Best way to handle savings goals

JVGsGirl

I've set up savings goals for property tax and vacations and automatically contribute to them monthly. I've also got them in my budget. My question is how to handle the budgeting categories when I actually spend from those goals. When I charge a hotel on my cc and the transaction comes in, I would like to show it coming from my vacation savings goal but there's no way to do that. I categorize it as vacation expense and it messes up my budget. I've thought about just using categories but can't figure out how to do that either. Any ideas?

q_lurker

I believe the design intent on saving goals is that you move money in from real world accounts to set that money aside. When it comes time to spend the money, you move it back from the goal to the account you took it from, and the spend the money from that real world account.

Example:

• You move $50/mo from Checking to Vacation Goal.
• Maybe 6 months later you charge $175 on your credit card account. That charge goes against your vacation category and budget.
• Maybe 25 days later, you pay the CC account from the checking account.
• At that time, you move $175 from the Vacation Goal back to the Checking account. (Or at any time you desire, you move it back. The idea is to keep you from spending that $175 or $50/mo on something else.)