Envelope Overflow transfer to specific account

#1

Here is my question,

I have envelopes that are accumulating more and more each month. I would like to transfer that “over flow” into a specific account. I am wondering how to do that.
Also, My totals in accounts tab and envelops tab are equal and they all reflect accurately my real accounts in the bank (one checking account, and 4 savings accounts), The weird thing is my “Unallocated” is showing a negative $4,000+???
I think there are 2 different issues going on. Some guidance would be appreciated,
Thanks in advance!

#2

Welcome to Goodbudget! I’ll try to address your questions in pieces because I agree, it sounds like more than one thing is going on here.
First, let me clarify Accounts and Envelopes. These both show you the same money, just allocated differently. Accounts show you where the money is kept, and Envelopes show how you intend to spend it. I want to clarify this, because you can’t transfer money back and forth between envelopes and accounts–it’s already accounted for in both places.
The Unallocated amount works like an envelope, but it’s a special one. The negative amount in Unallocated is balanced against your other envelopes, so it would make sense that the totals are correct and aligned given that you have an envelope with a surplus. (A negative Unallocated amount indicates that you’ll be overdrawn by that much if you spend all the money in your other envelopes.)
Your first step should be to get your Unallocated balance at or greater than $0, and to do that you’ll move your surplus to Unallocated with an Envelope Transfer. If the balance is still negative, you’ll need to transfer some money from other envelopes to Unallocated as well until you meet the threshold. If it’s positive, you’ve got a jump on your next envelope Fill/next budget period.
Finally, if you notice an envelope consistently accumulating, you may want to change your budget instruction to “Set” instead of “Add”. That way your Fill will only add enough to bring the envelope up to the budgeted amount but won’t lead to a surplus. Any money not “put into” envelopes will remain in Unallocated so if you spend less than you make, that envelope will indeed grow.
Hope that helps!

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#3

OK.
I just received a paycheck and my Unallocated jumped up to +4k. I went from negative(red) to positive (black) in unallocated.
I noticed that my monthly envelope total + unallocated = Total in top tab.

I want to keep track of my surplus amounts. I just ran a test. I enveloped transferred $10 from my Gas envelope to my Unallocated. My Monthly amount went down $10 as did my Gas envelope, OK I got that. My unallocated went up by $10. I feel my unallocated envelope is surplus amount hidden within all my different accounts. Should I set up a separate savings envelope to transfer surplus into that?

#4

You’re right—the Unallocated is the “left over” money you haven’t put into an envelope. If you’re choosing to save some of the money in your accounts, you’ll need a savings envelope to reflect that the money isn’t available for everyday spending. That’s how I have mine set up—envelopes for regular savings, vacation planning (someday, sigh) and emergency funds that, added together, total the amount in my savings account. That way my Unallocated amount is truly money that’s available to me but hasn’t been allocated, so I can put it anywhere I like on the fly.

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