Author Topic: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?  (Read 12437 times)

Offline Josef.koney

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #60 on: October 24, 2020, 10:48:43 PM »
Awesome thread just went thr full thing...
I currently have things in three different places and I'm trying to get something that works for me.
Have a separate CC for all your donations.
That's awesome. And then u can track it from the statements? Like how does that keep track of what is still owed?
Why not? Any time you put money in your personal checking account, immediately transfer 10% to your tzedaka account.
Bc not always is money put into personal checking...  sometimes it's deposited by others sometimes it's cash and stays in my drawer etc... Very hard to keep track that way personally.
I use Mint to classify and check all my transactions. After I check/change the category, I give them a tag "ok". I can filter by transactions without that tag to see what needs to be looked at. If something relates to maaser (ie: either income or a donation), I also give it a tag "maaser". Once in a while I go through all the transactions with that tag, log them in a spreadsheet, and remove the tag. My spreadsheet figures out how much I owe for maaser and subtracts what I've given, and keeps a running total so that when it is up to date, I can see if I owe any maaser.
This is interesting!
Love the 'ok' idea...
Just a thought, if you have a budget named charity with a budget of 0, and balance flow over to next month, you'd be able to split 10% off any income put it as charity and whenever you pay, it categorizes as charity.
When going to the Charity budget, it will show if u have a outstanding balance or not and by how much...

Offline etech0

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #61 on: October 24, 2020, 11:33:38 PM »
I ended up switching from Mint to Simplifi (for a number of reasons), and it has a place to check "reviewed" which I use instead of the OK tag. It's a lot easier to access since you don't need to "open" the transactions (it actually lets you add tags without opening the transaction anyways).
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline Yo ssi

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #62 on: October 25, 2020, 01:38:38 AM »
I ended up switching from Mint to Simplifi (for a number of reasons), and it has a place to check "reviewed" which I use instead of the OK tag. It's a lot easier to access since you don't need to "open" the transactions (it actually lets you add tags without opening the transaction anyways).
Never used either but the reviews are considerably worse on simplifi
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Offline etech0

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #63 on: October 25, 2020, 09:26:32 AM »
Never used either but the reviews are considerably worse on simplifi
Where have you been looking? Note that you need to compare recent reviews (within the last year or two), since Mint was really good until it started going downhill fast. I started using Mint about 6/7 years ago and just switched this past summer and it's a world of a difference.
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.

Offline Yehuda57

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #64 on: October 25, 2020, 09:28:12 AM »
I use youneedabudget, which is an entirely different philosophy to mint or everydollar, and definitely not for everyone, but for maaser it works quite well. Every time income is marked, I immidiately budget the tzedaka and then the amount rolls over if it isn't spent by the end of the month.

Offline Josef.koney

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #65 on: October 27, 2020, 03:55:51 PM »
So I have to say, OP thanks! U got me to write everything from the past year and a half!
That said, I think I put alot of ideas I got from here to make a system that works for me.

Basically I made a google form that imports to sheets. (using IFTTT didn't seem reliable, and didn't like it running in the background....)
First q is 'got' multiple choice of my default paychecks, as well as 'other' if it's something else.
Second q is 'gave' with normal amounts I give and 'other' for another amount
Third q is for what with a space for a short answer.

On sheets it prints out the date and the GOT row GAVE row and FOR WHAT row.
I also wrote the algorithms that make it add everything up automatically.

Works well. To input something it takes 15 sec... I have a shortcut to the form on my phone front screen...


Let's see if this works

Offline Yo ssi

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #66 on: October 27, 2020, 04:23:45 PM »

Let's see if this works
If your trying to show a picture, it didn't.
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Offline Josef.koney

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #67 on: October 27, 2020, 11:37:35 PM »
If your trying to show a picture, it didn't.
Nope meant let's see if making this system makes me keep a better chsbon...
Would u like a pic?

Offline Fish Tank

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #68 on: November 01, 2020, 01:34:55 AM »
I opened a Fidelity Donor Advised Fund. All money is tax deductible on the way in. Very easy to keep track of.
Interesting. Have you had any issues with them sending funds to Jewish 501c3's? Or they have every organization listed?

Offline yesitsme

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #69 on: November 01, 2020, 06:33:46 AM »
Interesting. Have you had any issues with them sending funds to Jewish 501c3's? Or they have every organization listed?
Why would there be any issues?
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Offline avromie7

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #70 on: November 01, 2020, 06:44:40 AM »
Back to the OP, I do it the old fashion way. Every time I get paid I put cash in the envelope. If I donate by CC I just take the cash back out.
I wonder what people who type "u" instead of "you" do with all their free time.

Offline yesitsme

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #71 on: November 01, 2020, 06:45:04 AM »
You can also sign up to https://ojcfund.org/
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Offline Fish Tank

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #72 on: November 01, 2020, 07:08:10 AM »
Why would there be any issues?
I don't know. Fidelity is a reliable company. I'm just asking how his experience has been.

Offline Fish Tank

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #73 on: November 01, 2020, 07:09:30 AM »
You can also sign up to https://ojcfund.org/
Is there a way to donate remotely without mailing in the physical certificates?

Offline JACKBLUE

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #74 on: November 01, 2020, 08:39:56 AM »
Is there a way to donate remotely without mailing in the physical certificates?
No

Offline yesitsme

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #75 on: November 01, 2020, 07:18:22 PM »
Is there a way to donate remotely without mailing in the physical certificates?
Yes, they now have gift cards that are processed like cc
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Offline ari3

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #76 on: November 06, 2020, 01:31:49 AM »
Interesting. Have you had any issues with them sending funds to Jewish 501c3's? Or they have every organization listed?
I have been using fidelity for a few years and most of the Jewish organizations I have tried donating to were already in their system and were no problem. I have had a few times that they did not have the organization in their system and in those instances they would need to verify the charity which is a somewhat cumbersome process.

Offline Joeymc

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #77 on: February 14, 2021, 06:50:47 PM »
Besides capital one 360, are there any other accounts that have zelle, no fees, and are easy to open?
120 characters? Hmm, I wonder what I could write with 64 characters. Boy, it's gonna be hard to use up 15 characters. W-

Offline yesitsme

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #78 on: February 14, 2021, 06:58:00 PM »
Santander I hate them but I think it fits your criteria
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Offline Definitions

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Re: What’s the best way to keep track of the tzedaka that you give?
« Reply #79 on: February 14, 2021, 07:07:51 PM »
Besides capital one 360, are there any other accounts that have zelle, no fees, and are easy to open?
Just from a quick search through zelle I saw nycb has it with no fee checking.
Santander I hate them but I think it fits your criteria
This. Very easy to avoid monthly fees and lots of locations in eastern us. I never had any customer service requests except some verification for online accounts so don't know how they're customer service is.
My Tapatalk notifications don't always work.