Instead of taking the finance section out, one that we use weekly, for a section that may be used monthly, I decided to take the babysitter section out and put that information elsewhere.
Click HERE to print this cover page.
For me, this section wasn't too hard to set up. Since starting Dave Ramsey's plan, we have used a spiral notebook to write down our Monthly Cash Flow Plan, as well as our bi-weekly bill assignments (we're paid bi-weekly, so I break our monthly bills up into 2 assignments). I go into more detail on the Cash Flow Plan and how it works in my Managing Expenses Post.
In addition to having my budget notebook in this section, I've also added a pocket folder so I can add in any paper bills that come in the mail. As soon as they come in, I open them up, discard the envelope it came in, and any other junk they decided to stash in there. In most cases, I will look the bills over to make sure the charges are correct, and keep only the stub. Occassionally I will keep the envelope that they included, other times I will shred it for mulch.
Another very important tool in this section is an empty calendar to record the due dates of your bills. In my case, in my absense, my husband would have no earthly idea when a bill was due. This also helps when I sit down to create our bill assignments. While most of the time if I pay one bill during this 2-week set, it won't be due in the next--sometimes I still have to set the money aside for it during the next 2-week set. I'm sure that is just as clear as mud. :)
Really other than those 3 things, this section contains nothing else. It's short, sweet, and effective!
How do you keep track of your Finances?
*If you have a home management binder or Finance binder/folder, now is your time to share. Please link to your post, and not your homepage, so that it can be easily found. Also, please remember to link back here so your readers can see what others share. If you haven't started your binder yet, now is the time! You can see all my other sections, complete with printables here.
This post is linking to Your Life, Your Blog.
2 comments:
Hmm. That's something to think about. At the end of the year I tear out the pages from the spiral binder and file them with the tax info. Putting this stuff in a binder would probably make this easier. I like this idea. Thanks!!
I'm working on creating my HMB.
I do my finances on Quicken - have a separate "account" for each of my savings areas (leaving only our budget monthly spending in my main "account").
As far as my binder, upcoming bills go in my monthly planner by month, and I make a note on my daily planner on the date I want/need to pay them on.
The only numbers I write down in my HMB are my CVS/WAGS trips - I am trying to keep a record of my spending, savings, earnings, etc to keep myself accountable at these stores (otherwise I'd probably spend WAY too much in the name of "a great deal").
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