4 ms·

Maybe I'm outside the norm, but as a YNAB user of over 10 years, I've never needed this. We split transactions across multiple categories all the time (shopping

Maybe I'm outside the norm, but as a YNAB user of over 10 years, I've never needed this. We split transactions across multiple categories all the time (shopping at Target for groceries, clothing, household goods, etc), but I expect that is very common. I don't think YNAB philosophy would have you tracking reward or gift card balances, so you'd only track the amount that hit your CC, in this example. In that regard, YNAB certainly isn't a tool to track all of your monetary assets. Is it common to split a single transaction across multiple accounts?

aeneasmackenzie 3y ago
When I use cash I split the transaction like this (in YNAB): CASH -$7 LOOSE CHANGE +$0.36 STORE +$6.64 Loose change is an account that represents at least as much money as there is in change in my house, pockets, cars, etc while cash is an exact tracking account.
- nimbleplum40 3y ago
  Have you found value out of this? I just consider cash spent as soon as I withdraw it, as far as the budget goes. Tracking small change sounds tedious and seems line it wouldn’t provide value, but so I’m curious to hear if you think differently.
  - aeneasmackenzie 3y ago
    I used to do this but I started tracking change separately because I want to track budget categories exactly but I also don’t want to have to count a bunch of change every time I reconcile my cash account. The change account is only tracked automatically, it would be too tedious to do manually.
  - brewdad 3y ago
    I do the same as you. I used to attempt to track cash spending but I found that if I wasn't tracking it within 24 hours of it being spent, I probably wasn't categorizing it correctly anyway. Since my cash expenditures represent well under 1% of my total spending, it wasn't worth tracking in detail.
  - brnt 3y ago
    I used to toss coins in the bin. Time spent accounting for then (Where are they now and how much is it, how much more do i need?) cost more time then their value. Now I live somewhere where some merchants only accept cash, so I save them again. It's a hassle though.

aeneasmackenzie 3y ago

When I use cash I split the transaction like this (in YNAB): CASH -$7 LOOSE CHANGE +$0.36 STORE +$6.64 Loose change is an account that represents at least as much money as there is in change in my house, pockets, cars, etc while cash is an exact tracking account.

nimbleplum40 3y ago
Have you found value out of this? I just consider cash spent as soon as I withdraw it, as far as the budget goes. Tracking small change sounds tedious and seems line it wouldn’t provide value, but so I’m curious to hear if you think differently.
- aeneasmackenzie 3y ago
  I used to do this but I started tracking change separately because I want to track budget categories exactly but I also don’t want to have to count a bunch of change every time I reconcile my cash account. The change account is only tracked automatically, it would be too tedious to do manually.
- brewdad 3y ago
  I do the same as you. I used to attempt to track cash spending but I found that if I wasn't tracking it within 24 hours of it being spent, I probably wasn't categorizing it correctly anyway. Since my cash expenditures represent well under 1% of my total spending, it wasn't worth tracking in detail.
- brnt 3y ago
  I used to toss coins in the bin. Time spent accounting for then (Where are they now and how much is it, how much more do i need?) cost more time then their value. Now I live somewhere where some merchants only accept cash, so I save them again. It's a hassle though.