The Importance of Tracking Your Expenses

Part of our Bankruptcy Tuesday series

So you’ve decided to give budgeting a try. Good for you! How do you go about doing so? The easiest way to start is to download one of the many available apps, such as Mint, Pocketguard, YNAB (You Need A Budget), Mvelopes, and Goodbudget. Some of these are free; others are available at a modest cost. Or, if you are technologically challenged, you could simply write out your expenses. That won’t cost you anything but your time. What’s next? You need to track all of your expenses. Some of them are obvious, others less so. You know how much your mortgage and car payments are. You pay them every month, and they are usually the same amount. Other expenses may require some estimation. For example, how much do you pay for home maintenance? Some months you may pay nothing at all. But then your water heater leaks, your dishwasher bites the dust, or you need a new roof. Hopefully not all at the same time, but you get the idea. Your budget isn’t going to be very helpful if you don’t include all your expenses. Next week – you have a budget. Now what?

Last month’s Bankruptcy Tuesdays topic was on Tax Returns. Here’s a link to last week’s post if you would like to take a look: https://www.mccuelawoffice.com/bankruptcy-tuesdays-9

For all Bankruptcy Tuesday posts, click here: https://www.mccuelawoffice.com/category/bankruptcy-tuesdays