DISCLAIMER: My Budget My Money are not financial/investment advisors, brokers, or dealers. We are solely sharing our personal experience and opinions; therefore, all strategies, tips, suggestions, and recommendations shared are for entertainment purposes only. There are financial risks associated with investing, and we will not hold any responsibly to any actions. Do not act or refrain from acting based on any information conveyed in this webpage, and/or external hyperlinks. For investment advice please seek the counsel of a financial/investment advisor(s); and conduct your own due diligence.
To create a summery on my monthly expenses, I need:
My actual spending for 1 month.
Personally, My husband and me have a WhatsApp group where we write each expense the moment we spend the money! (regardless the method of payment we use).
Once a month, we summarize it in our monthly file.
Something, to make sure we stay on budget, we do it twice a month.
How long does it take?
It takes roughly 10 minutes per month.
Another 10 minutes to look deeper and analyze: did we really need what we’ve spent on? Did we get the right portion of joy, service, or problem-solving to justify the price we paid for it? Was it an emotional unplanned purchase?
Just as any other business, I believe that every person should be fully responsible for his finances.
How to do it?
10 years ago, I started budgeting with a piece of paper, moved to a board, tried a few apps and ended up with a personalized Excel spreadsheet that matches my needs.
If you are just starting now, my warmest suggestion before you plan a budget for a year, is to keep track of those for a month or more.
If you are eager to create a yearly budget sooner, you can also check all your bank statements, credit cards, debit cards etc. (time to freshen up passwords).
Do not forget to add all the periodical and yearly expenses (car oil change, city taxes, repair you made and such).
Guestimating numbers is like guessing the amount of calories you eat and convincing yourself that it wasn’t too much (never worked for me. honestly. Not proud of my BMI). Working with the accurate numbers is the key for success.
(Just to make it clear, the numbers here are fake…)
Download here:
How did I choose the categories?
After trying so many long and detailed spreadsheets over the years, I decided that the right guideline is SIMPLICITY! An intuitive and easy to manage spreadsheet works for me.m adding more categories for occasional purchases that do not fall into other categories.
After trying so many long and detailed spreadsheets over the years, I decided that the right guideline is SIMPLICITY! An intuitive and easy to manage spreadsheet work for me.
I’m not willing to let spreadsheets and finances manage my life because it will be missing the whole purpose, right? I need time to raise my children and to write a blog ;)
Why do I track my monthly expenses?
Just like any business in the world, I have financial goals I’m willing to achieve.
I need a target of savings this month, this year, in 5 years, 10 years, and retirement, and I even what to plan how much am I willing to leave for my children when I’m gone.
Otherwise, I’m blind toward my own finances, which makes me WORRIED. It brings some constant thoughts that most of us are familiar with:
“Wait, what happened to my paycheck? The money was just deposited few days ago!”
“How am I already at $3K consumer debt on my credit card? I don’t think I’ve been spending as much”.
“I really need a raise, it’s not enough, how can people live this way? It’s the government, it’s the inflation, it’s the recession. They really got to do something”...
Sounds familiar?
I AM THE ONLY PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR MY MONEY.
I want to know what we’ve spent on, why, and make sure that I’m worry-free.
I enjoy spending on the things I choose to. I don’t overthink, because it’s part of a general plan that I created and I'm responsible for.
But I’m too old to start dealing with money.. it’s too late for me!
Is it? It took me:
1 day – to understand that one of the biggest gifts I can give to my children is financial education.
2 days – to realize that it’s time to start saving for emergency funds in case I lose my income and such.
2 months – to acquire enough initial knowledge to start planning, saving & investing.
10 years - to double my initial investment.
Do you have at least 1 day left? Well then it’s not too late.
Why would we ‘go with the flow’, when we can be accountable for our financial future?
DISCLAIMER: My Budget My Money are not financial/investment advisors, brokers, or dealers. We are solely sharing our personal experience and opinions; therefore, all strategies, tips, suggestions, and recommendations shared are for entertainment purposes only. There are financial risks associated with investing, and we will not hold any responsibly to any actions. Do not act or refrain from acting based on any information conveyed in this webpage, and/or external hyperlinks. For investment advice please seek the counsel of a financial/investment advisor(s); and conduct your own due diligence. AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE: Some of the links on this webpage are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, we may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase and/or subscribe. However, this does not impact our opinions and comparisons.
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