in a category it doesn't reduce what is the category total.
>
> Like I spent 5.00 on Laundry detergent. I had a $2.00 coupon. I listed
> $5.00 under household-laundry expense, then I posted a negative $2.00 to
> Household Laundry expense. When you look at Laundry expense it shows $5.00.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.

theorbo
Sun Feb 25 14:03:24 CST 2007

"Ed" <Ed@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:B216C449-002D-42B7-9AF8-29B73F64B1E3@microsoft.com...
> When does a neg entry show up as an income? If you use a category of
> "coupons" do you sub-classify it as grocery (and expense), will a neg
> entry
> still be an expense?

The transaction categorized as "coupons" would be a negative expense -
effectively reducing your overall expenses. You could subcategorize it if
you wanted to - but I think for most people, the fact that they are breaking
out coupons itself is overkill. Using a coupon isn't income at all - just
spending less, so this negative entry only affects expenses and not income.

Or maybe I misunderstand what you are asking?