Re: how to account for cc charges
I have quicken so it makes it easy to track. Essentially everything is assigned an expense category when charged. Then when I make the cc payment it does not show up on my budget at all.
Some things I do to make it work is I know it should be in the range of $1200-$1300 to be in budget and have money for everything else. So if everything is in budget that is where I land. I have some items that clear the card up to the 4th - closing date - but I date everything that closes before then to the prior month, even if it was a charge on the 1st - just keeps it simpler. So for budgeting expenses I track the actual charges. & then for payment, if everything is on/under budget I will have the cash to pay it with my first check of the month.
It took me a long while to wrap my brain around this and get on track. When my e-fund is more significantly funded I think I am going to set aside money the first of every month to pay the next month's bill, just to keep the ecpenses and the payment all in the same month. I don't want to prepay the card so I Am trying to figure out exactly how I want to structure it - but an idea I am working on. I would essentially like to pay everything in cash, but keep the cc for rewards so it has been hard for me working it into a cash framework - but I Am getting there.
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