How To Budget Your Personal Budgeting
Gregoire hears from 400 on budget at EvCC forum
EVERETT — Gov. Chris Gregoire got an earful from residents Wednesday on how best to spend their tax dollars. Gregoire came to Everett Community College where she asked the 400 people who showed up for ways to run state government in less costly and more efficient ways.
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Gains from long-term Treasurys won’t go on forever
Financial markets can make you look really foolish, even if you thought your analysis was right, and still do. Today’s humbling example: The best investment by far for the first half of this year has been the one that people like me have been warning against: long-term U.S. Treasury bonds.
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Crist vetoes millions from state budget
Gov. Charlie Crist announced Friday afternoon that he has vetoed $371 million from the state budget. The biggest cut: A $160 million raid on the state Department of Transportation trust fund. The money was tied to K-12 spending in an effort to block Crist from making a veto or risk cutting education spending.
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From a recession to a measured resurgence, Telluride endures
If we learned anything about ourselves and about Telluride in 2009, it’s that we, and this town, endure. This last year was defined in simple economic terms for us, and we learned a lesson: Even our sno-globe town isn’t invincible. Our region made difficult financial decisions as revenues that once flowed ebbed. We braced against a recession and swallowed the passings of our friends. But for all …
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E.U. ministers back stricter sanctions to prevent countries from running up debt
BRUSSELS — European Union finance ministers backed tougher sanctions to prevent countries from running up too much debt in the hopes of winning back market confidence and getting a handle on the debt crisis that is threatening the euro. European Union – Economic – Sanctions – Iraq – Business
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Norton could be forced to slash $1M from school budget
NORTON – The school budget faces a total $1 million cut if the House budget proposal passes, the school committee said Monday night.
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The Budget: Banks face ‘risk tax’ from both major parties
Alistair Darling will use this week’s pre-election Budget to launch Labour’s battle for the moral and economic high ground, with confirmation that a new annual tax on banks, to pay for their part in the financial crisis, is on the cards.
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Sitting at your favorite restaurant hand-in-hand with your special someone with a steady stream of culinary delights wafting by, lights down low, and the occasional whispering of what might be violin music from somewhere in the establishment. What was to be the beginning of a night to remember in one sense of the word is now, instantly transformed into a night you would more likely want to forget by the look of distain engraved, as if on granite, worn by the face of your returning waitress; your credit card did not go through!
More often then not when we start to speak about a home budget or budget spreadsheet, we tend to focus on the setting up and the working with the budget; as if that was all there was to running a family’s home budget; never touching on the broader and more general aspects of home budgeting that interlace to form a overall successful financial picture. The successfulness of your budget spreadsheet will be reflected in how you handle, define, and process all of your financial information. For today’s discussion, we will only focus on your family’s checkbook and the effects misinformation can have your family’s home budget.
Checkbook registers come in many sizes, shapes, and colors; yet, for all of their physical diversities, their only function is to provide information about your bank account. And since you are basing your lifestyle on the amount of funds in your bank account; it would behoove you to have an accurate account. Remember, you are the first line of defense against potential problems that can arise from having misinformation. Of course, you can be like our friend above who waited and had his card returned, deflated and useless only then to realize that there is a serious problem.
First, you must balance your checkbook. You can either use software, or pen and paper to accomplish this task. Now, if the concept of balancing a checkbook eludes you, just search the internet on how to balance your checkbook. And, as you balance your checkbook, you should pay particular attention to missed transactions, bad math, or any unexpected transactions. I remember that on one occasion I had recorded an unexpected deposit as a withdraw in my checkbook register. So, to my chagrin, my $150.00 deposit became on paper, a $300.00 withdraw.
Once your checkbook is balanced, you should take a moment to look at the wealth of information contained therein. What? What is this wealth of information you are talking about? Try looking at your checkbook as a snap shot of your spending habits over time. By looking at what you purchase, where you go to purchase it, and how frequently you travel there to purchase it; it will soon be clear to your brain that all of those little trips to the store sure do add up! Look at all the gas you are using, and the wear and tear you are putting on your vehicle. Since you are spending the money already, you might as well purchase the items once a week and not on an everyday basis. Likewise, since you already know the items that you purchase on a daily basis, you might consider buying them in bulk (only if bulk means costing less!).
Keep your home budget or budget spreadsheet from floundering. Gain the benefits of understanding what your spending habits are. Please, do not forget that you are the first line of defense against misinformation! No one tries to drive their vehicle with their eyes closed because they know that they will soon disassemble their vehicle by the means of a tree. In the same sense, that is how it is for those who close their eyes to their home budget spreadsheet; soon they too have undone all of their dreams in life. An un-attended checkbook can cause your budget spreadsheet to reflect money that you may not have. It will give others un-monitored access to your checkbook. There is no happy end to an un-attended checkbook. If you do not understand your spending habits, and control your financial picture by the means of a home budget or budget spreadsheet. Soon, very soon, your money will be needlessly in someone else’s bank account!
My name is Michael Reichwein and I would like to invite you to come and visit our home budgeting spreadsheet website at http://www.bottomlinebudget.com today. You will be able to see the solutions that we have implemented in our budgeting spreadsheets and checkbook spreadsheet, that have enabled families from all over the world in making their home budgeting dreams come true! Take the challenge! Come, use our free download, and see if you can start building your dreams today!
I am Michael Reichwein, the CEO of Bottomline Budget. My wife and I have called Pennsylvania, USA our home for more then 30 years to date. We originally, did not intend in selling our “family home budget spreadsheets”, as a web based business. However, as time advanced as it usually does, it became unavoidable. The funny part was that I did not venture out into the internet looking for software and spreadsheets advocated by other authors in order to gleam as it were, the elements they had gleamed from others. Instead, my concept was in building the spreadsheets around the needs of our family at that particular time in history; and then placing those derived elements into an easy to use format. I am sure that if you use them, you find them as useful as my family has over the last Eight years!
Michael Reichwein (CEO)
http://www.bottomlinebudget.com
Expect Good Things From Top CFOs
Chief financial officers’ jobs aren’t getting any easier.
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County commission action items from Tuesday meeting
At its Tuesday meeting, the Moffat County Commission: • Approved, 3-0, a warrant resolution totaling $549,453.79 for the month of January.
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