How to plan for recurring expenses that don't occur monthly?

pst

Every year I will have to pay for maintenance and repair items. Lawn care, car maintenance, etc, etc. I have a rough idea of how much I'll pay every year but it will never be at the same time or the same amount. I still want to be prepared for it.
How do you make sure these expenses are planned for? It does not seem like goals or spending plan answer to this use case even though it does not sound to me like a niche scenario.

Coach Natalie

Hello @pst,

Thanks for posting your question to the Community!

If you're looking to break down yearly expenses to a monthly amount in the Spending Plan, we suggest using a Savings Goal so you can contribute a certain amount each month, and then ignore the transaction from the Spending Plan when it actually takes place since you've already set the money aside for it. We have a #TipTuesday available here that goes over this in detail. 

Otherwise, if you're looking to just be able to plan and budget for those yearly expenses, I'd suggest creating a 'Yearly' Recurring Series for it so it pops up in your Spending Plan in the month the expense is expected to take place, and you'll also be able to see the Reminder 6 months in advance in the Projected Cash Flow graph. 

If you don't know the exact amount, I'd say to overestimate it so you know you're covered. This is what I do for my utilities that fluctuate each month, and it's always nice to have a little leftover money when the amount ends up not being as much as I had planned for. 

I hope this helps, but please be sure to let us know if you have any additional questions!

-Coach Natalie

Flopbot

@pst,

 Something like that would be useful and there may be an Idea Post along those lines.  If not, I’d encourage you to create one.

Awhile back, @DannyB compiled a really interesting ‘Survey’ of all the various Savings Goal posts.  You might find it interesting.

https://community.simplifimoney.com/discussion/4089/survey-of-savings-goals-enhancement-ideas-suggestions

pst

Thank you, Natalie.
If I understand correctly, I can either create a saving goal and this is going to help me put the money aside but it's not going to help me see a spend in the future.
Or I can create the spend in the future, but I don't know when it'll be and that spend is not going to help me put money aside. 
I wish there was a function that did both at the same time. That would be awesome. Don't you think it could be useful?