ATFAS Series Post #2: Budget - Solidify & Track

Welcome back. Now that we have our financial record keeping system in place and our estimates calculated what we have to do is start entering! This happens to actually be great timing because today is December second and in one month the new year will begin which is the best time to start your record keeping. At this point the next step in my financial system is to solidify and track which means the following:

Solidify - As the month carries on adjust your estimates to make them more exact. If two weeks in you're noticing that your entire 'groceries' budget is met you either a) didn't have a high enough estimate or b) spend way too much on groceries. Recording your financial information is actually quite telling and I think you'll be very surprised when you see the results. Fine tune your monthly totals and get them where you want them to be!

Track - Just make sure you enter all of your information every day. I heard about a great motivation technique from Jerry Seinfeld. If there is a book that he is trying to write he will put an X on the calendar to start making a 'chain.' After a couple days you should be inspired to not want to break the chain and will help you continue with your plan. It can work the same way from within my provided spreadsheet. It is formatted as a calendar which allows you to keep the chain going once you start. Don't let a day pass without entering your spending and earnings for the day. It's the best way to do it.

Let's have a great month solidifying and tracking and we'll continue with the next step in our series in a few days. Thanks for reading as always and please Subscribe to my RSS feed to keep updated on our progress!