Manage Your Money - Step# 6: Monitoring Your Regular Expenses

"I can make more generals, but horses cost money." ~ Abraham Lincoln

Hello! Today, our topic is about monitoring regular expenses.

There are three important expenses that you would like to monitor.

(1) Regular expenses
(2) Credit card expenses
(3) Non-regular expenses

In this post I will show you quickly how to monitor your regular expenses using a spreadsheet. In this example, I use Microsoft Excel since it is readily available in most PC's. You can you use other spreadsheets available in your PC, too.

Table 1 Regular Expense Monitoring

The first column is for the list of regular expenses while the rest of the columns are for the scheduled dates when you put money into the envelopes. I suggest to divide the payment into two if you receive your income on a bimonthly basis. In this example, I choose the 5th and the 20th days of the month. You can also choose the 15th and the 30th days of the month if this coincide with your paydays.

The bottom row is for the total expense per column.

There are at least two benefits of monitoring your regular expenses. These are as follows.

(1) You know where your money went.
(2) You know whether you are overspending or living just within your budget.

OK! Start creating your own spreadsheet.

NOTE: As much as possible update the spreadsheet at the same time you put your money into the envelopes. Don't forget to update the piece of paper inside the envelope; this will come handy later.

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