![]() ![]() These numbers really shouldn’t change much month-to-month.ĭiscretionary expenses: variable purchases you make each month, such as travel, personal care, clothing, and eating out. Revenue: what you make each month (income)Įssential expenses: rent, utilities, grocery store, gym membership-things you HAVE to pay each month. You probably have a good idea of what these are already, but I’ll give you a brief description of each below: The Cash Flow tab tracks your Revenue, Essential Expenses, and Discretionary Expenses. Now you have your own Personal Finance spreadsheet! I’ve set the template to give you “view only” access, but if you want to create a version you can edit, just save a copy to your Google Drive. Start by opening this Personal Finance template in Google spreadsheets. A Simple Way to Track Your Personal Finances This is what works for my household, and if it helps you out in some way, even better! Let’s get into it. However, I also realized that any time is a good time to start tracking your personal finances, and I know that you all loved Liz and Dave’s post about how they handle their finances (go read it, if you haven’t yet!). I’ll be honest, I almost didn’t publish this post this month, because I know that money is an especially sensitive topic at the moment when so many people are losing their jobs and facing an uncertain future. Personal finance looks different for everyone, and we all have varying financial obligations due to family needs, student loans, rent/mortgage, and other personal preferences, hobbies, or investments. Another month, that might mean tracking our travel expenses and feeling really good about budgeting for the vacation we’ve been wanting to take for a while. One month, that might mean looking at my current cash flow and rethinking my online shopping cart. It turns out that tracking your personal finances is way easier than I originally thought it would be, and seeing everything laid out in a spreadsheet has really helped me to develop a healthier mindset about spending. My husband first started building me budgeting spreadsheets while we were still dating (at my request!), and now that we are married, we have a shared spreadsheet that we both monitor and update monthly. I’ll be the first to admit that budgeting is not my strong suit, but I’m lucky to be married to someone who’s not only a former auditor and CPA, but sees every purchase in terms of its future impact. ![]() We’ve all been affected by COVID-19 in ways both big and small, so please know that I’m sending you lots of virtual love and support!īut back to the topic at hand: personal finances. I hope this post finds you well and that you’re doing your best to get by while the state of things in the world seems to get wilder by the hour. Just follow the prompts on the website.Hi, everyone! Liz’s assistant, Carolyn, here. ![]() Check for errors, accounts you don’t recognize, and collection actions that are unfamiliar to you. So pay your bills on time.Ĭarefully review your personal information any changes that you didn’t make could indicate identity theft and should be reported right away. Late payments can hang around on your report for up to seven years. At Experian, for example, it accounts for a whopping 35 percent of your credit score. Payment history is one of the most critical categories. They assign different weights to various things that impact your credit score. The reports show all your credit accounts, credit activity and payments. Each bureau has slightly different methods of reporting, so check out all three. For now, at least, the big three credit reporting bureaus - TransUnion, Experian and Equifax - are offering free access once a week. Traditionally, people were entitled to a free credit report once every 12 months. ![]()
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