How do you handle transfers in budgeting so they don't show up as expenses or income?

DannyB52 · February 2022

First, we use a credit card to pay for almost all of our expenses. I categorize this expenses when they show up in our credit card register. I make payments every week or two to payoff the balance on our card. I don't want the payment to our credit care to show up as an expense in my Quicken budget. Hoe do I set up my budget to handle this?

Second, I transfer money from checking to savings twice each month to cover certain expenses that occur annually, semi-annually or irregularly (property tax, insurances, auto repairs/replacement, etc.). I know I can leave this money in our checking account, but it just works better for us to move the money to savings. I want the balance for each expense category to show up in that categories balance (I'm hoping the rollover feature will shoe the rollover balance from month to month, while the money sits in our savings account until needed.) How do I handle the transfer to savings and split the amount of the transfer into the various categories that money is meant for?

If what I' asking is not clear, please help me clarify.

Thanks to any who may respond to this post.

bmciance · February 2022

Transfers will only show up in the budget if you include the accounts the the category selection in the budget tool. For example, I withdraw a certain amount monthly from my Ira so I include that account in the category selection and it shows up as income. To exclude it I just would not select it as a "category"

James J · February 2022

DannyB52 said:

Thanks for your help, James. I've used Quicken for years but have never taken the time to set up the budget module. I would look at it from time to time but it never seemed very user friendly. I've looked at YNAB but it doesn't give me the depth of financial insights Quicken does. One thing that is top notch with YNAB is their extensive training videos and tutorials, and customer service. I recently checked out a couple of other Quicken competitors but had problems with setting up my bank and other financial accounts in them. Also I've gotten so used to Quicken it was a little more work then I wanted to learn a new interface. I gave Quicken's Simplifi a try and liked the look, feel and functionality, but again it's lacking some of the financial tracking available in Quicken. They plan on adding more functionality and I'll keep and eye on it. So, here I am trying to set up a budget in Quicken. I'll keep working on it and see how it goes.

I used Quicken for years before I ever opened the budget tool. I guess I didn't use it until we bought a home and had kids, and I developed more interest in using every dollar to its maximum efficiency. I like Quicken's budget tool because it is completely integrated into all my other financial records, which I also keep in Quicken. But I must say, there are things about the budget tool which I find kind of clunky or confusing, even after having been using it for about 7 years now.

bmciance · February 2022

Transfers will only show up in the budget if you include the accounts the the category selection in the budget tool. For example, I withdraw a certain amount monthly from my Ira so I include that account in the category selection and it shows up as income. To exclude it I just would not select it as a "category"

DannyB52 · February 2022

Thanks for your insight, bmciance.

James J · February 2022

We use a couple credit cards to pay for everything and in g he registers for those cards, that’s where I enter the category of the expense.

Then every week I transfer money from our “income” account to an “earmarked for credit card payment” account. Once a month I use those funds to pay the cards. I’m quicken, that shows as a transfer from the “earmarked” account to the credit card’s account.

I also make monthly transfers from the income account to two 529s and to the mortgage, and into a short term bond fund’s account.

These all show in the budget, but they show as transfers, neither as expenses nor incomes.

DannyB52 · February 2022

Thanks for your help, James. I've used Quicken for years but have never taken the time to set up the budget module. I would look at it from time to time but it never seemed very user friendly. I've looked at YNAB but it doesn't give me the depth of financial insights Quicken does. One thing that is top notch with YNAB is their extensive training videos and tutorials, and customer service. I recently checked out a couple of other Quicken competitors but had problems with setting up my bank and other financial accounts in them. Also I've gotten so used to Quicken it was a little more work then I wanted to learn a new interface. I gave Quicken's Simplifi a try and liked the look, feel and functionality, but again it's lacking some of the financial tracking available in Quicken. They plan on adding more functionality and I'll keep and eye on it. So, here I am trying to set up a budget in Quicken. I'll keep working on it and see how it goes.

James J · February 2022

DannyB52 said:

Thanks for your help, James. I've used Quicken for years but have never taken the time to set up the budget module. I would look at it from time to time but it never seemed very user friendly. I've looked at YNAB but it doesn't give me the depth of financial insights Quicken does. One thing that is top notch with YNAB is their extensive training videos and tutorials, and customer service. I recently checked out a couple of other Quicken competitors but had problems with setting up my bank and other financial accounts in them. Also I've gotten so used to Quicken it was a little more work then I wanted to learn a new interface. I gave Quicken's Simplifi a try and liked the look, feel and functionality, but again it's lacking some of the financial tracking available in Quicken. They plan on adding more functionality and I'll keep and eye on it. So, here I am trying to set up a budget in Quicken. I'll keep working on it and see how it goes.

I used Quicken for years before I ever opened the budget tool. I guess I didn't use it until we bought a home and had kids, and I developed more interest in using every dollar to its maximum efficiency. I like Quicken's budget tool because it is completely integrated into all my other financial records, which I also keep in Quicken. But I must say, there are things about the budget tool which I find kind of clunky or confusing, even after having been using it for about 7 years now.

DannyB52 · February 2022

OK, I'm all set on transfers vs. expenses. Here is what I have done to handle annual/semi-annual/irregular expenses. I set up savings goals for each of the annual, semi-annual and irregular expenses and make transfers from our income accounts to our savings accounts twice each month for 1/12 of the total amount needed to meet these expenses when they come around. When the transfers are recorded by the bank and in our Quicken registers, I go to the savings goals and make contributions to each goal. I have changed my budget form fractional monthly amounts for each of these expenses with the roll over feature turned on to budgeting the whole amount due in the month I actually pay a given expense. I.e., auto insurance is due in October each year. I have budgeted the amount of the payment for the month of October. When October comes around my savings goal for Auto Insurance will "contain" the amount needed to pay that bill and I will transfer the money from savings back into checking to meet this expense.

I have chosen to keep the savings goals contribution amounts visible in my checking register to insure that the "balance" is always at zero indicating that each savings dollar is allocated (given a job in YNAB parlance) to a savings goal.

Quicken Jared · February 2022

DannyB52 said:

OK, I'm all set on transfers vs. expenses. Here is what I have done to handle annual/semi-annual/irregular expenses. I set up savings goals for each of the annual, semi-annual and irregular expenses and make transfers from our income accounts to our savings accounts twice each month for 1/12 of the total amount needed to meet these expenses when they come around. When the transfers are recorded by the bank and in our Quicken registers, I go to the savings goals and make contributions to each goal. I have changed my budget form fractional monthly amounts for each of these expenses with the roll over feature turned on to budgeting the whole amount due in the month I actually pay a given expense. I.e., auto insurance is due in October each year. I have budgeted the amount of the payment for the month of October. When October comes around my savings goal for Auto Insurance will "contain" the amount needed to pay that bill and I will transfer the money from savings back into checking to meet this expense.

I have chosen to keep the savings goals contribution amounts visible in my checking register to insure that the "balance" is always at zero indicating that each savings dollar is allocated (given a job in YNAB parlance) to a savings goal.

Hello @DannyB52,

Thank you for contributing so much to this discussion and sharing helpful tips with the rest of the Quicken Community in regards to handling transfers and expenses. This has been highly informative.

Feel free to reach out to the Quicken Community again at any point with additional questions or concerns.

Best regards,

Quicken Jared

How do you handle transfers in budgeting so they don't show up as expenses or income?

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