Comments on: Track Your Spending: The First Battle In The War On Debt http://manvsdebt.com/track-your-spending-the-first-battle-in-the-war-on-debt/ Sell your crap. Pay off your debt. Do what you love. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:50:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Eric Wentworth http://manvsdebt.com/track-your-spending-the-first-battle-in-the-war-on-debt/comment-page-1/#comment-25806 Eric Wentworth Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:35:31 +0000 http://manvsdebt.com/?p=1359#comment-25806 I've tracked every penny our family has spent for the past two years. We get receipts for everything. These go into a manila file folder. On the front of each folder are each spending category (groceries, gas, dining out, rent, etc.). Each expenditure, even the smallest, is listed with the name of the place and date (e.g. under Groceries it might be $34.55 Safeway June 18. We then track the total expenditures each month. These are analyzed to see where they can be made more efficient. The totals are transferred to an Excel spreadsheet and compared month to month to see how we're doing. Knowing exactly where we are financially is a HUGE step to feeling confident about our control over our money. It also makes it very simple to figure out our taxes at year-end. I believe this has been one of the major steps we've taken in successfully handling the devastation of the financial meltdown and continued hardship in the economy---along with taking other positive steps such as creating an ongoing, consistent exercise program so we are able to reduce medical costs and have more energy; reducing TV viewing so that our time is used more productively; eliminating or reducing unnecessary things from our life (e.g. comparing and lowering cable TV costs, insurance costs, household purchases); selling stuff we don't use or need to bring in extra cash and lighten up our load of "things" that weigh us down; and finding new creative outlets to build new careers that will meet the changed environment of the working world. It's a whole new world out there. Anyone who doesn't change to adapt successfully to it will experience many hardships in the future. I’ve tracked every penny our family has spent for the past two years. We get receipts for everything. These go into a manila file folder. On the front of each folder are each spending category (groceries, gas, dining out, rent, etc.). Each expenditure, even the smallest, is listed with the name of the place and date (e.g. under Groceries it might be $34.55 Safeway June 18.

We then track the total expenditures each month. These are analyzed to see where they can be made more efficient. The totals are transferred to an Excel spreadsheet and compared month to month to see how we’re doing.

Knowing exactly where we are financially is a HUGE step to feeling confident about our control over our money. It also makes it very simple to figure out our taxes at year-end. I believe this has been one of the major steps we’ve taken in successfully handling the devastation of the financial meltdown and continued hardship in the economy—along with taking other positive steps such as creating an ongoing, consistent exercise program so we are able to reduce medical costs and have more energy; reducing TV viewing so that our time is used more productively; eliminating or reducing unnecessary things from our life (e.g. comparing and lowering cable TV costs, insurance costs, household purchases); selling stuff we don’t use or need to bring in extra cash and lighten up our load of “things” that weigh us down; and finding new creative outlets to build new careers that will meet the changed environment of the working world.

It’s a whole new world out there. Anyone who doesn’t change to adapt successfully to it will experience many hardships in the future.

]]> By: Brian Gosur http://manvsdebt.com/track-your-spending-the-first-battle-in-the-war-on-debt/comment-page-1/#comment-2066 Brian Gosur Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:43:00 +0000 http://manvsdebt.com/?p=1359#comment-2066 Awesome blog. I especially like the part about keeping track of what you spend. Nobody does that anymore. I was running an analysis for a client of mine, and they had no idea what they spend or how much they have. They just live week to week. We need educational blogs, like yours, to reteach people how money works. Thank you Brian .-= Brian Gosur´s last blog ..<a href="http://thiswaytodebt.com/2009/07/11/loan-modification-strategies-to-help-you-with-debt/" rel="nofollow">Loan Modification Strategies To Help You With Debt</a> =-. Awesome blog. I especially like the part about keeping track of what you spend. Nobody does that anymore.
I was running an analysis for a client of mine, and they had no idea what they spend or how much they have. They just live week to week.
We need educational blogs, like yours, to reteach people how money works.

Thank you

Brian
.-= Brian Gosur´s last blog ..Loan Modification Strategies To Help You With Debt =-.

]]> By: Lack of Sleep and the Internet « Adventures with Little Miss http://manvsdebt.com/track-your-spending-the-first-battle-in-the-war-on-debt/comment-page-1/#comment-2058 Lack of Sleep and the Internet « Adventures with Little Miss Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:15:52 +0000 http://manvsdebt.com/?p=1359#comment-2058 [...] Track Your Spending: The First Battle In The War On Debt | Man Vs. Debt – This is tied in with the cash jars… You need to focus on how you are spending your money so tracking it with good old pen and paper is the best. [...] [...] Track Your Spending: The First Battle In The War On Debt | Man Vs. Debt – This is tied in with the cash jars… You need to focus on how you are spending your money so tracking it with good old pen and paper is the best. [...]

]]> By: Debt Free Addicts Anonymous #2: Budgeting Tips Edition | Enemy of Debt http://manvsdebt.com/track-your-spending-the-first-battle-in-the-war-on-debt/comment-page-1/#comment-1670 Debt Free Addicts Anonymous #2: Budgeting Tips Edition | Enemy of Debt Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:52:48 +0000 http://manvsdebt.com/?p=1359#comment-1670 [...] Track Your Spending: The First Battle On The War On Debt - by Baker at Man Vs. Debt.  Baker is the man and is currently moving from the U.S. to Australia.  He is proof that having a plan, and seeing it through can allow you to do anything you want regardless of what others think is impossible.  Good luck Baker! [...] [...] Track Your Spending: The First Battle On The War On Debt – by Baker at Man Vs. Debt.  Baker is the man and is currently moving from the U.S. to Australia.  He is proof that having a plan, and seeing it through can allow you to do anything you want regardless of what others think is impossible.  Good luck Baker! [...]

]]> By: Weekend Linkage: Pay Your Bills, Track Your Spending and Build Wealth — Automatic Finances http://manvsdebt.com/track-your-spending-the-first-battle-in-the-war-on-debt/comment-page-1/#comment-1666 Weekend Linkage: Pay Your Bills, Track Your Spending and Build Wealth — Automatic Finances Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:49:32 +0000 http://manvsdebt.com/?p=1359#comment-1666 [...] Man vs. Debt, Baker says Track Your Spending: The First Battle In The War On Debt. This is absolutely the truth. When you know where your money is going, you can better budget and [...] [...] Man vs. Debt, Baker says Track Your Spending: The First Battle In The War On Debt. This is absolutely the truth. When you know where your money is going, you can better budget and [...]

]]> By: Carnival of Personal Finance: Vacation-time edition | All The News http://manvsdebt.com/track-your-spending-the-first-battle-in-the-war-on-debt/comment-page-1/#comment-1663 Carnival of Personal Finance: Vacation-time edition | All The News Sat, 06 Jun 2009 07:39:53 +0000 http://manvsdebt.com/?p=1359#comment-1663 [...] Man vs. Debt Track Your Spending: Win the First Battle in the War on Debt! Rallying the troops for an all-out war on debt, Baker throws down a [...] [...] Man vs. Debt Track Your Spending: Win the First Battle in the War on Debt! Rallying the troops for an all-out war on debt, Baker throws down a [...]

]]> By: YNAB 3 Post Featured on Funny about Money | Personal Finance Software Reviews http://manvsdebt.com/track-your-spending-the-first-battle-in-the-war-on-debt/comment-page-1/#comment-1597 YNAB 3 Post Featured on Funny about Money | Personal Finance Software Reviews Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:17:01 +0000 http://manvsdebt.com/?p=1359#comment-1597 [...] Track Your Spending: The First Battle in the War on Debt - A great article about how true that statement is [...] [...] Track Your Spending: The First Battle in the War on Debt – A great article about how true that statement is [...]

]]> By: * Moolanomy Answers and Liz Pulliam Weston Weekly Highlights http://manvsdebt.com/track-your-spending-the-first-battle-in-the-war-on-debt/comment-page-1/#comment-1489 * Moolanomy Answers and Liz Pulliam Weston Weekly Highlights Sun, 31 May 2009 13:10:22 +0000 http://manvsdebt.com/?p=1359#comment-1489 [...] Financial JourneyScaring the Holy Bejeebus Out of Investors at Political CalculationsTrack Your Spending: The First Battle In The War On Debt at Man vs. DebtHow to create an Ivy League endowment fund using UK ETFs at MonevatorOn Being [...] [...] Financial JourneyScaring the Holy Bejeebus Out of Investors at Political CalculationsTrack Your Spending: The First Battle In The War On Debt at Man vs. DebtHow to create an Ivy League endowment fund using UK ETFs at MonevatorOn Being [...]

]]> By: Reading other PF bloggers » JoeTaxpayer http://manvsdebt.com/track-your-spending-the-first-battle-in-the-war-on-debt/comment-page-1/#comment-1488 Reading other PF bloggers » JoeTaxpayer Sun, 31 May 2009 12:09:49 +0000 http://manvsdebt.com/?p=1359#comment-1488 [...] Track Your Spending: The First Battle In The War On Debt, Adam Baker goes into far more detail than I did in my first Frugal Friday post on why you should [...] [...] Track Your Spending: The First Battle In The War On Debt, Adam Baker goes into far more detail than I did in my first Frugal Friday post on why you should [...]

]]> By: Baker http://manvsdebt.com/track-your-spending-the-first-battle-in-the-war-on-debt/comment-page-1/#comment-1445 Baker Fri, 29 May 2009 19:19:36 +0000 http://manvsdebt.com/?p=1359#comment-1445 You bring up a great point about our trash. We've been doing a little bit better in this area, but still have a long way to go! You bring up a great point about our trash. We’ve been doing a little bit better in this area, but still have a long way to go!

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