<title>Learn how not to count expenses twice</title>
<category fLocale="cdn">lifeplan</category>
<klink type="cncpt">Tell me how to not count expenses twice</klink>
</index>
<content>
<p>Does it seem like Money is telling you your budget is a lot tighter than you think it really is? It's possible that some of your expenses have been counted twice, and so Money is overestimating your monthly spending.</p>
<p>This can happen if you use Money to both schedule bills and budget your expenses. Depending on how you assign <glossary tNum="286964">categories</glossary> to your spending, and on where you include the information in your lifetime plan, Money might not recognize that what looks like two expenses is really just one.</p>
<p>Be on the lookout for situations like these:</p>
<ul>
<li><emph>Expenses related to an asset.</emph> If you choose, the Lifetime Planner will use your budgeted expenses on the <emph>Expenses</emph> pages. You can also include an asset's related expenses (such as the homeowner's dues on a residence or a boat's monthly moorage charge) in your lifetime plan's asset information. If you've also put those related expenses into your budget, your lifetime plan will count them twice. To avoid this, exclude the expenses that are counted twice from asset information. The expenses will still be part of your lifetime plan, but they will be reflected only in your annual expenses.</li>
<li><emph>Paycheck contributions.</emph> If you've set up regular paycheck deductions to contribute to an <glossary>IRA</glossary> or another account, don't add a separate scheduled transfer for that contribution.</li>
