Author Topic: Double-counting money in my spreadsheets  (Read 2786 times)

Kio

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Double-counting money in my spreadsheets
« on: October 01, 2014, 09:42:50 AM »
We have some pretty epic spreadsheets that we use to track our money.  There are several columns for things like Utilities, Restaurants, Groceries, etc.  Then each of these columns get grouped into 1 of 3 sections: Needs, Wants, and Smart Money.  These three groups are then displayed in Pie Graphs (monthly and annually), and we have a goal (currently) to hit 60% Smart Money.  Smart Money is made up of investments, savings, extra mortgage payments and, back when we had them, student loan payments.

My predicament is that Smart Money is at risk of getting double-counted.  We've been saving up for a downpayment, and each chunk we put in the bank got listed in our spreadsheets as Savings.  But now we are right about to write the check for the downpayment... If we add it as a line item for housing costs this month, we've double-counted that money for this year!

I know we could resolve this by saying Smart Money = Money In - Money Out , but I like have the different categories of smart money.

So just curious, how do you fellow Mustachians keep a detailed account of your Smart Money, without double-counting?

retired?

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Re: Double-counting money in my spreadsheets
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2014, 09:48:56 AM »
out of savings and into investments?  Not sure how it is set up, but "accountants" would debit one and credit the other.

Or create a new category called "Home Equity" in the smart money bucket......since you will be paying principal.

KMMK

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Re: Double-counting money in my spreadsheets
« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2014, 11:33:21 AM »
Yes, I don't consider down payment or payments to principal as an expense. Only closing costs and interest costs are included in my expense spreadsheet, though I do have one line where I add it back in to compare income to cash flow.

marblejane

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Re: Double-counting money in my spreadsheets
« Reply #3 on: October 01, 2014, 11:38:26 AM »
The check for the downpayment is just transferring the asset from a savings account to property. The only items that you should count in housing expenses are the closing costs and interest costs, like Kestra said.