Cashflow – My Achilles Heel
By Matt - Friday, May 23rd, 2008
Getting a hold of my ongoing cashflow has been a challenge and I’m not really certain why. Maybe I just like to spend my money too much. As part of getting a hold of my finances I sat down last night and went through the mountain of receipts that I’ve collected over the past couple months and input them into my tracking spreadsheet.
The Result
It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I was worried that my spending was creeping back out of control but it wasn’t nearly that bad. Though I did find I was spending more money than I really should be on a few items such as Food and Alcohol. Unfortunately there are a few holes in the past couple months statements but they’re pretty small (courtesy of purchases without receipts). It’s given me enough to paint a picture of my spending the past few months. I definitely need to watch a few things such as eating out (which I have started doing more of again due to laziness) and how much I spend on food and alcohol (I keep the two separate).
Overall I was happily surprised that there wasn’t anything completely out of whack. Though I was a little surprised how much of a difference in gas prices has made to my cashflow. The amount of driving from month to month the past few months hasn’t changed but the amount I pay has – a very clear indication of how a small difference at the pumps can add up!
Next Steps
Just because I don’t think there are any huge glaring problems that need drastic measures when it comes to my cashflow and ultimately budgeting they both definitely need to be fixed. I need to spend less, while at the same time trying to find ways of making more. I’m going to start tracking my spending on a daily basis though I’m still torn about posting the results on a daily versus weekly basis. For those curious I managed to not spend any money yesterday which I thought was fitting for the day I posted about getting my finances under control.
I need to keep a tight reign on my spending for until I’ve managed to get my general finances under control. I’m going to set weekly goals and track everything daily. Tracking it daily and weekly and posting the results up here will make me more accountable to my readers (hopefully).
This entry is filed under Budgeting and Planning, Financial Situation.
4 Responses to “Cashflow – My Achilles Heel”
1 Laura says:
May 23rd, 2008
at 5:11 pm
It’s good to catch things before they explode. It’s like preventative medicine for your finances.
2 Weekly Budget - Week 1 | One Million and Beyond says:
May 26th, 2008
at 6:00 am
[…] I’ve been floating along with my finances for way too long and this week I simply decided to get a handle on everything. I reassessed my cashflow which wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been but that doesn’t mean everything is all happy in the land of Matt’s finances. I’m still spending too much money and the only way to get a hold of that is to simply cut spending. To achieve this end I’m have started tracking my spending daily. […]
3 Tage says:
May 28th, 2008
at 8:25 pm
I find that one of the biggest problems I have with spending money is eating out. I am not a big fan of eating burgers, but I’ll go for the Chipotle and ice cream every now and then. It all adds up! Cutting our the eating out can have a large effect on one’s finances and health if one eats at fast food a lot. Instead try getting getting healthier foods and discount stores like Costco, and eat healthy and save some money. Love that you are tackling your finances.
4 Matt says:
May 30th, 2008
at 6:01 am
Laura - very very true, though I sometimes wish there was a medication to help with a rough financial patch.
Tage - Eating out is my big downfall, I’m still doing it when I really know better and its one of the reasons I’m in debt ($20-30 or more per day really ads up fast)
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