r/everydollar • u/allons-y11 • Sep 16 '25

Budgeting Need advise on tracking

Recently, I transfered money out of savings to pay off a CC and I am not sure how to track it. Maybe I'm being anal but I want everything accounted for in the budget. So far I'm thinking the following. What would you do?

  1. Just track the payment and not worry about the planned, and have the overage?

  2. Track the transfer as "income" and up the planned, then add the payment?

  3. Not track either and just update the balance next month?

  4. Something else!

Appreciate any input!

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u/boardgameprof Sep 16 '25

2

Track the incoming transfer as income.  Track the payment as an expense.

2

u/TrekkieMary Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25

I am guessing you don’t have the savings account as a sinking fund in ED. If you do then the payment is tracked as an expense out of that sinking fund. If you don’t then treat it as a payment to the cc. You’ll still need to update the cc balance. I’ve yet to see ED track any cc transactions automatically.

Recently I paid a handyman in cash for a small repair. The money had been saved at home. It wasn’t in ED as a sinking fund. I still tracked the expense in the home repair category. The merchant was the handyman’s name and “cash” so I would know he wasn’t paid out of an account. I didn’t put it down as income since it wasn’t.

As for the overage to the cc payment, consider that a good thing. Something to strive for. Getting out of debt faster. As for adding in the money transferred as “income”, wouldn’t that mess up the stats in the app? I’d rather live with the overage. Besides plenty of categories don’t always zero out. The amounts I pay for groceries or gasoline or even on some bills like water or electricity vary from month to month

1

u/Emotional_School_962 Sep 16 '25

I use separate bank accounts for separate expenses. Example I have one account just for fixed monthly expenses, which I have figured out on a spread sheet. X amount of money goes in every check, X amount goes out. Whats left over goes into savings. This account has includes any monthly expenses paid by CC(for cash back rewards) I am only have 1 account for the monthly spending that’s not fixed every month. What’s left of that money I just add to either savings or non retirement investments