Help! How to create "fake" accounts in Money?

Here's my problem:

I have a system of money management in which all income is split up and
distributed into certain (fake) "accounts". (In reality, most of it is
split up and distributed to an actual checking account and savings
account.) Each of these fake accounts represent the balance that I have
available to apply to certain aspects in life (e.g. bills/necessities,
play, saving for spending, saving for investment, donations/tithing,
education).

So, for any actual deposit into my checking or savings account, I want
to specify a certain amount OR percentage to go into each "fake"
account. AND, when I spend money, I want to deduct it from the
appropriate "fake" accounts as it is reconciled.

I've thought of some possible solutions:
(1) Actually create separate (real) checking/savings accounts for each
fake account. Problem: too complicated, possibly unnecessary.

(2) Create virtual accounts for these in Money, and virtually transfer
the money back and forth between accounts. Problem: It doesn't reflect
what's really happening. Other??

(3) Don't use accounts. Create "Super" categories that map all the
existing categories to be under the new categories. For example,
Health, Phone Bill, and Water Bill would all fall under Necessities.
This way I could see what I'm spending, but I don't know if I could see
how much money I have in the virtual account at a time... and there are
probably other problems too.

Could I have some input, please, on feasibility or, best, on how I might
solve my problem?

Thank you,
Chad

via_newsgroup
Sat Aug 02 11:43:30 CDT 2003

In microsoft.public.money, Chad Dylan Long wrote:

>
>Could I have some input, please, on feasibility or, best, on how I might
>solve my problem?

I think you have a good handle on the alternatives.

Chad
Sat Aug 02 13:50:24 CDT 2003

In article <0hqnivcmvimq5iu43lndo1isp0vn423n7d@4ax.com>,
via_newsgroup@please.tnx says...
> In microsoft.public.money, Chad Dylan Long wrote:
>
> >
> >Could I have some input, please, on feasibility or, best, on how I might
> >solve my problem?
>
> I think you have a good handle on the alternatives.
>
>

That's it? Oh, man... I was hoping there might be a "right answer", or
something I hadn't thought of.

Can someone at least offer thoughts on which solution might be better?
I'm really not that experienced with Money (just starting to use it, in
fact)

> (2) Create virtual accounts for these in Money, and virtually transfer
> the money back and forth between accounts. Problem: It doesn't reflect
> what's really happening. Other??
>
> (3) Don't use accounts. Create "Super" categories that map all the
> existing categories to be under the new categories. For example,
> Health, Phone Bill, and Water Bill would all fall under Necessities.
> This way I could see what I'm spending, but I don't know if I could see
> how much money I have in the virtual account at a time... and there are
> probably other problems too.

I'd hate to get into one and then find out it's not working... but maybe
that's just what I'll have to do (and hope it does work) =)

If anybody has any alternatives, I'm all ears. I would have thought
that after so many versions, Money might have some provision for this
scenario without trying to figure out your own "hack".

Thanks in advance.

Chad

Dick
Sat Aug 02 13:57:53 CDT 2003

I think the Microsoft Money ethos is that you should not be using their tool
to "fake" yourself out. They intend you to manage spending using the budget
tools and to manage cash flow using the cash flow forecasting tools. What
you want is something like the Quicken subaccount and Money doesn't have
this. For some of us, this is what we like about Money. For others, it's
what they hate.

"Chad Dylan Long" <sojaNOSPAM@NO.SPAM.byu.edu> wrote in message
news:MPG.1995a7ce2c8805ce989681@news.cablespeed.com...
> If anybody has any alternatives, I'm all ears. I would have thought
> that after so many versions, Money might have some provision for this
> scenario without trying to figure out your own "hack".

via_newsgroup
Sat Aug 02 14:07:36 CDT 2003

In microsoft.public.money, Chad Dylan Long wrote:

>
>If anybody has any alternatives, I'm all ears. I would have thought
>that after so many versions, Money might have some provision for this
>scenario without trying to figure out your own "hack".

You watched the instructional video on Creating a Budget, read about
Money's Savings Goals, and decided to use your own method.

Harold
Sun Aug 03 23:20:40 CDT 2003

You didn't get a good answer from the group. I have used a system identical
to yours for over twenty years, and know how handy it is. To do this in
money, what you'll want to do is create your own categories, and split your
incoming $ among them.
When it comes time to withdraw from your phoney categories, you will need to
create a report to tell you the balance, and do a little side calculation
with your spreadsheet. It works, and isn't a huge pain to do.

"Chad Dylan Long" <sojaNOSPAM@NO.SPAM.byu.edu> wrote in message
news:MPG.1994ccb76596fe6989680@news.verizon.net...
> Here's my problem:
>
> I have a system of money management in which all income is split up and
> distributed into certain (fake) "accounts". (In reality, most of it is
> split up and distributed to an actual checking account and savings
> account.) Each of these fake accounts represent the balance that I have
> available to apply to certain aspects in life (e.g. bills/necessities,
> play, saving for spending, saving for investment, donations/tithing,
> education).
>
> So, for any actual deposit into my checking or savings account, I want
> to specify a certain amount OR percentage to go into each "fake"
> account. AND, when I spend money, I want to deduct it from the
> appropriate "fake" accounts as it is reconciled.
>
> I've thought of some possible solutions:
> (1) Actually create separate (real) checking/savings accounts for each
> fake account. Problem: too complicated, possibly unnecessary.
>
> (2) Create virtual accounts for these in Money, and virtually transfer
> the money back and forth between accounts. Problem: It doesn't reflect
> what's really happening. Other??
>
> (3) Don't use accounts. Create "Super" categories that map all the
> existing categories to be under the new categories. For example,
> Health, Phone Bill, and Water Bill would all fall under Necessities.
> This way I could see what I'm spending, but I don't know if I could see
> how much money I have in the virtual account at a time... and there are
> probably other problems too.
>
> Could I have some input, please, on feasibility or, best, on how I might
> solve my problem?
>
> Thank you,
> Chad