Hi there! I’m hoping someone can help me figure out the best way to handle this in Goodbudget.
In my household, I pay most of our shared bills upfront, and then my fiancé reimburses me for his portion. For example, I pay $2,000 for rent directly from my checking account, and he sends me $1,000 back through Venmo. In Goodbudget, my “Rent” envelope is set to $1,000 because that’s the amount I’m actually responsible for.
The issue is that when I enter the full $2,000 rent payment, it looks like I’ve overspent my envelope by $1,000—even though I’m reimbursed for half. I’m not quite sure how to reflect this so my envelopes stay accurate.
Does anyone have advice on the best way to track this kind of reimbursement setup?
You have “overspent” because you paid the $2000. If you’re looking at the envelope being in the red by $1000, the envelope will balance itself out once you receive the other $1000. If you’re looking at your budgeted numbers, budget vs. spent, then make sure the report isn’t just looking at amount spent, but also amount received.
@Sarah_Payne – I track reimbursements similarly. I have a ‘Reimbursement’ Envelope that has a budgeted amount of 0.00. When it’s red, I know I’ve likely spent money on work expenses, so the red serves as a reminder to request reimbursement for those items. When I’m paid back, I’ll record that payment as a credit against the Envelope. At that point, the Envelope will be 0.00 again.
All is to say, what you’re doing sounds right to me. Budgeting only the portion that you actually pay is correct. Otherwise, you would always have a surplus in the Envelope because you’d be overfilling it.