Featured in Ijamsville Stroll Magazine: Budgeting with Cameron Bell

Welcome to February and our second article for the year in helping you with that New Year’s resolution of “getting your finances in order”. If you missed last month’s article, no problem. Just like life, you can always start anew.

So last month we introduced the boring concept of tracking where you spend your money. Granted some corporations and individuals may not care or even cheat. Easier said than done, the world is literally filled with stories of major companies and individuals not doing this correctly. The latest to not master this task is the cryptocurrency clearinghouse FTX, which filed for bankruptcy. In addition, fraudulent activity is suspected as well[1]

So from last month how did tracking your spending work out? Easier than expected? Harder? Here are the common problem areas I’ve found in my practice:

Having too many ways to spend money. Dual working spouses with different bank accounts and different responsibilities make this easy. Too many apps and credit cards. Simplify as much as you can.
Having an inconsistent approach to tracking spending. One month it’s one method, next month it’s another method. Go slow and be consistent. Starting out with a handwritten approach is my recommendation.
Not reflecting on what you’ve done spending-wise. We are all human with different backgrounds, education levels, and emotions. With Christmas in the rearview mirror, how many of us stretched our budget because we didn’t want to disappoint somebody in our lives? Only you can judge if it was worth it. And whether or not it was a conscious decision or if our emotions got the best of us. Successful wealth accumulators know the difference.

Living your best financial life begins here. Just keep at it. Don’t shortcut the process. Track every bit of spending as you can. Pause before you buy that $5 latte! You’ll be surprised how that adds up. Hopefully, by the end of March, you’ll have a good handle on where you spend your money. And you’ll have more money left over at the end of the month that month at the end of the money!

[1] FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will fly from the Bahamas to U. S. Wednesday to face criminal charges, CNBC, Dec. 20, 2022