A YEARLY EXPENSE TRACKER WILL SHOW YOU THE TOTAL PROJECTED COST
Ever since I started this blog weve discussed projected expenses and how critical they are to your yearly budget.
Using an expense tracker such as the free budget binder printables that Ive created allows you to track month by month.
I was updating an old blog post the other day and in it, I read how I was going to create a budget binder printable document that was a projected expense tracker.
Unfortunately, I wrote that post a few years ago and hadnt fulfilled my goal of completing the expense tracker sheet.
Right away I put that on my end of the year 2019 goals list so I could have it ready for the upcoming 2020 year.
I wanted it not only for our family budget but for those of you who use our free monthly excel budget or printable budget.
What are the projected expenses?
If you are new to Canadian Budget Binder you may never have heard of the term, projected expenses before.
We hadnt either until we came up with the term for our budget.
Saving for upcoming expenses throughout the year is an action you must do.
So many Canadians run into trouble when a bill or expense comes due but they havent yet saved for it.
Your emergency savings account should not be used for your projected expenses.
For example:
We estimated that we would need $42o in December to pay for Christmas food expenses last year.
Related: How To Create A Christmas Reserve Fund
That was only an estimate as we hadnt saved for this projected expense before.
Come December we would add up all of our receipts that we spent for Christmas food items above our monthly grocery budget.
The idea around the projected expense tracker is that we might purchase items throughout the year for Christmas not just in December.
Projected Expense Tracker = Less Financial Stress
We needed to know the exact amount of money we spend on each projected expense to create an accurate budget.
This is where the projected expense tracker comes into play and its perfect for this budget task.
Typically we would go out of town for the Christmas holidays and do lots of holiday baking, buy alcohol, snacks and other items.
These extra expenses were hurting our monthly budget so we decided to save for them ahead of time so we werent forced to use emergency savings.
Most often if you find similar expenses going to your miscellaneous budget category Id explore whether they should be deemed projected expenses.
In our case, our grocery budget was expanding as was our miscellaneous budget category so we decided to do something about it.
Ideally, we dont want to always have estimates so if you know the exact number or can use the expense tracking sheet for a year youll get the figures you need.
The idea around projected expenses is that you estimate the cost of the expense and divide it by 12.
You save that amount of money every month in a separate bank account only for projected expenses as we do.
When the bill comes due you then pay it from that account.
You can simplify the process further by saving over a shorter period.
Projected Expense Tracker Example
For example:
Your Auto Sticker is due this year in July and its now January.
The cost of the new plate sticker is $100.
Take $100 and divide that by 7 (July is 7 months into the year) = $14.30 a month you must save in your projected expenses.
Since we have many projected expenses we always have a cash flow in the account.
This is why we divide our projected expenses over 12 months but its not necessarily based on when the expense is due.
You can also start your projected expenses account with $100 so you get ahead of your expense tracker.
Its a good idea just in case you spend more, prices go up or you mess up your calculations.
Free Printable Expense Tracker
Im happy to say that the expense tracker is now complete and weve printed it and put it in our monthly budget binder.
All you have to do is follow these simple expense tracker steps:
- Write in the projected expense budget category (example Christmas Reserve Fund)
- Under the January Tab if you have any expenses related to that projected expense write that in
- Do this for the entire year.
- At the end of the year add up what you spent on that projected expense budget category
- This number is your estimate for the next year divided by however many months until your expense comes due.
Its fairly simple and once you have a year worth of the expense tracker completed it will make subsequent years easier to budget for.
Just remember if you are just starting out using projected expenses that you will have to estimate.
Some expenses you may already know the exact cost such as your license plate sticker which makes saving easier.
Overall, we feel the projected expense tracker sheet will help us pinpoint budget categories in two ways.
- Do we need to save more money for this projected expense?
- Are we saving too much money for this projected expense?
There is no need to save more than you have to but critical in saving as close to the actual expense costs.
I hope you give us your feedback on the projected expense tracker and enjoy tracking your money.
Discussion: Do you use projected expenses? Why or Why not? Share your comments below and Ill be sure to respond.
Mr.CBB
Net Worth Losses and Gains
November 2019
What happened to our money in November?
In November we had a combination of higher income, less spending and a good result with the investments. A great increase in Net Worth for the month occurred, but its not always like this.
Last December saw our Net Worth decline considerably, but it wasnt due to Christmas spending.
Were not hoping to repeat last years December decline, but some aspects of our finances are open to the ravages of the economic market and therefore not entirely under our control.
See you all in January with my final 2019 Net Worth Update and remarks for the year.
Mr.CBB
Understanding Net Worth
What DoesIndividual Net WorthMean?
Net Worth is a snapshot of your financial health sort of like a picture or debt to net assets.
In simple terms, its atotal of the value of your assets minus your liabilities.
We credit the growth of our net worth due to patience, perseverance, using a monthly budget and not giving up.
Your numbers may go up and down but dont let the numbers scare you rather understand why and move on.
If you would like to use our budget I offer a FREE downloadable budget which I created and that you can use at home just like we do.
I dont charge for it because I want you to save money not spend more!
There are tonnes of other free resources at Canadian Budget Binder to help you build your net worth.
Calculate Your Net Worth
Do you know how to calculate your own Net Worth?
We like to calculate our net worth every month so we know if we are still on track.
Some people calculate it yearly or quarterly but its up to you and how informed you want to stay.
Net Worth is only an estimate and not everyone uses the same type of figures to tally it up.
Some of you may not include vehicles like we do or leave out assets inside the home as we have.
You might be that person that believes that your house should be excluded.
It depends on what you want to calculate or what you can sell today and make money on for tomorrow.
Figuring out net worth is fairly easy as long as you know your numbers or monthly finances which means you need to do your homework.
Net Worth is simplyadding up all your assets(what you own) thentaking away your liabilities(what you owe) which will give you a net worth number.
Understanding your net worth will help you determine if you are on track meeting or beating your personal financial goals.
Itdoesntget any easier than that.
Determining Net Worth
Net Worth = Assets Liabilities
Why not go ahead andcalculate your own using our Free Money saving ToolNet worth Calculator (Canadian Budget Binder 2012)
Financial Numbers
Whenbudgetinganything is possible, we are proof of that although we still have a long way to go in our journey.
These are our numbers and our goals, not a means of comparison towards your own goals to others target goals.
We dont care how much money others makeor if they have a high net worth or if it is lower than ours as itsnot a competition.
I hope our experiences will help guide you along your financial path working towards debt freedom.
Not everyone has the same path in life.
Some of you may have had to start over like I did or go to school a second time and now have OSAP loans to pay back.
Others may have divorced, lost money in the stock market or other investments, suffered job loss, fell ill or injured on the job and so on but you cant let that stop you from achieving your financial goals.
Some of you may have been given trust funds, paid-for homes, paid educations or perks in life that give you a financial kick-start and thats OK too.
Earn It, Save It, Invest It, Build It
Remember what I said,Its not about how much money you make, its how you save it.
The only reason people accumulate wealth is that they know how to save or invest it wisely even if they did inherit money orwin the lottery.
The smallest improvements should mean big strides in working towards reaching your goals.
Sometimes we have to fail to learn and weve all been there.
Money can be an evil force for some people especially those who have a negative attitude towards their financial situation.
I urge you to be optimistic and little by little with determination you too should see improvements if you want that to happen.
Canadian Budget Binder Net Worth Updates 2019
Click the links below to read our net worth updates for the year.
- December 2018 -(1.66%)
- January 2019 (+2.37)
- February and March 2019 (+2.15%)
- April 2019 (+2.63%)
- May 2019 (-0.79%)
- June 2019 (+0.87%)
- July 2019 (+0.56%)
- August 2019 (-0.03%)
- September 2019 (+0.55%)
- October 2019 (+1.32%)
Thats all for this months net worth update but please check in the middle of January 2020 to see how we made out in December 2019 with our financial portfolio.
Ill also be posting an end-of-year summary for 2019 along with a new budget for 2020.
~Mr.CBB
The post Yearly Projected Expense Tracker Is An Essential Budget Tool (Free Printable) : Net Worth Update Nov 2019 (+1.57%) appeared first on Canadian Budget Binder.