Unallocated amount is too high

#1

Hi there,
Advice please!

I’ve been having a massive sort of my finances and am reflecting that in my GoodBudget accounting. I have got GB up to date and correct on the accounts- side, but envelopes is a different matter.

I now have a big discrepancy between the amount showing in in Unallocated, and the actual total from my updated and correct accounts.

How do I get my unallocated figure correct? I’m completely stumped! I’ve tried adding a new envelope called zReconciling to remove the excess, but that doesn’t seem to work. I’ve ‘set’ the envelopes for my two savings accounts, so the account and envelope amounts work, but I cannot figure out how to correct the other envelopes and the unallocated figure! It’s driving me insane! I really don’t want to have to start again, but if I can’t sort this out then that’s what I’ll have to resort to.

Help!!

#2

So one of three things is most likely in play here: 1) the adjustments in your accounts have accurately changed your Unallocated balance (remember the totals in Envelopes and Accounts are the same, just seen differently) and you can send that money into envelopes as you see fit 2) there may be a glitch in which the two aren’t equal; that’s rare but if the totals aren’t the same, the admins can make an adjustment, or 3) there’s money missing from an envelope you need to fill. My guess is it’s the last one, because you said you “set” your savings envelopes but you didn’t mention that you’d filled them. The “set” instruction only tells the budget how to act when you fill, but it doesn’t perform the fill. Check not just the amounts budgeted for your envelopes but their actual available balance, and fill if necessary.
I know you’ve used GB before so maybe you’ve already checked this, but it sounds like the most likely possibility to me.
One other thing—you can do a Fill with negative numbers too; if you need to shift money to correct several envelopes it may be easier to do them all in one swoop with a Fill that adds to some and takes from others.
Hope this helps!

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#3

Hi Tiffany,
Thanks as always! I’ll see what I can come up with. I think in the end it will be some fudge or another, which is vexing, but there is only so long I can shuffle figures around in GB without going stir-crazy.

Edited to add:
Hurrah! It only required a little fudging in the end, with setting a minus figure into my ‘unexpected’ envelope.

(I find this envelope a real boon for when I can’t remember what a particular paypal/amazon purchase was, so stick things in there until I have the time to go back through paypal/amazon and move into the correct envelope.)

Thanks again!

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#4

I have a miscellaneous envelope that I use similarly - but I never get around to moving it to the correct envelope!

#5

Haha, I hear you! I need to spend an hour going through my ‘Unexpected’, and also my ‘Discretionary’ envelopes to tidy transactions into their proper places! The hardest part is finding a time when I’m not going to get interrupted…

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