Tiller would be much closer to perfect if there was a really good saving category sheet. Much like the others, I would like to be able to select multiple accounts for my savings goals. I think this could be easily done by adding a column in the “Accounts” tab similar to the class override and group column. It could be Saving Goal Eligible, or preferably something catchier, with a simple Yes/No option.
I would prefer that I manually allocate the money from my bank account to my saving goal versus the example above where it’s a little arbitrary to which goal is being funded if there is still more to save. Not sure how this would have to be handled, whether a whole new Tiller Labs tool for savings allocation would have to be built, or just a dedicated transaction sheet for saving goals.
I think the tags are a good fit for the transactions tab to show when money is being used against a savings goal, but the way they would work with an emergency fund vs a vacation fund are pretty different. If I buy my plane ticket in advance, the money in the goal goes down but I do not need to replace that money and this system is perfect. If I dip into my emergency fund my money in the goal goes down, but this time I do need to replace that money and the system is less perfect. Maybe some classification for the goals can be “fixed” or “flex” like the categories to change their behavior when referenced on the transaction tab.
I hope that you are able to get this figured out. I’ve been thinking about how to get a spreadsheet to do this well for a while and haven’t had much luck.
You can see the Moneybags to the left, indicating it is a savings goal. I then also show the balance and bunch of other various selectable insights. This has worked well for me.
Tracking multiple accounts for savings and investments
I had to delete the transactions pulled from the feeds showing interest income and dividends. And, I stopped the feeds coming from saving and investment accounts. I have several accounts.
It messes up my monthly budget tracking. The Tiller spreadsheets don’t know how to track the external accounts. The solution to this is to configure the spreadsheet to track the transaction off the book.
For instance, I go over the transactions to categorize. I see the interest income comes from savings A and B. I see the reinvestments and dividends from my investment accounts. And, there are transactions for sales and buys of securities pop up on the feeds. This transaction happens in inside the investment account. It doesn’t affect the primary account.
I would like to be able add “Investments” and “Savings” to the Income, Expense, and Transfer listing so that the incomes from savings, dividends, transactions of buying and selling have home.
I, too, am looking for a tool to track my savings rate. This number is extremely important to me as it is a fundamental piece of the puzzle on my FIRE journey.
