Each Expense Card is grouped into categories & sub-categories.
- In each Expense Card, on the initial visit only, before the category closes, either save or skip through each card.
- If there is more than one expense, within a category, for example: 2 car payments, click Add Similar, after the first expense information is entered and saved.
- If no other expenses in the same category, click save, to get to the next suggested category.
- At the end of each set of Expense Card, if a an expense didn't fit within any of the other subcategories, add as many Other Expenses, as needed, by clicking Add Similar within each of the Other subcategories
REQUIRED FIELDS
Payee - Enter the payee name for each expense. If no specific name, enter a category or subject, for example: Vacation (found in the Fun & Family icon)
Amount - Enter the fixed or maximum amount for the expense.
- Amounts that Differ with each billing:
- Enter the maximum expected bill amount. It’s better to over project on expenses, than to under project.
- If the amount of the expense ends up being less than projected, the unused amount results in more Usable Cash.
How Often - Select the number of times the bill repeats, the interval, and the starting on date.
- Repeat Every & Intervals: Enter a number in the Repeat Every field, for how often the expense repeats, and the interval. For example:
- If the bill repeats daily, weekly, monthly or yearly: enter a 1 in the Repeat Every field, and select the corresponding interval
- If every other day, week, month, year: enter a 2 in the Repeat Every field, and select the corresponding interval, and so forth.
- If Twice a Month is selected, for the starting on date, enter both the next upcoming date and the second upcoming date.
- Starting on Date: This is not always the actual due date.
Select the date the amount needs to be available and pay out of your account.
If paying by check, give a 7 to 10 days lee-way.
- Some creditors use a 30-calendar day billing cycle, and due dates may occur earlier and earlier with each billing.
- For the first billing, select the date you need the money to pay out of your account,
- Then as each succeeding bill is received, edit the Starting on Date by clicking the blue edit pencil link on the My Budget page in the View Budget.
- Then click the red edit pencil and update the Starting on Date and click Update All Bills.
- If this expense is set up automatically, you may also need to change the date with your bank or creditor.
IMPORTANT: Short Billing Cycle(s) & Very First Due Date(s) -
- On the initial set up of your UsableCash.com account, if an expense is due sooner than a full billing cycle, for example: once a year, but it is due in 6 months, then the very first time an expense is due, you’ll need to either: Deposit what you’ve already saved up, and/or increase the entered income amount, until a positive balance results.
- For Example:
If paid: Twice a Month = 24 paydays per year
Amount due once a year: $2400
First due date: 6 months from now
The Average Minimum = $100 per payday
- If already saving for this bill, then at least $1200 should already be saved up.
- Deposit the saved amount into your Bill Account and update your Current Bank Balance on the Reconcile with your Bank page or on the My Budget page.
- If not already saving for this bill, there are 12 pay cycles until the first entered expense in your UsableCash account is due.
(6 months x 2 (paid twice a month) = 12)
Total bill $2400 12 (pay cycles) = $200
- Since the Average Minimum from UsableCash.com calculations is already at $100, based on the full bill cycle, then increase your entered income by the $100 difference, per payday, just until the first expense is pays out.
- The second time the expense is due will not have this same effect, since the average minimum will have a full cycle calculated for the next due date.
- There is no need for you to perform the above calculations, it’s only for the sake of how the tool calculates. All you need to do is: Deposit what's already saved and/or add or increase the entered income, until the negative balances resolve.
For Past Due Bills - Enter the last date it should have paid out. This will help you to get caught up. And if needed see: Satisfy Negative Balances.
OPTIONAL FIELDS
Necessity - Checkmark the expense as a necessity if it falls under the Necessity Expenses Definition above. See: Expense Definitions - This will give you correct calculations in the Ways to Save feature.
Paid Automatically - Checkmark if the expense is paid automatically.
- This will identify those expenses that are paid automatically when using the Search Bar feature, in case you need to contact a creditor to change the payment method, debit card, etc.
- It’s recommended to set up as many expenses on automatic payments, as possible.
- However, if you prefer to pay manually, make sure to send payment for those non-automatic payments when they come up on your Reconcile with your Bank page. Login to your UsableCash account often so that you’ll be reminded to pay these expenses manually.
Paid With
- Select the method by which you make each expenses payment. This information is important to note, in case you need to update a checking account, debit card, etc., or just as a reminder which expenses need to be paid with cash, check or other means.
- Selecting Paid with: Savings Account, will not make any calculations on the My Budget page, since the My Budget page is based solely on the checking account you use to pay all your entered expenses out of. However, the Paid with Savings Account expenses will appear on the Reconcile with your Bank page, as a reminder and help you keep track.
Remaining Payments - Enter the number of Remaining Payments, for example: A 5-year car loan, enter 60 remaining payments. Once you clear the last payment (1 payment remaining) verify if the last payment was actually reached.
- Final payment reached: Click save. Then the expense will delete out of your budget and the Average Minimum amount will decrease, as the expense is paid off, and is no longer calculated.
- Final payment not reached: Enter any additional remaining payments, as needed, and the Average Minimum amount will not decrease.
Notes - Free form notes regarding an expense, such as a balance due, phone number, if you need to call to make payment, etc. To view these notes, hover over the green page icon, in the View Budget section on the My Budget page, in the Description column