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Ringwood, IL (NEIL) | At the end of the year I always wonder "where did all of my money go?! So starting on Jan. 1st I made a binder with a page for every type of income and expense: phone, electric, mortgage, groceries, fuel, etc.). It is a bit tedious but I think it's necessary for me to see exactly where the money goes. It gives a great visual for making a budget and makes it clear where I can trim spending (so far it has helped discourage me from buying unnecessary stuff). My business income / expenses are done in a similar way but separately. Not sure what I'll do after this year but I think documenting this stuff for a year will help give me an idea of what I need to do to stay within means while saving for the future.
It works great and makes saving money a fun challenge. At the end of the month i write down total income vs total spent. Here are the pages that I have in my binder:
Pay check income, misc income, mortgage, cell phone, electricity, gas, tv/Internet, water, pickup truck fuel, pickup truck operating expenses, groceries, restraint food, misc food/drink, misc expenses, savings (I'm putting aside x amount of dollars per pay check for savings) | |
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Living expense
