Comments on: Track Your Spending http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/track-your-spending/ Helping you invest and prosper Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:27:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Frank Anthony http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/track-your-spending/#comment-204077 Frank Anthony Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:31:28 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/04/02/track-your-spending#comment-204077 Hey All I have been using the services of http://www.invoicera.com for quite sometime now and they are coming up with the new Invoicera with features like time-tracking, expense tracking, import function, and much more. Check out their blog at http://www.invoicera.com/blog for updates Cheers!!! Hey All

I have been using the services of http://www.invoicera.com for quite sometime now and they are coming up with the new Invoicera with features like time-tracking, expense tracking, import function, and much more. Check out their blog at http://www.invoicera.com/blog for updates

Cheers!!!

]]> By: Danny Gonzales http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/track-your-spending/#comment-172962 Danny Gonzales Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:44:41 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/04/02/track-your-spending#comment-172962 Well the advice mentioned in the post is good. But I personally feel we need to move on. The businesses are growing fast and transactions are increasing both in volumes and numbers. Therefore everything can not be noted down. People should start using online billing and invoicing softwares. Believe me they are extremely simple to use and one can remain on top of the payments all the time. One such software is Invoicera.com. You can check it out at www.invoicera.com and register for free beta version. Well the advice mentioned in the post is good. But I personally feel we need to move on. The businesses are growing fast and transactions are increasing both in volumes and numbers. Therefore everything can not be noted down. People should start using online billing and invoicing softwares. Believe me they are extremely simple to use and one can remain on top of the payments all the time. One such software is Invoicera.com. You can check it out at http://www.invoicera.com and register for free beta version.

]]> By: Test Driving Spending Profile http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/track-your-spending/#comment-28119 Test Driving Spending Profile Wed, 11 Apr 2007 03:32:49 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/04/02/track-your-spending#comment-28119 [...] about your finances and your needs are fairly basic, you may want to consider using the website to track your finances. It is very easy to get started, you can access your account from anywhere and best of all, [...] [...] about your finances and your needs are fairly basic, you may want to consider using the website to track your finances. It is very easy to get started, you can access your account from anywhere and best of all, [...]

]]> By: Sean http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/track-your-spending/#comment-28030 Sean Tue, 10 Apr 2007 20:23:27 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/04/02/track-your-spending#comment-28030 CIBC has recently built into there online visa account the ability to personally categorizes your expenses to come up with monthly totals. After you create your categories it takes seconds to categorize each item. I use my cc for almost all my purchases especially because of the dividend rebate that CIBC offers. 1% Regular/2% for platinum. CIBC has recently built into there online visa account the ability to personally categorizes your expenses to come up with monthly totals. After you create your categories it takes seconds to categorize each item. I use my cc for almost all my purchases especially because of the dividend rebate that CIBC offers. 1% Regular/2% for platinum.

]]> By: Mike http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/track-your-spending/#comment-26955 Mike Thu, 05 Apr 2007 02:17:18 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/04/02/track-your-spending#comment-26955 Thanks Oxcc for that - feel free to post if you can come up with anything conclusive. Brad: Unfortunately you are correct. I think there is way too much personal change involved in spending habits (new hobbies etc) and it might not mean anything unless you can track the personal inflation of 100 or 1000 similar couples and maybe draw some conclusions from a larger sample. However, I rather enjoy playing with numbers and I think it's a neat idea to try to calculate a personal inflation rate which is why I'm planning to give it a shot. If it doesn't work then I'll just default back to my standard 3% inflation when I'm doing my retirement planning. The other thing to keep in mind that any useful personal inflation data doesn't have to end up as an all-encompassing CPI type number. For example there might be certain categories that I can come up with a personal number for lets say food and property tax. In that case in my retirement planning I can apply my rate to the food & property tax segments and the default rate to the rest of the expenses. I doubt there is any real value in this exercise since a default inflation rate is probably just as good, but like I said, I think it's a neat idea. Thanks Oxcc for that – feel free to post if you can come up with anything conclusive.

Brad: Unfortunately you are correct. I think there is way too much personal change involved in spending habits (new hobbies etc) and it might not mean anything unless you can track the personal inflation of 100 or 1000 similar couples and maybe draw some conclusions from a larger sample.
However, I rather enjoy playing with numbers and I think it’s a neat idea to try to calculate a personal inflation rate which is why I’m planning to give it a shot. If it doesn’t work then I’ll just default back to my standard 3% inflation when I’m doing my retirement planning. The other thing to keep in mind that any useful personal inflation data doesn’t have to end up as an all-encompassing CPI type number. For example there might be certain categories that I can come up with a personal number for lets say food and property tax. In that case in my retirement planning I can apply my rate to the food & property tax segments and the default rate to the rest of the expenses. I doubt there is any real value in this exercise since a default inflation rate is probably just as good, but like I said, I think it’s a neat idea.

]]> By: j&w http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/track-your-spending/#comment-26919 j&w Wed, 04 Apr 2007 21:01:15 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/04/02/track-your-spending#comment-26919 I gotta tell you, I'm fairly happy with the general state of my finances - never had any education/c.card debt, paying down the mortgage nicely, good savings, six figure income, matched RRSP etc - but I have never, ever been able to sit down and track a day's, week's, year's spending. It's the most enormous mental block you can imagine. I physically can't do it. :( I gotta tell you, I’m fairly happy with the general state of my finances – never had any education/c.card debt, paying down the mortgage nicely, good savings, six figure income, matched RRSP etc – but I have never, ever been able to sit down and track a day’s, week’s, year’s spending. It’s the most enormous mental block you can imagine. I physically can’t do it. :(

]]> By: brad http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/track-your-spending/#comment-26875 brad Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:59:39 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/04/02/track-your-spending#comment-26875 I'm not convinced of the value of tracking one's "personal inflation rate" unless it's used to detect areas where your spending might be increasing for no good reason. If you're using it to help you target how much you'll need for retirement, I'd say its value is very questionable, because the trajectory of your personal inflation rate is unpredictable and not everyone plans to maintain their current spending habits in retirement anyway. I’m not convinced of the value of tracking one’s “personal inflation rate” unless it’s used to detect areas where your spending might be increasing for no good reason. If you’re using it to help you target how much you’ll need for retirement, I’d say its value is very questionable, because the trajectory of your personal inflation rate is unpredictable and not everyone plans to maintain their current spending habits in retirement anyway.

]]> By: 0xcc http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/track-your-spending/#comment-26870 0xcc Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:18:24 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/04/02/track-your-spending#comment-26870 Mike: I have only started to look at personal inflation information for myself and I currently have about 4 years of spending data and the first year wasn't too detailed so I am sort of waiting to get more data before I do any sort of heavy analysis. I do have some basic numbers on a category by category basis. So for example our spending on food (includes groceries and eating out) increased about 10% from 2003 to 2004 but only 1% from 2004 to 2005. Our spending on utilities went up 30% from 2003 to 2004 but down 12% from 2004 to 2005 (I have no idea why there was such a big increase in 2004, was that a cold winter?) Our car expenses (gas, insurance, maintenance) increased 18% from 2003 to 2004 but decreased 30% from 2004 to 2005, we sold a car in 2004 that required a lot of work to be certified so I think that explains the jump in 2004). Anyway, those numbers are very rough and I haven't had time to figure out what the peaks and valleys might mean or if there is a good reason for them... Mike: I have only started to look at personal inflation information for myself and I currently have about 4 years of spending data and the first year wasn’t too detailed so I am sort of waiting to get more data before I do any sort of heavy analysis. I do have some basic numbers on a category by category basis. So for example our spending on food (includes groceries and eating out) increased about 10% from 2003 to 2004 but only 1% from 2004 to 2005. Our spending on utilities went up 30% from 2003 to 2004 but down 12% from 2004 to 2005 (I have no idea why there was such a big increase in 2004, was that a cold winter?) Our car expenses (gas, insurance, maintenance) increased 18% from 2003 to 2004 but decreased 30% from 2004 to 2005, we sold a car in 2004 that required a lot of work to be certified so I think that explains the jump in 2004). Anyway, those numbers are very rough and I haven’t had time to figure out what the peaks and valleys might mean or if there is a good reason for them…

]]> By: Canadian Capitalist http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/track-your-spending/#comment-26784 Canadian Capitalist Tue, 03 Apr 2007 22:08:44 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/04/02/track-your-spending#comment-26784 GIV: As long as financial targets are met, you can (in fact, should) enjoy yourselves. The purpose of tracking expenses is not to make you feel guilty about your treats. Rather, it is to help you make informed decisions about your spending. As an example, when I first started tracking using Money, I found that I was spending a ton of money lunching out (I was paying myself first from my very first paycheck). I decided that I'd rather pack a healthy lunch and only occasionally eat out. I think tracking helps you become a bit smarter about your spending. GIV: As long as financial targets are met, you can (in fact, should) enjoy yourselves. The purpose of tracking expenses is not to make you feel guilty about your treats. Rather, it is to help you make informed decisions about your spending. As an example, when I first started tracking using Money, I found that I was spending a ton of money lunching out (I was paying myself first from my very first paycheck). I decided that I’d rather pack a healthy lunch and only occasionally eat out. I think tracking helps you become a bit smarter about your spending.

]]> By: Ahmed http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/track-your-spending/#comment-26772 Ahmed Tue, 03 Apr 2007 20:29:36 +0000 http://www.canadiancapitalist.com/2007/04/02/track-your-spending#comment-26772 I use MS Money and spend a little time every morning to update my finances. I can't see my life running without it now. The best feature of this program is the future cash flow chart. MS Money lets you add reoccuring income or expenses. This way I can easily estimate my cash flow for upto 12 months. I noticed some people concerned about tracking small purchases. Before I got married I had a problem of always using my debit card for purchases and cash withdrawals. The small purcahses ate up my money like crazy. Now, I use MS Money to schedule in my cash allowance after every paycheque. Any small purchases (coffee, chewing gum, etc.) that I personally buy are strictly from cash on-hand. If I have no cash then I can't buy. Any regular or large purchases are setup through direct payment or we save up for them. Thanks, Ahmed I use MS Money and spend a little time every morning to update my finances. I can’t see my life running without it now. The best feature of this program is the future cash flow chart. MS Money lets you add reoccuring income or expenses. This way I can easily estimate my cash flow for upto 12 months.

I noticed some people concerned about tracking small purchases. Before I got married I had a problem of always using my debit card for purchases and cash withdrawals. The small purcahses ate up my money like crazy. Now, I use MS Money to schedule in my cash allowance after every paycheque. Any small purchases (coffee, chewing gum, etc.) that I personally buy are strictly from cash on-hand. If I have no cash then I can’t buy. Any regular or large purchases are setup through direct payment or we save up for them.

Thanks,
Ahmed

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