A new year. Remember those first days of class in a new grade. New pencils. Pristine crayons. A different voice giving instructions. Hallways that were polished like glass.
Here we are at the beginning of 2009. I do not make resolutions. I do not run. I fail at all diets but today I can set up new files for the year. I put a fresh register in the checkbook as the old one is needed as a reference. It is already in my gathering folder. I have two large plastic folders near the phone in the kitchen.
Into the red go credit card receipts waiting for reconciliation with the next statement. Into the green we collect tax relevant things like the receipt from Goodwill we got the other day and our 2008 checkbook register.
Being organized financially can be a resolution but I would call it a good habit. I would suggest you join me in tracking expenses. Knowing where the $ disappears to will help us decide where to cut costs.
Carry a small notebook in your purse or in the glove box. Mark by date the amount of cash spent and what it went for. That's the only way to track all those cash-outs from your wallet if you do not get a receipt.
If you get a receipt for that loaf of bread, stick it in your pocket. Set up an envelope or file and collect all this information for a month. After January is over, recap the receipts and notebook notations.
Why would this exercise be helpful? To establish a budget and to control spending, you need a true picture of outflows beyond the checkbook. Do it for one month and you will better understand the answer to that question we all ask ourselves when our W2 comes in the mail by the end of January. Where did it all go?
'til later
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