"your money or your life" expense book question

[CerridwenLorelei]

they talk about tracking this and that

do you log the checks that you pay bills by mail with?
for example onthe out

"generic utility $$$ check #34 ??

[dinade]

I read that book recently

and really enjoyed it. I got a lot out of it. I'm not sure I'm going to follow it that closely to know what your talking about though. I guess I just read it for the broad ideas. Hope you figure it out soon.

[sarah_bella1050]

I haven't read that book, but I do something similar. When I pay a bill I write on the bill Paid, the date and the check #, so that I can reference quickly if needed.

[Spock]

Originally Posted by CerridwenLorelei

they talk about tracking this and that

do you log the checks that you pay bills by mail with?
for example onthe out

"generic utility $$$ check #34 ??

I've read that book and I don't think it needs to be that specific. I think you can just write "electric bill: $89" and that should tell you enough when you go back to track where your money is going.

[snozzberry]

I haven't read that book (yet) but I have read Affluenza (great read) and seen The Overspent American (available from the Media Education Foundation -- ask your library to order it!).

If you can spare $40 or $50 or so, I highly recommend getting a program like Microsoft Money or Quicken. I used to do all budgeting with the ol' paper and pencil, but it's so much easier to enter it into a software program and have it do all the math and most of the analysis for you. And you can generate charts and graphs with how much you're spending on certain categories! Not to mention that it's a timesaver (and help in finding deductions) around tax time.

[Jane]

I use bill pay through my bank, so my statement says who I paid. Then I import the info 3 months at a time and use Excel to take a look at our spending.

[CerridwenLorelei]

Thanks but I stink

at things like quicken etc
dh would be good with that though.
I stink at computer stuff-dh and ds keep my email up and net connection running so I can post on my boards and I am happy.

I have been pretty good about the written book. It has been weird since I was trying to track just me but I have now added when dh and I are out together and pick up scrips/groceries.
he won't do his separate stuff but that is ok for right now for several reasons.

We weren't real good tonight as we went out to eat -all 6 of us, but we won't do that again until our trip next month and we haven't for awhile. And dh and I both didn't feel that great tonight as it was so .. but the rest of this month and most of next month there will be no family dinners out...

Thanks for the suggestions on the money programs though!