Keeping track of your cash flow - worksheets to establish money availability - B.E. Money Management Special Section

Black Enterprise, Oct, 1994 by Gracian Mack

LET'S FACE IT: MORE OFTEN THAN YOU'D LIKE TO admit, you find yourself staring at your wreckage of outgoing checks and incoming bills wondering: "Where did it all go?" No matter how hard you work to make ends meet, you're still having trouble tracking your cash. Well, wonder no more. Here are the tools you need--a monthly budget and a cash-flow worksheet--to put and keep your financial house in order.

MONTHLY HOUSEHOLD BUDGET

MONTH/YEAR _____ SALARY (Monthly) _____ INVESTMENT INCOME (Monthly) _____ OTHER INCOME (Monthly) _____ TOTAL INCOME (Monthly) _____

EXPENSES                     BUDGETED $   %   ACTUAL    %

                             MONTHLY

FOOD
Groceries                      _____      __    ___    ___
Dining Out                     _____      __    ___    ___
HOUSING
Mortgage/Rent                  _____      __    ___    ___
Electricity                    _____      __    ___    ___
Gas/Oil                        _____      __    ___    ___
Taxes                          _____      __    ___    ___
Insurance                      _____      __    ___    ___
Water/Sewer                    _____      __    ___    ___
Telephone                      _____      __    ___    ___
Repairs/Maintenance            _____      __    ___    ___
Child Care/Support             _____      __    ___    ___
Other                          _____      __    ___    ___
CLOTHING
Work Attire                    _____      __    ___    ___
Leisure/Sports                 _____      __    ___    ___
Children's                     _____      __    ___    ___
Laundry/Cleaning               _____      __    ___    ___
TAXES
Federal                        _____      __    ___    ___
State                          _____      __    ___    ___
Local                          _____      __    ___    ___
Social Security                _____      __    ___    ___
Other                          _____      __    ___    ___
DEBTS
Credit Card Payments           _____      __    ___    ___
Loans/Notes                    _____      __    ___    ___
Other                          _____      __    ___    ___
SAVINGS
Emergency Fund                 _____      __    ___    ___
Other                          _____      __    ___    ___
INSURANCE
Medical                        _____      __    ___    ___
Disability                     _____      __    ___    ___
Life                           _____      __    ___    ___
Other                          _____      __    ___    ___
MEDICAL
Doctor/Dentist                 _____      __    ___    ___
Medicine/Drugs                 _____      __    ___    ___
Other                          _____      __    ___    ___
INVESTMENTS
Securities                     _____      __    ___    ___
Real Estate                    _____      __    ___    ___
Retirement Account             _____      __    ___    ___
Education                      _____      __    ___    ___
Other                          _____      __    ___    ___
AUTOMOTIVE
Payment/Leases                 _____      __    ___    ___
Gas/Oil                        _____      __    ___    ___
Insurance                      _____      __    ___    ___
License/Registration           _____      __    ___    ___
Maintenance/Repairs            _____      __    ___    ___
Other                          _____      __    ___    ___
ENTERTAINMENT/RECREATION
Children's Activities          _____      __    ___    ___
Social Activities              _____      __    ___    ___
Vacations/Trips                _____      __    ___    ___
Other                          _____      __    ___    ___
MISCELLANEOUS
Toiletries/Cosmetics           _____      __    ___    ___
Beauty/Barber                  _____      __    ___    ___
Petty Spending Cash            _____      __    ___    ___
Allowances                     _____      __    ___    ___
Gifts (Christmas, etc.)        _____      __    ___    ___
Periodicals/Magazines          _____      __    ___    ___
Dues (Union, Club, Tithes)     _____      __    ___    ___
Other                          _____      __    ___    ___
TOTAL
EXPENSES $                     _____      __    ___    ___
DISCRETIONARY                  _____      __    ___    ___
INCOME $                       _____      __    ___    ___
(Total Income Minus Expenses)

To begin, let's clear up a common misconception. Your monthly budget and your personal cash-flow statement are not the same thing. A budget is a record of anticipated income and planned expenses. Your cash-flow statement is a regularly kept record of actual income and expenditures, designed to keep you abreast of exactly how much money you have at regular intervals in time, usually at the beginning or end of each month. Together, they can give you the information you'll need to make progress toward your financial goals (see "The Art of Financial Mapping," this issue).

The key to using these worksheets is learning to keep a record of every expenditure you make--down to every last newspaper, birthday card and home pizza delivery. Purchases made by check or by debit or credit cards will be easier to track, since they leave a paper trail. However, most of your money "disappears" as a result of unaccounted for cash expenditures, and even the little ones add up. For example, a cup of coffee, bagel and newspaper each business day could run a tab of $50 each month--or $600 a year. Most experts recommend carrying around a small notebook to jot down your expenditures; also, make asking for and filing receipts the rule, not the exception.