Financial Challenges Support Group
This community is for people who are struggling to meet financial obligations of any kind. Financial challenges include everything from the day-to-day challenges of making ends meet to managing credit card debt to bankruptcy. Get support from others who are going through similar obstacles on the road back to financial stability.
My favorite time of the month the end of it. Tonight, Ill sit down and do a check to see how good (or bad) I did for the month. You see, I have never worked a budget. But I have consistently kept track of the money I have. By looking at my savings, I began to look for other ways to make it grow and spending dipped, so a budget was never really needed for me.
I started my journey to get out of debt in January of 2010. But it wasnt till April of 2011 that I started tracking my investments. Now nearly three years later, I have three different spreadsheets that help me keep a close eye on everything.
A weekly sheet, tracks all my money from bank savings and checking accounts, to jars of loose change, to Great Britain Pounds that I still have, to the cash I have in my wallet, and even my credit cards. I can see if an amount has gone up or down. If it goes up to a new high then I will highlight it in yellow and shoot for a new high next week.
I also have a monthly sheet that builds off the weekly one. This one is more detailed and includes the hidden money I have in my checking accounts. This I then compare to previous months and if I get a new high Ill highlight that in green the color of money and finally on to that amount Ill add my 401-K to get a really good picture of where I am standing.
I also have a chart that looks like something from Wall Street. You can see where I was in 2011 to where Im at now. 2011 is towards the bottom of this chart but growing. 2012 just kind of flat-lined. This was the year I paid my final bills off and got out of debt. 2013 shows a massive spike in growth throughout the year and now 2014 is starting to fill the chart. On another page it shows the actual numbers from each month comparing the years. My cash reserves have grown 4 times since February 2011 to February 2014.
Another chart breaks the funds down into three separate groups. One is called, The Big 4, another is Little Bits, and the last one is called Plus One. The Big 4 is my first line of defense in an emergency. It is roughly 85% of the money available to me. It is two checking accounts and two savings accounts. Little Bits are all my minor accounts and credit cards. If I start dipping into these accounts as a method to live, then I know I that I have one foot out the door and back to homelessness. And finally, Plus One, is my 401-K.
I do treat my savings like a business and tonight Ill see just how healthy my business is.
I do know that savings is done for the month and I figured that out last night. My goal for 2014 is to save 50% of my gross income. Well, this month I was well short. Both take home pay and gross income were a little over 32%. The reason for the dip was a new mattress purchased with a credit card and has been paid off throughout the month.
But for the year I have save 42% of my gross income and 47% on my take home pay. Hopefully, in March I can get it back up to 50%
Sorry for rambling, but I do like this time of the month. It lets me see how my lifestyle is working and lets me see how much growth I have had. Financially, it is the most secure I have ever been.
I dont have a large income. In fact, I have only gotten one raise in the last five years. Its just my addiction to spending that has changed. I got here not by increasing income but rather decreasing expenses and by treating my savings like a business
I started my journey to get out of debt in January of 2010. But it wasnt till April of 2011 that I started tracking my investments. Now nearly three years later, I have three different spreadsheets that help me keep a close eye on everything.
A weekly sheet, tracks all my money from bank savings and checking accounts, to jars of loose change, to Great Britain Pounds that I still have, to the cash I have in my wallet, and even my credit cards. I can see if an amount has gone up or down. If it goes up to a new high then I will highlight it in yellow and shoot for a new high next week.
I also have a monthly sheet that builds off the weekly one. This one is more detailed and includes the hidden money I have in my checking accounts. This I then compare to previous months and if I get a new high Ill highlight that in green the color of money and finally on to that amount Ill add my 401-K to get a really good picture of where I am standing.
I also have a chart that looks like something from Wall Street. You can see where I was in 2011 to where Im at now. 2011 is towards the bottom of this chart but growing. 2012 just kind of flat-lined. This was the year I paid my final bills off and got out of debt. 2013 shows a massive spike in growth throughout the year and now 2014 is starting to fill the chart. On another page it shows the actual numbers from each month comparing the years. My cash reserves have grown 4 times since February 2011 to February 2014.
Another chart breaks the funds down into three separate groups. One is called, The Big 4, another is Little Bits, and the last one is called Plus One. The Big 4 is my first line of defense in an emergency. It is roughly 85% of the money available to me. It is two checking accounts and two savings accounts. Little Bits are all my minor accounts and credit cards. If I start dipping into these accounts as a method to live, then I know I that I have one foot out the door and back to homelessness. And finally, Plus One, is my 401-K.
I do treat my savings like a business and tonight Ill see just how healthy my business is.
I do know that savings is done for the month and I figured that out last night. My goal for 2014 is to save 50% of my gross income. Well, this month I was well short. Both take home pay and gross income were a little over 32%. The reason for the dip was a new mattress purchased with a credit card and has been paid off throughout the month.
But for the year I have save 42% of my gross income and 47% on my take home pay. Hopefully, in March I can get it back up to 50%
Sorry for rambling, but I do like this time of the month. It lets me see how my lifestyle is working and lets me see how much growth I have had. Financially, it is the most secure I have ever been.
I dont have a large income. In fact, I have only gotten one raise in the last five years. Its just my addiction to spending that has changed. I got here not by increasing income but rather decreasing expenses and by treating my savings like a business
I am responsible for keeping up with accurate records for the shareholders of this business, which brings me to my second job. I am the main shareholder of this business.
Well as a shareholder, I was pleased to see that for the month of February the business grew by 4.9% and after a slow start to the year, this business is still up over 5.5% for the year.
Now as the CEO, I want to figure more ways to make this business grow. First off was the updating of the website. I update it monthly and once a year I give it a whole face-lift and new look. After spending roughly 45 hours with it, the new Creating Dreams has passed inspection and is up and running.
The next step with this is creating an on-line store. I have a rough one but a buyer can only purchase one item at a time... I want to create a shopping cart site for multiple purchases. And for this store, I want to start creating some MP3's for self-help purposes. And to join a site to sell parts of my CD's as single songs instead of having to purchase the whole CD.
And to hopefully, continue to sell advertising on the site.
The plan is there, now it's just a matter of time and energy. The energy to work on it after a regular eight hour a day job. It's going to happen, I just don't know exactly when.
Anyway, as CEO I'm happy with the direction of this company. And as a shareholder, I'm excited for the future and a return on my investment...
This approach to the money I have has kept me out of debt for over two years and I'll continue to use it as a means to keep growing.