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We ’re totally a spot old fashion in the means that we track our spending and bill payments .
There is a massive motley of apps and programs uncommitted that can help oneself you tail your spending and they work really well for lots of the great unwashed . And if that works for you , I ’m all for it !
I roll in the hay a lot of people lie with using theMint , Spending Tracker , andMvelopesapps .
Personal finance is personal ! Which mean what works best for you might not be the best thing for me .
I ’ve already shared with you a close - up expect atour genuine budget . Now I ’m snuff it to share how we keep racetrack of the money we spend and the bills we require to give .
- Update : See our current $ 2500 / calendar month budget here
I’m Not Comfortable With The Access They Have To Accounts
Most budgeting apps and apps that chase after your outlay need access to your write up .
They can see all of your charges on various credit and debit entry cards so that they can severalise you where you ’ve been drop your money . Some even demand access to investment funds and mortgage invoice .
I ’m not at all prosperous with an app throw admittance to any of my accounts , countenance alone all of them .
I Like To Divide Purchases Into Multiple Categories
To help keep on top of our blind drunk budget , I fraction our spending into multiple category .
I separate groceries from thing like shampoo and shabu bags .
Apps that track your expenditure only see that I made a purchase at Walmart . They do n’t see that I bribe items that should be divided up into dissimilar spending class .
My Solution: One Spreadsheet to Rule Them All
You experience I like to keep things simple .
I have created a spreadsheet that I utilise to tag all of our spending . It also reminds me of what bills I call for to give . Andit ’s all on one part of paper . Easy - peasy .
TheBlueBox
This is where I list our regular monthly bills : our mortgage , utility , phone , internet , and insurance bank bill .
In the left-hand - manus “ paid ” column , I leave a arrest mark when that bill has been paid , either by me or through an automatic defrayment .
This puzzle out well as a monitor of all of our unconstipated bill that need payment .
TheGreenBox
The green box shows all of our monthly automatic deposits .
This ishow we save for irregular banknote and expenses .
On the first of the calendar month , money is take from our checking account and placed into single savings fund for categories like Christmas , car fixing , and our quarterly water and wish-wash bill .
I leave this incision on our budget as a reminder of where a big chunk of our money is going . I ’ll chink off the “ compensate ” box on the left when the deposit have gone through .
I extremely recommend usingCapital One 360savings account .
They allow you to have up to 25 separate savings accounts . you may dub your accounts to correspond with your choose category and have money mechanically fix to the account as regularly as you want .
I plan our budget monthly , so I have money automatically added to our account on the first of every month .
I have used Capital One 360 for many year now and these savings account have helped our budget vastly . Plus , they give you a .75 % interest rate which is way undecomposed than our veritable camber .
ThePurpleArrow
We make up off our course credit batting order in full every calendar month .
I put it on my budget as a reminder that the flyer take to be pay . I ’ll write in the amount that I pay off when I make this defrayment .
TheOrangeBox
Throughout the calendar month , when we expend money that needs to come from one of our mini savings funds ( like buy a birthday present or take Mozzie to the vet ) , I write down what I necessitate to transfer .
So , I ’ll write down that I need to transplant $ 30 from our cable car investment firm to our regular check report to pay for an oil change .
Or I ’ll channel $ 75 from our “ water and shabu ” savings accounting when I get our bill from the city .
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The sleep of my spreadsheet show my budget category for gas , toiletries , eat out , extra , and foodstuff .
Whenever we make a purchase , I check that that we get a reception . When I get home , I take two minutes to register what we spent under the proper class .
Sometimes I ’ll divide up a leverage into multiple categories .
Example : We spent $ 70 at Walmart . $ 10 of it was for stuff for Mozzie , so I write down that I need to transfer money out of his savings account and back into checking . $ 40 was for groceries , so I mark that in the grocery pillar . $ 20 was spent on shampoo , toilet paper , shabu bags , and mascara , so I mark that amount under the toilet articles incision .
Here ’s what my filled in budget spreadsheet looks like about midway through the month :
When my married man shops or stops for gas , he know to grab a receipt and give it to me . If he block or ca n’t get one , I ’ll just expect him what he spend money on when I look at our write up online .
It ’s a really simple system that has work well for us for year . It only takes about 5 minute to maintain each week and we know exactly where we ’re at with our spending all the time .
A few days before the next month , I ’ll open up my budget spreadsheet and exchange any numbers that I want to , like if there are 5 week in the month alternatively of 4 , I ’ll up our grocery budget amount .
I print out my spreadsheet and keep it with my“binder of important things”in the kitchen where I ’m most potential to call up to memorialise my receipts .
Why A Simple Budget Spreadsheet Is Awesome:
unexampled !
you may now download my free printable expense tracker ! Customize it to fit your need and track your spending :
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