Even if you get a lot of money, it is worth thinking about their correct distribution, which is considered one of the signs of financial literacy of a modern person. Well, it all starts small - collecting cost statistics and analyzing it.
If you do not have enough money before your paycheck, this does not always mean that you are earning little. This is often a sign of improper distribution of cash flows. Well, in order to understand where the money comes from and where it goes, start keeping your home bookkeeping.
Where to begin?
In order to analyze your own expenses and income, you will have to collect information, and as detailed as possible. To do this, start a notebook in which you write down all the money spent (and not the full amount for a month, week or day, but in detail - indicating the type, quantity and grade of each product).
Useful advice: of course, you can find numerous tips that suggest simplified home bookkeeping - recording the total amounts received and spent, without detailing or with detailing only by category, but it will be difficult to draw correct conclusions based on such initial data.
How to keep records?
The easiest way is to write down all expenses in a notebook, in an arbitrary form that is convenient for you, but today you can use computer technology to simplify this process. Even when using spreadsheets (for example, Microsoft Excel), the data will look much clearer if you do not forget to distribute the amounts not only by day, but also by type of expenses (for food, clothing, utility bills, cellular communications, Internet, electricity, etc.).p.), automate the calculation of subtotals.
Helpful hint: try using special programs that are distributed for computers or mobile devices.
What to look for when analyzing expenses and income?
The simplest analysis of the information on expenses collected for the month should show, at a minimum, the weak points of planning or its complete absence. In particular, you will be able to see that you are spending too much money on so-called spontaneous purchases, cafes, clothes, etc. Also, the difference in costs will be very clearly visible, if you are not used to using discount promotions or discount cards, choose stores where the goods you need are sold cheaper. Such an analysis, carried out in a few months, will tell you how to save on utility bills (a trivial example - refusing to use a microwave and an electric kettle in favor of a gas stove will save expensive electricity).
Helpful advice: if you are analyzing not your personal budget, but the expenses and income of the family, do not forget to make notes about who and how earns and spends money.
