In my checkbook....I got lost. In my attempt to separate piles of money (stuff for the kids that they needed, Christmas, bills, car), I was transferring money all over the place, and I lost track of what I was doing.
I realize now that I made some of this WAY more complicated than it had to be. But 2 hours later, a scrap Excel spreadsheet, and lots of hair pulling....I figured it out.
I think this is why I like ING so much. I have several accounts, and I can visually see where it all is. In the above scenario, I was using our main checking account and savings account, and it just didn't work. I had some money in my savings and I transferred it to checking, then back to savings, but then BLAH BLAH BLAH.
I got lost.
I did discover that we have $207 left in the Christmas budget (NOT including the $150 slush fund), which will purchase the tree, postage, shipping, and whatever G-man gets me. The rest is done.
I have $200 left to buy clothes or whatever for the kids....which will probably roll over to next spring, as they are pretty set right now.
The check for the retirement loan is taken care of.
I paid a few bills.
And I think that I found the end of the maze!!!
I got lost, too, with the details, but at least I know all the totals. Next month I'll try to do better, but I'm shifting stuff around next month and in January. Oh well, tomorrow's a new month so I'll try to keep up with the details.
ReplyDeleteHOORAY, HOORAY that you found the end of the maze!! You are sounding so much more confident these days. HOORAY! It must be the new car. ;)
ReplyDeleteJaDell
:) Glad you worked it out. That is why I try to stay with a simple system for it all. Plus having everything at the credit union helps.
ReplyDeleteIt can get complicated very fast, I can totally relate to that. I keep my budget overly simplistic, but it can quickly become a maze when I factor in any transfers. But glad you found everything and you were able to figure out what was going on.
ReplyDeleteGreat news! I keep ridiculously detailed Excel spreadsheets for the same reason - otherwise, I'll forget what money was intended for. And, it will just magically get spent. :-)
ReplyDeleteI can identify. I just got paid so transferred the whole amount from one bank to another even though I will be transferring some back to the first bank to various savings accounts - I'm sure there's a simpler way but my mind only works in a certain way so that's how I do it. Yes, I can sometimes get lost too.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you skip Xmas presents for each other and put the money in savings or towards your debt?
ReplyDeleteTJ
@TJ - we buy for each other because it is the one time a year we do this. We very rarely buy stuff for ourselves so we set a limit on the cost, and we do it.
ReplyDeletethat is awesome to have $ left over! Way to go!!!
ReplyDeleteI've done that before. I have two checking accounts and two savings accounts, and for a while during undergrad things were complicated because I had money from my parents, student loans, and my paycheck all coming in to different places and allocated for different things. If I used the wrong debit card or wasn't going to be able to get things transferred from one account to another in time I would have to essentially loan money to myself. If you don't keep close track of that it gets confusing really quickly.
ReplyDelete