![]() Most of all, remember that this as not just one more thing to worry about. And you might be amazed by what you learn. So doing it right up front is way more important than doing it fast. You’re taking steps that will last a lifetime. You might also want to carry a notebook for a month and keep track of things. Again, check your previous checking account and credit card statements. ![]() Jot down everything you spend money on by thinking about your day and looking around your home. You can even start with a plain piece of paper and a pencil, rather than going right for that online spreadsheet. ![]() One beautiful, “take back your freedom from debt or low (no) savings” step at a time. My best advice is to take a deep breath and give yourself permission to do this slowly. One of those things that give you brain freeze. Some final thoughtsįor some people, just the idea of numbers and charts can feel overwhelming. It can help you project your cash flow for this year. Or how often your normal expenses became abnormal. See how many unexpected things showed up. One thing that might help would be to look at last year’s expenses (using your checking account and credit statements). But the real end-of-month state of your cash depends on whether there were any unexpected extra expenses - or hopefully unexpected extra revenues. The sample is meant to help you look at your money and the way it flows in and out in general. Think about any things like that you know may be coming up. Or you may pay your insurance quarterly or annually, as opposed to monthly. You may for example have an emergency doctor’s visit (for you or your car). I can’t emphasize this enough … cash flows are not as smooth as the sample above. => Sample Budget: How To Create a Budget Plan Spreadsheet At least until you get a real feel for your actual cash flows. But if your miscellaneous gets too big or you simply would prefer to do so - you can certainly separate out the larger items. Most people just group them within larger categories. You don’t need to set up a category for each and every item unless it will help you. Even things like lottery tickets, your coffee or tea, a newspaper. So think carefully about everything you spend money on - whether you use cash or not. Once you know the real story, you can begin to find ways to pinpoint savings and plan for the future. The two charts go hand-in-hand when it comes to helping you see the whole picture of where you get your money and where you spend it. ![]() You should list everything - the same as you would do for your budget. (See section on timing below for handling unexpected blips in flow.) What to list in your monthly cash flow chart MONTHLY CASH FLOW = How much I make (minus) how much I spend. Guess as best as you can what your total yearly amount would be for each item that isn’t a fixed monthly amount, and divide by 12 to come up with a monthly estimate.īut as I will explain later, since this is about keeping track of your actual cash flow, your own version will also include any large, out-of-the-ordinary expenses you might know of now that could put a strain on you that month. You will, of course, need to adapt this sample cash flow chart for your own ins and outs. Making the cash flow spreadsheet work for you Take a moment to see what the sample categories are so you can recognize the kinds of things in your own daily life that you would want to include in your projected (near future) cash flow spreadsheet. The idea is to track every item from either side of the equation to figure out how much you are gaining or losing each month. You’ll see I have listed some examples of money that comes in (income / revenue of some sort) and money (cash, checks or credit) that goes out. How to create a cash flow spreadsheetįirst, let’s look at a simple example of a Monthly Cash Flow Spreadsheet. So I’m hoping I can get you to want to do it too. But it will help give you a full picture of your finances. Why should we even care about creating a spreadsheet to track every single dollar? Isn’t cash flow analysis something only a boring accountant would want to do? Probably yes about the “want” part. Your expenses (whether one at a time or regularly scheduled) are money going out. Things like your salary or savings account interest are examples of money coming in. A cash flow spreadsheet helps you track and analyze the amount of real money coming in and going out. ![]()
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