Does it help?  Yes it does but you can do the same thing and get more of a hands up approach for only a couple minutes a day or week.  The reason I am suggesting that some people opt for a more tactile approach is because just because the software does some calculations for you, it doesn’t do you a lot of good if you don’t update your records or ignore the information that is being collected.

Start a spreadsheet for all your income and for your expenses.  It doesn’t have to be fancy.  You can go through your checkbook and credit card transactions yourself and see what you have been spending.  If you have the time to do web exports from the bank sites, great.  It can save you time but it doesn’t take too long, if you keep a running balance in your check book as to what your assets are or your liabilities.

You can set your spreadsheet to show what your net income is at the end of the month and you can see and even project whether you are up or down in terms of money.    Just remember your basic accounting (if you haven’t taken it, look for free web classes or go to the library and get a book) and show income coming in as an addition to the spreadsheet and money going out as a subtraction.

Pretty simple, isn’t it?

I have a lot of clients who live by “checkbook accounting”.  They know exactly their totals for expenses, income, home improvements, etc and that is because they log everything into their checkbooks.  That is another great way to track everything and again, some export their bank statements into accounting software and some don’t.

It doesn’t matter whether you use software, pen and paper (that is SO last century!), or an abacus (that is SO hip!).  What matters is you take the time to track your income and expenses and plan for future expenses that will hit when you least expect it.

Some of them are:

Insurance payments for vehicles

Unexpected medical outlays for cash

Emergency cash

You get the idea.  Make sure you have some sort of pad and plan for emergencies and making your payments before you are in a situation where you realize that you are out of control.

And being in control is a great and profitable way to start this New Year and any New Year that you celebrate!  May you be happy, healthy, wealthy and wise wherever you are and whatever you celebrate!

 Kim Isaac Greenblatt

You are in reading Kim Greenblatt’s blog, profitable, and his article, Old School Money Management Software Techniques.