My dad at the helm and me.
My mom?
Over at the Simple Dollar, my favourite source for advice, Trent's first rule is "Spend less than you earn." My first reaction is well, duh, that is obvious, but it is not so simple. It is also obvious that I have not done it for years, with the credit cards and the Bank of Mom and other sources, now gone, making up the difference. But I do think Trent has missed an important Rule that comes before that, which is, "Know What You Spend and Where." I am not sure people really do, and I sure didn't.
Twenty years ago when my late father found himself unexpectedly unemployed and at loose ends, I gave him a 286 powered computer, Lotus 123 and an early version of Quicken. He became obsessed with both and was so proud of the fact that if you asked him how much change he had in his pocket, he could fire up Quicken and give you the answer.
I have used Quicken and Quickbooks as well since then, but never quite as religiously as my dad, tracking business expenses and the things that I thought my accountant might need, but leaving out the embarrassing bits like wine and beer and gin and dinners out and pretty gifts for my wife and more wine and beer.
But for this project I am going to be just like my dad- I am going to record every single penny that I spend. Planet Green and editor Collin may not like this at all; I suspect my claims for expense reimbursements may well increase as I actually track them more carefully.
And I can tell you, I have been downloading last year's monthly statements from my bank, my credit cards and everything else and looking at them carefully for the first time to create a real budget for the year, and the results are just blowing me away. Could I have been so stupid?
