Comments on: Tracking My Finances In 2009: 6 January http://www.howisavemoney.net/finances/tracking-finances-2009/ Tips and tricks to save money, manage credit and reduce debt Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:35:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: LuLuGal http://www.howisavemoney.net/finances/tracking-finances-2009/#comment-15278 LuLuGal Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:11:52 +0000 http://www.howisavemoney.net/?p=2467#comment-15278 Abigail I took accounting as well and I am aware of the principles you are mentioning. However, I am not tracking my cash balance as your example shows, but my net cash flow for the month. Money that I got on the 30th of one month is not flow for the next month. The income that I track for the month is not predicted income but actual income that has already been deposited. I only count the income from my Lending Club Loan when I transfer it from LC to my Electric Orange account. At that point it cannot be taken back since it is a payment that has already been processed. On the day that it reaches my ING account I count it as part of my flow for the month. Since I am tracking how cash flows in and out of my accounts for the month I post every day as the cash flows regardless of what else happens. It does not matter what is in the account...it is the flow I am tracking. Of course I am using the money from last month to pay for this month's expenses because this money has already been budgeted for. I mentioned in an earlier post that my net worth is actually higher than what is listed in the sidebar because I did not include the book value of my car. I also listed the reasons why I did not want to list the value of the car....as this makes my accounting easier not having to deal with depreciation. Abigail I took accounting as well and I am aware of the principles you are mentioning. However, I am not tracking my cash balance as your example shows, but my net cash flow for the month. Money that I got on the 30th of one month is not flow for the next month.

The income that I track for the month is not predicted income but actual income that has already been deposited. I only count the income from my Lending Club Loan when I transfer it from LC to my Electric Orange account. At that point it cannot be taken back since it is a payment that has already been processed. On the day that it reaches my ING account I count it as part of my flow for the month.

Since I am tracking how cash flows in and out of my accounts for the month I post every day as the cash flows regardless of what else happens.

It does not matter what is in the account…it is the flow I am tracking. Of course I am using the money from last month to pay for this month’s expenses because this money has already been budgeted for.

I mentioned in an earlier post that my net worth is actually higher than what is listed in the sidebar because I did not include the book value of my car. I also listed the reasons why I did not want to list the value of the car….as this makes my accounting easier not having to deal with depreciation.

]]> By: Abigail http://www.howisavemoney.net/finances/tracking-finances-2009/#comment-15277 Abigail Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:12:30 +0000 http://www.howisavemoney.net/?p=2467#comment-15277 You know, I studied accounting for awhile. I think, when you're tracking your finances, you may want to take a few cues from those practices. In accounting, you state both your assets and your liabilities. This would help provide a more realistic picture of your money situation. For example, it's Jan 6, which means you got paid 7 days ago. That's (I'm assuming) what you're using to pay all the bills due at the beginning of the month. So rather than state income for the current month, perhaps you should state the most recent income, given that that's how you use it. For example: Cash in 1/31/09 $3,000 Feb mortgage $1,000 Feb car payment $200 etc. Then you have a total of money for the month. Which you can then break up as you see fit. If you want to track groceries by week, for example, you can do that based on the money you actually have in your account. Or you can keep a running total for the month: $20 of $150. It just seems like a more intuitive way to deal with your money. Because you're not relying on the income at the end of the month (I hope) to pay this month's bills. You're using the income from the previous month. Anyway, just my lil two cents. Way to go on your debt-repayment process! <abbr><em>Abigail’s last blog post..<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/IPickUpPennies/~3/502295672/i-warrant-youll-be-wantin-warranty.html" rel="nofollow">I warrant you'll be wantin' a warranty</a></abbr></em> You know, I studied accounting for awhile. I think, when you’re tracking your finances, you may want to take a few cues from those practices.

In accounting, you state both your assets and your liabilities. This would help provide a more realistic picture of your money situation.

For example, it’s Jan 6, which means you got paid 7 days ago. That’s (I’m assuming) what you’re using to pay all the bills due at the beginning of the month.

So rather than state income for the current month, perhaps you should state the most recent income, given that that’s how you use it.

For example:

Cash in 1/31/09 $3,000
Feb mortgage $1,000
Feb car payment $200
etc.

Then you have a total of money for the month. Which you can then break up as you see fit. If you want to track groceries by week, for example, you can do that based on the money you actually have in your account. Or you can keep a running total for the month: $20 of $150.

It just seems like a more intuitive way to deal with your money. Because you’re not relying on the income at the end of the month (I hope) to pay this month’s bills. You’re using the income from the previous month.

Anyway, just my lil two cents. Way to go on your debt-repayment process!

Abigail’s last blog post..I warrant you’ll be wantin’ a warranty

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