Buxfer WHAT?
March 14, 2008 12:57 AM Subscribe
Buxfer Filter: I've been using Buxfer for financial management, but since I have both bank accounts and credit cards on the site, I get double transactions.
My Buxfer account automatically uploads all of my transactions on my credit card and my bank account. For example, I buy a shirt ($10) and a coke ($1), the credit card upload lists each purchase separately. At the end of the month, I use my bank account to pay $11 to the credit card, so my bank account uploads the $11 payment.
I've been trying to use Buxfer to figure out where my monthly expenses tend to go, but because I use my credit card for most day to day expenses, the analysis section doesn't help me much: A huge chunk of my income goes to paying my monthly credit card bill so I can't tell how much I spent on eating out, groceries, clothing, gas, etc.
I've tried deleting the payment type transactions but then the totals in my bank account are off- so rather than listing X00 with the credit card bill paid, they show X11 as if I hadn't paid off the bill, and I get error messages every time I synchronize.
This seems like an obvious problem to have, and one with an obvious answer. I've been through the FAQs and haven't found any answers. Help, anyone? (And this is stewiethegreat's gf posting, if it matters)
My Buxfer account automatically uploads all of my transactions on my credit card and my bank account. For example, I buy a shirt ($10) and a coke ($1), the credit card upload lists each purchase separately. At the end of the month, I use my bank account to pay $11 to the credit card, so my bank account uploads the $11 payment.
I've been trying to use Buxfer to figure out where my monthly expenses tend to go, but because I use my credit card for most day to day expenses, the analysis section doesn't help me much: A huge chunk of my income goes to paying my monthly credit card bill so I can't tell how much I spent on eating out, groceries, clothing, gas, etc.
I've tried deleting the payment type transactions but then the totals in my bank account are off- so rather than listing X00 with the credit card bill paid, they show X11 as if I hadn't paid off the bill, and I get error messages every time I synchronize.
This seems like an obvious problem to have, and one with an obvious answer. I've been through the FAQs and haven't found any answers. Help, anyone? (And this is stewiethegreat's gf posting, if it matters)
I'm not sure if this helps out, because I don't synchronize my Buxfer account with my bank accounts, but I always categorize payments MADE with the credit card as Personal Expenses. I categorize payments from my checking account to my credit card as account transfers.
Can you simply edit the transactions involving paying off your credit card, changing them from personal expenses to account transfers?
posted by syzygy at 4:24 AM on March 14, 2008
Can you simply edit the transactions involving paying off your credit card, changing them from personal expenses to account transfers?
posted by syzygy at 4:24 AM on March 14, 2008
Response by poster: It doesn't sadly- I need both bank account and cc on buxfer to gert a reasonable idea of my expenses. Stuff like my car payment, insurance, etc comes straight out of my bank account whereas stuff like my internet, and all the times I eat out is charged to my credit card.
posted by stewiethegreat at 9:08 AM on March 14, 2008
posted by stewiethegreat at 9:08 AM on March 14, 2008
Maybe we're talking past each other. I have a similar set - some things are paid straight out of my credit card, some out of my checking account.
Then, there's the monthly payment that goes from my bank account to my credit card.
Every time I spend money from my credit card, I create a personal transaction with my credit card as the account.
Every time I spend money from my bank account, I create a personal transaction with my checking account as the account.
Every time I pay my credit card balance off from my checking account, I mark that as an account transfer, from my checking account to my credit card account. This means my balance drops in my checking account, and my credit card balance goes to 0 each month when I pay my bill.
To further the example, I have an account for wallet. When I take cash out at the ATM, I mark that as an account transfer, from checking account to my wallet account. Then, as I spend cash out of my wallet, I mark those expenditures as personal expenses.
Maybe you can explain in more detail why this setup wouldn't work for you.
posted by syzygy at 9:41 AM on March 14, 2008
Then, there's the monthly payment that goes from my bank account to my credit card.
Every time I spend money from my credit card, I create a personal transaction with my credit card as the account.
Every time I spend money from my bank account, I create a personal transaction with my checking account as the account.
Every time I pay my credit card balance off from my checking account, I mark that as an account transfer, from my checking account to my credit card account. This means my balance drops in my checking account, and my credit card balance goes to 0 each month when I pay my bill.
To further the example, I have an account for wallet. When I take cash out at the ATM, I mark that as an account transfer, from checking account to my wallet account. Then, as I spend cash out of my wallet, I mark those expenditures as personal expenses.
Maybe you can explain in more detail why this setup wouldn't work for you.
posted by syzygy at 9:41 AM on March 14, 2008
Or maybe the problem is really with synchronization. Since I don't use synchronization, I may not be seeing the effects you're seeing. The above method does work for me, and all of the math is correct.
One other tip, I've found the people at Buxfer to be very responsive. I usually have an answer to my emailed questions or suggestions within a day or two of sending them in.
posted by syzygy at 9:44 AM on March 14, 2008
One other tip, I've found the people at Buxfer to be very responsive. I usually have an answer to my emailed questions or suggestions within a day or two of sending them in.
posted by syzygy at 9:44 AM on March 14, 2008
I, too, would like to know how to solve this problem. Because of it, I can only use Buxfer to breakdown my spending into categories for analysis (through tagging) and must ignore the account balances as they are wildly incorrect.
posted by onshi at 9:49 AM on March 14, 2008
posted by onshi at 9:49 AM on March 14, 2008
Response by poster: syzygy-
H'm, I'm not sure how to better explain this. I *do* synchronize both accounts, as one is linked to my debit card and one is my credit card. Perhaps that's the problem? I'm not sure how I can catagorize the payment as a "balance transfer". Are you suggesting using that as a tag?
Also, how do you contact them? I've been through the FAQs and the blog, to no avail. Thanks for the help.
posted by stewiethegreat at 12:20 PM on March 14, 2008
H'm, I'm not sure how to better explain this. I *do* synchronize both accounts, as one is linked to my debit card and one is my credit card. Perhaps that's the problem? I'm not sure how I can catagorize the payment as a "balance transfer". Are you suggesting using that as a tag?
Also, how do you contact them? I've been through the FAQs and the blog, to no avail. Thanks for the help.
posted by stewiethegreat at 12:20 PM on March 14, 2008
Hi stewie's gf...
Here's what I mean by account transfer. Open Buxfer, open the New Transaction tab. Under Transaction Type, the last option is Account Transfer.
You can also open an existing transaction and change it from Personal Expense to Account Transfer. You'll see that you have a From Acount and a To Account when you choose Account Transfer. When you have a payment from your checking account to your credit card, open it for editing and change it from Personal Expense to Account Transfer.
When my checking account is debited to pay my credit card bill, I enter that transaction as an Account Transfer from checking account to credit card. Again, I'm not using synchronization, I'm putting in my transactions manually, so I can't guarantee this will work for you. It works in my situation, with no synchronization.
If you want to contact them, use the "Make a suggestion" link in the top-right corner of the browser. I've sent multiple suggestions (and questions, etc.), and they have always answered me within a day or two.
Good luck - I hope you find a solution that works for you. If not, hopefully they'll take your "suggestion" into account and add the feature soon.
posted by syzygy at 11:00 AM on March 15, 2008
Here's what I mean by account transfer. Open Buxfer, open the New Transaction tab. Under Transaction Type, the last option is Account Transfer.
You can also open an existing transaction and change it from Personal Expense to Account Transfer. You'll see that you have a From Acount and a To Account when you choose Account Transfer. When you have a payment from your checking account to your credit card, open it for editing and change it from Personal Expense to Account Transfer.
When my checking account is debited to pay my credit card bill, I enter that transaction as an Account Transfer from checking account to credit card. Again, I'm not using synchronization, I'm putting in my transactions manually, so I can't guarantee this will work for you. It works in my situation, with no synchronization.
If you want to contact them, use the "Make a suggestion" link in the top-right corner of the browser. I've sent multiple suggestions (and questions, etc.), and they have always answered me within a day or two.
Good luck - I hope you find a solution that works for you. If not, hopefully they'll take your "suggestion" into account and add the feature soon.
posted by syzygy at 11:00 AM on March 15, 2008
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posted by stewiethegreat at 1:07 AM on March 14, 2008