Getting my finances in order-a few questions

[thrifty gal]

Tonight, I'm sorting through papers, going over bills, etc-trying to organize our finances, so that we can do better by them. It seems like the last 2 months have really put a strain on our budget, but only because we have chosen to let these things happen. For example, we went to a local festival this past weekend, ended up spending around $40 that we really should have kept for bills. We can replace it with dh's next check, but still.....we really need to give ourselves a swift kick in the butt. lol

Anyhow, I was thinking tonight, that we really need to get back in the swing of things, and stop blowing so much money. I'm making a financial binder (a little different that our frugal one). Some of the things I had come up with to include in the binder were:

*list of all debts-totals, interest rates, etc
*list of all bank accounts
*bills
*budget

Anymore ideas??? TIA!

[RuthNY]

Some of the things you might want to consider putting in your money section are:

- a list of all your accounts and how your bills are paid
- a place to put all the forms you will be getting over the next few weeks so that everything will be together when you do your taxes for 2004
- a place to put receipts from 2005 that will be needed next year for taxes
- a place to track bill payments
- a place for bills paid and to be paid
- information on car, home/renters, health, and life insurance
- information on savings and investments
- a spending plan and financial goals

[PrairieRose]

Be sure to map out your goals, long and short term financially. That really helped us. I did my own loan repayment calculations and believe it or not was pretty darned close, usually within a month or 2 of the actually payoffs. I think this binder will help you b/c it's nice to look where you started from and how far you've come.

[bamamomto4]

I do something like what you are talking about. I list all debts,when due,the amount,payoff balance,and then when It's paid I write the date and how much I actually paid. For instance,on my cc,my min monthly payment might be $15,but if I pay $50...I make sure I write that down.
I have a list of all bank accounts,savings acct,money market,and write down all the deposits or withdrawls.
I also keep up with the grocery budget and write down every purchase from groceries,gas,a loaf of bread..everything.
I even do how much I saved from coupons,rebates etc. I tend to write everything down come to think of it

It's helpful to me and I like to look back over the months to see how much I've spent,saved,or how much my rebates were.
I compare year to year and also month to month. It's nice to see what I saved or how much my coupon totals from this month,and also last September. I want to do better "this" month than I did last year(or even last month) at this time...did that make sense?!

Dh likes teasing me.He'll say "Here you go again with your pen and paper." or "Dont forget to write down that newspaper you just bought." lol

[dolphin]

These are some great ideas! Thanks ladies.