Your Money & You: Tracking Your Cash Flow (Part 1)

Well the time has come! For what you ask? As we mentioned in the Your Money & You intro, it’s time to increase your success rate! It’s time to take control of your money. Now before we go any further, let us warn you. This won’t always be easy so we’ll take it slow and it won’t always be fun, so brace yourself. But when all is said and done, the end result will be worth it. Let’s get started!

Before you can take control of your money, first you need to figure out what’s already controlling it. Let us guess….was your first thought these ridiculously high gas prices? If it wasn’t, we’re sure you came up with something. But let’s look a little deeper.

Want to know what draining your finances? Let’s find out!

The first step is to explore your spending habits and figure out where your money goes right now. So grab a pen and a piece of paper or use a spreadsheet, your checkbook, credit card statements and any other items that reflect your expenses. Now, make a list of all of your outgoing expenses. To make this process a little easier here are a few things to consider:

• Use common categories such as housing (rent or mortgage, homeowner dues), recurring bills (utilities, cable, credit card minimums, insurance), transportation (car payments, GAS, maintenance, public transportation) and food
• Also include categories that fit your life such as school-related expenses (tuition and books), pet care or travel.
• Be sure to include those big expenses that may only occur once or twice a year, such as car insurance and taxes.
• Don’t forget about some of those “little” things you spend on as you go about your business as usual such as entertainment, hobbies and yes that $5 Latte you buy on your way to work every morning! 🙂
• Keep it real and be honest with yourself! Remember it is Your Money…who else has to know!

Once you’ve completed the list, you should have a pretty good idea of what your “outgo” looks like. Next we’re going to take a look at our income, put the two together and hopefully help your money and you work some things out. So stay tuned for more on Your Money and You!

Article originally posted in June 2008; re-published due to Publisher’s request.

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