Alanz Eyes

5 Responses to “Net Worth Update”

1. Passion Posted: Nov 12th, 2007 at

   1 Do you know what’s the easiest thing in the world? OVERSPENDING!!! To make sure our finance is on the right track I’ve recently developed a cash flow spreadsheet. Because our income is fixed and bulk of outgoings is predictable, I am able to monitor our cash position as well as forecast future cash flow for about two months ahead. Say if I want to spend on the luxuries/extras when the cash is low and it will lead to overdraft, then we just have to postpone spending until we have the cash. When I say postpone it’s normally a few weeks unless the luxury item costs thousands like an overseas holiday or a major house improvement project. Perhaps I am generations behind but to live within the means is absolutely essential. Reply to this comment.

2. Alan Howard Posted: Nov 12th, 2007 at

   2 My own cash flow spreadsheet details our fixed expenses, and our variable expenses. It includes our savings, and the amount of money left over each week which will go towards a buffer account (separate from our savings). As of today I’m creating a new account for Deidre to use on household items, and she can only spend what accumulates in that account. The spreadsheet, like yours, details planned income/expenses/savings for the next two months. It’s the same type of spreadsheet I used when we were organising our move to Australia (a year ago now), so I know it works really well. Reply to this comment.

3. Alan Howard Posted: Nov 12th, 2007 at

   3 Oh, and that’s not including the net worth spreadsheet, which is a different type of document altogether. Reply to this comment.

4. Emelie Posted: Nov 22nd, 2007 at

   4 …maybe it’s easier to stick to the budget if you both do it together instead of you doing it yourself and “making” her follow it? =) Reply to this comment.

5. Alan Howard Posted: Nov 22nd, 2007 at

   5 Hi Emelie. I think you might have misunderstood how things are working, but that’s understandable, since I never went into much detail. I’m the ‘finance guy’ in our relationship, and so I take the time to set up the spreadsheets for our finances. However, it’s set up in a way that’s in accordance with what we’ve discussed, and the priorities that are important to both of us. So the spreadsheets are created after we discuss it, and then we go over the creations together and fine tune it. Once she’s happy, we then both follow it. We were doing this on a monthly basis, but that’s turned out to be not such a good idea, so we’re now doing it on a weekly basis, which is what we used to do back in NZ. I hope that explains it a bit better? Reply to this comment.