By Joyce Lew
Disclaimer Note: This is my method of budgeting my financial properly, there is no 100% that it will work out the same for everyone, but if it does work out for you — I am happy for you! But if it doesn’t, perhaps there are other methods that you can try out😊.
This is only a 4-step process of book-keeping, which is simply easy to do and keep track on. You do not need to be an accountant to do so!
1st step: Create a sheet in excel, categorised your spending in each column.
By creating a sheet in excel, whether is on your laptop or in google, it helps you to keep track of your spending, not only in monthly terms but daily spending as well. If you are a couple, you can keep track of both you and your partner’s spending, then you will figure out how much both of you have spent.
2nd step: Keep all those receipts or take note of spending.
All spending’s sometimes have receipts, and some does not. You do not have to necessarily print out receipts from those you received through soft copy. (Save the tress, aite?) For those spending that have receipts, keep them properly as you will need them later on when you do calculate. You can keep them in a pouch or in an envelope, as to how you feel that you may retrieve them later on. As for those that does not have receipts, take them down in your phone’s notepad. Take note of all spending you make, your partner make, and both spending together (if you guys are a couple)
Note: If you guys are together outing, purchasing or paying items where your partner or you pay the money, it falls under the “together” column.
3rd step: Begin by organising the receipts (yours and your partner’s) according to date.
By organising your receipts, you get to calculate daily spending and note them down in the excel sheet easily, as well as figuring out the amount of money that you spent in the day.
Note: If you are an organised person, maybe this would help you better – Organise the receipts by dates, then organise them according by categories that you have selected.
4th step: Calculate the amount in the day and note it down in the Excel sheet.
Calculate the amount spent according to the categories that you have insert in the excel sheet, and simply fill in the amount accordingly. Once you have done that, then you just simply calculate the total, and there you have it – the total amount of money you or your partner have spent in a day!
If you do not have time to do it every day, hey, no worries, just keep the receipts safely and do them whenever you are free! But then, make sure you find the time to do so by the end of the month, this way you get to know how much you have spent in that month itself and set some budget spending for some categories if you personally felt that you spent WAY too much money on!
HOPE THIS HELPS! 😊