Money Management

Although many younger adults no longer use a checkbook, if you still do use a checkbook, usage of the checkbook register is a great way to control spending.

• The register provides a place to record purchases and withdrawals, and periodically during the month, the register can be referenced to assess progress.

A notebook or spreadsheet can be used to record expenditures on a day-to-day basis.

• Individuals can write in amounts budgeted for items they plan to spend money on during a budget period.
• Individuals can assign items to different categories, and build rows for each category.
• Groceries, coffee, soda, vending machine purchases, restaurants = categorize as Food.
• Build a Food row with a budget of $xx.xx.
• Anytime money is spent within that category, an entry should be recorded in that row for the amount spent.
• Calculate a declining balance for that category.
• If individuals reach $0 within that category, they can either stop spending on those items or transfer a balance from another category and reduce spending for items within the category they transferred a balance from.

The Envelope Method works great in controlling a person’s spending on variable expenses such as entertainment, groceries, toiletries.

• At the beginning of the month the exact amount of money to be spent on each category is placed into separate envelopes.
• The category name and budgeted amount can be listed on the outside of each envelope.
• As money is spent on each category, proper amounts of cash is removed.
• When the envelope is empty, funds are exhausted for that category.

Excel spreadsheets or apps can be used to control spending.

Many people will use a combination of budget methods to plan for spending.

• Track fixed expenses in a checkbook register, and use the envelope method to track variable expenses.