2007-08-24 17:21:10

One Way To Manage Bills

Do you still manage your bills by hoping you have enough money in your checking account each month? I'm not saying I can solve your problems. If you're an idiot, you're an idiot. You can't fix stupid. But for those who would like to consider one way to get a hold of your finances, here's what I do.
I use a spreadsheet (download) where I enter my bi-weekly pay, list out all of the taxes (basically everything that comes out of my check), and then list out all of my bills. The top right of the spreadsheet will show you what you _actually_ make once everything comes out of your check, and the middle bottom will show you how much money you have left over every month after you pay your bills. Seems simple, right?
Here's what I did though to make sure that I always have the money I need. My calculations are based off of 2 paychecks per month, which equals 24 paychecks per year. But you've probably already thought, there are 26 paychecks per year if you get paid bi-weekly. So what I'm doing is underestimating my pay, so that if I can manage everything on 24 paychecks per year, the other 2 paychecks are free money. Some people may not like this, but it's what I do. It's a very easy way to make sure you have a buffer. As long as you don't spend anymore than what the spreadsheet tells you that you can, you'll always be in the black.
By the way, the values in the spreadsheet are not my real values, they're just random numbers I entered to give you an idea of how it looks. ;)

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