Financial tracking

[Irving]

This really should be in the Survival/Preparedness sub-forum (because the first part of being prepared is limiting financial issues), but I want maximum exposure in case there are some users who still exist that don't just click "new posts" like me.

I'm about to go through my 2016 financials by documenting all the spending I did in 2016 by month, hopefully including some graphs or pie charts. The best way to understand ones finances is to see where every single dollar is going. My plan is to use a combination of Mint and either Google Docs and/or Open Office to create the appropriate desired spread sheets. What programs do you use to help track financials?

Mint actually does a great job of tracking everything you allow it access to, as well as providing mostly helpful pie graphs of your spending. At the beginning of this year I decided that I would go through ALL of my spending, each month, and drop it into a monthly spread sheet on Google Docs to see where stuff was going. I was doing it manually and it was a monumental pain in the behind and I did it up until February. Mint will make this easier. I'm reluctant to register with yet another site/app/etc, but would like to see what you guys are using for future reference.

I may end up posting an update when I'm done if there is anything interesting like how much we spent on alcohol in 12 months (I'm guessing over $500 and under $1,000), how much I actually spent on gun related things compared to how much my wife thinks I did, how much I spent on gas (I think around $3,000, but it's been a while since I checked), etc.

Just for additional fun, here is a thread I started in 2013 that I thought was interesting, but ultimately never went anywhere. Perhaps I'll revisit this idea again sometime this year. https://www.ar-15.co/threads/97557-H...+%241%2C000%3F

Here is another thread started by Bailey Guns that needs an update: https://www.ar-15.co/threads/143439-...-Anyone-Invest

[DFBrews]

good timing I am starting my money moustache again and am going to be tracking these things much better instead of checking my account balance and saying eh i have enough

[Jeff350]

I am a YNAB (You Need A Budget) user. Been using it consistently for 3 years now. YNAB is really like a digital "envelope system", meaning you have X amount of money, how are you going to spend it? Groceries, Gas, saving for a car/vacation, paying off debt, etc. Every dollar gets a job, before the month begins. I budget the previous months income for the current months spending, which makes the budgeting process easier.

All that said, it wouldn't be good for looking back at the years spending. Mint might be the best for that. If you are diligent with YNAB, at the end of the year you can run plenty of reports to see where your money has gone.

FYI I use the YNAB classic version, which was a 1 time purchase and you own the software for life. They have gone to a monthly subscription model now, but with automatic imports from your bank. I believe someone has taken the YNAB classic model and is selling it now, but I can't recall the name right now.

[Irving]

I've definitely heard of YNAB. Would you say that it's had a positive affect on how you spend/save your money?

[Gman]

My wife is really good with Excel. She has our budget going out for about 5 years. I'm much more vague about my financials. I know where I want to go and work toward it without being fixated on when life happens.

[Irving]

So just this year (from the last week of February) I spent $3,462.28 on gas. That's just for my work vehicle. I haven't run the numbers yet, but I'm thinking that is 95% (likely even higher) for work travel, which means I can write most of that off.
At that amount, it's almost, per month, what our health insurance will cost for 2017. I do this stuff for fun, and because I find it is interesting to put things into perspective. If I included the few tanks I ran that were not work related, and all of my wife's gas which is much, much, much less, then I bet we that money spent on gas is about the same as what health insurance will cost.

[GilpinGuy]

You get family health ins for <$400/month? Damn......

[Irving]

I'd have started a thread on health insurance also, but the deadline was coming up and it seems like it is a subject that might be too personal for open discussion on here.

The lowest we found that wasn't Obamacare was in the $700/mo range, which might as well be another mortgage. There are other options that work out much cheaper, but don't qualify as "good enough" for that shitty "law" (tax) and still get you a penalty at the end of the year.

I changed jobs in 2016 which allowed us to get temp insurance with similar coverage for around $200/mo. My wife ran the numbers and we could have done the same thing this year, and even after paying the highest penalty amount would have saved thousands of dollars, but my parents threw a fit at the idea.

[CS1983]

I'd have started a thread on health insurance also, but the deadline was coming up and it seems like it is a subject that might be too personal for open discussion on here.

The lowest we found that wasn't Obamacare was in the $700/mo range, which might as well be another mortgage. There are other options that work out much cheaper, but don't qualify as "good enough" for that shitty "law" (tax) and still get you a penalty at the end of the year.

I changed jobs in 2016 which allowed us to get temp insurance with similar coverage for around $200/mo. My wife ran the numbers and we could have done the same thing this year, and even after paying the highest penalty amount would have saved thousands of dollars, but my parents threw a fit at the idea.

We have membership in a "healthshare ministry". Maxes at $450 per family ($150 per person x3 -- $0 after for additional). Has a $500 per incident co-pay at highest level, so "wahhhh I have sniffles = Doctor" wouldn't be good for it, but "Is that my tibia?" would be fine. Let me know if you are interested in learning more about it.

[asmo]

Big fan of Mint, once you get it trained. Without training it constantly mis-categorizes everything.