Keeping it Simple
Home Book Keeping
Getting started with a simple home book keeping system starts with:
Writing everything down
This simple step will help you know exactly where your money is going – it may surprise you! Really!
Get a small notebook that can fit in your purse or wallet and for two weeks simply write every single thing you spend your money on. Coffee with friends? Write it down. Groceries? Write it down – yes everything!
What often happens with this, is because you have to write it down (doesn’t mean you have to show it to anyone by the way!) you may start to have second thoughts as to why you are spending where you are – this is a good thing!
A pattern will emerge
Eventually you will start to see pattern’s of spending emerge that may or may not serve you.
A matter of 'choice'
Now that you have tracked your spending habits – you can see in black and white – it is now a matter of CHOOSING what you want to change.
For example of this simple home book keeping system, when I first did this years ago, I found out what our ‘average’ weekly grocery shop was for our family.
From then on we agreed (my husband and I ) to set aside $x’s per week for our general household spending needs. This removed any arguments about where the money was going and allowed us to plan more effectively for other needs.
Business Expenses
A common mistake many home business owners make is to not keep track of the small business expenses.Either because they haven’t taken the time to find out what they CAN claim tax deductions – legitimately.
I must say one of the best subjects I studied in high school was book keeping. This has been invaluable for understanding the basic fundamental principles and process of tracking money.
Keep it simple
A home book keeping system doesn’t need to be as elaborate as a corporation but the principles of ‘Money In’ and ‘Money Out’ work just the same. No real mystery. Just keep it simple.
Once you have listed ALL Money In and ALL Money Out we can now learn how to make a budget. The important thing to remember is:
Money Out must be LESS then Money In!
If your Money Out is more then money in, you will need to manage your debt with a debt reduction plan and figure out how to make extra money.
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Cash Flow Management
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Keeping Track of Business
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