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Budget Blog

XLYourFinances Customer Interview (Christie)

4/24/2021

 
Christie heard about XLYourFinances (xlyf) from a mutual friend.  She has been using the spreadsheet for approximately 18 months.  I followed up with Christie to see if she would be willing to do a personal finance interview and she agreed.
Tell me about your personal finance journey and where you think you are on that journey?
"My financial journey began as a young child, when my parents presented me with a Giving Bank (http://www.christianbook.com/my-giving-bank/9789834502706/pd/502702) and started paying me a $1/week for doing chores. My dad is a professional financial advisor, so stewardship and wise management practices were ingrained into me from an early age. As an adult, I now realize how impactful financial decisions can be, and thanks to his training, I didn't have to learn too many lessons the hard way. Currently, I am at a place where I'm working to get a realistic picture of our family's spending, in order to create and maintain a practical budget."
How did you handle your personal finances before you started using xlyourfinances?
"Before xlyourfinances, I used a very basic spreadsheet that I created myself. I put together my "best guess" of a monthly budget, and then tried to remember to record expenses by collecting receipts and manually entering the data. It was time consuming and inaccurate."
What do you like about the spreadsheet.  Any favorite features?
"My favorite feature, by far, is the integration of Mint.com data! I love having live data from all my financial accounts that uploads directly into my xlyourfinances spreadsheet... no more saving receipts and manual data entry! Also, I categorize expenses pretty specifically, so I liked being able to set up my own categories and having lots of them. The budget feature is also great! How convenient to input your budget one time, and then have xlyourfinances keep tabs on your spending to let you know how you're doing throughout the month."
How has your view of your finances changed since you started using xlyourfinances?
"Xlyourfinances was exactly the tool I needed to finally feel like I had control of all the details. My previous attempts at expense tracking and monitoring a budget were haphazard and ineffective. It's so nice to have all this information in one place. It also has helped me to develop a weekly routine of reviewing all of our transactions and keep an eye on all of our accounts."
Were there any surprises or 'a-ha' moments once you started using xlyourfinances?
My biggest surprise was seeing our actual spending. Xlyourfinances makes it easy to categorize expenses, and that was the most crucial information for me to see to make positive changes.
What advice would you give for someone who is struggling with their finances?
First of all, you need a system. Throwing receipts into a shoebox and hoping there's enough money at the end of the month is always going to leave you scrambling. Secondly, set some goals. Figure out what's most important to you: debt reduction, savings, decreased spending, etc. and implement practical steps that can develop into good habits. And lastly, sometimes it just comes down to old-fashioned discipline. Learn to say no, to prioritize, and value the delayed gratification of proper money management. It's worth it!
Any other thoughts or ideas you would like to share?
I appreciate that you refer to this as a "personal financial journey", because it's exactly that: a journey. A process. Keep learning and keep building on the good habits you already have in place. Change and growth are always possible, but they usually don't happen overnight.
Thank you Christie for taking the time to share your experiences with us!

Are you winning the game?

4/17/2021

 
by Brad Hoffer

Extreme couponing and buying in bulk are crazes that have been around for quite some time.  There are these ridiculous stories of people spending hours upon hours over coupons to get stuff for free and/or routinely shopping at bulk grocery stores which results in having a year or two of products in the pantry, closet or basement.  All of this is done in the name of 'saving money'.  The problem is, are you really saving money?  It becomes very hard to measure at times.  For instance, if you save $.50 a tube on a year's worth of toothpaste, let's say you go through 12 tubes a year, you have saved $6.  However, if you make one errant purchase, such as a huge tub of pickles that you don't eat, or a pack of 12 kitchen brushes for $30 that you end up losing, you are at risk of throwing away your savings.  The same thing happens with coupons.  If you purchase something you don't need, the savings from your coupons are quickly eliminated.  I have no doubt, there are super-disciplined people, who never make a wrong purchase and only purchase the necessities, and to you, I say, 'good job', 'keep up the good work'.  However, for the rest of us, I think a careful look at how we are arriving at our savings and the 'extras' we end up buying needs evaluated.  If your efforts to save money is failing, why are you doing it?  Isn't it far worse to have the illusion that you are saving money, but in reality you are actually spending more?

Keep in mind, the goal of the companies issuing coupons and operating bulk stores, is to get individuals to buy more.  If you are buying more than you need, you are losing the game.  Call a time-out and re-evaluate your buying habits, your needs and your wants, and then shop smartly for only those things you need.  This is at the core of saving money, buying only what you need.  Even when you go to your local grocery store, everything is centered around getting you to buy more than you need.  Every aisle has random stuff hanging from the shelves, trying to get you to make that impulse buy, that is, buying something you don't truly need.  Think about it, one $3 'excess' item per trip, based on consumers' average 1.5 trips per week*, equals $234 a year.  Think of the grocery store's motivation, every customer spending an extra $234 a year times an average of ~11,500* customers equals $2,691,000 in additional annual sales!  As with any game, everyone likes to win, don't let the grocery store win!  Develop a strategy and stick to it.  For my household, we like to shop around the outside perimeter of the store and avoid going down the inside aisles.  This approach will typically get you fresh fruit and vegetables, meats, the deli counter, milk, OJ, yogurt, eggs, cheese and bread.  There is always something we need down the middle aisles, but we walk those aisles with trepidation! 

In every game, big and small, there is a winner and a loser, well, except for some kids' sports where every participant gets a medal.  The problem with not keeping score is you don't know how good or bad you really are. Also, if you don't keep track of past scores, you don't know if you are improving.  The xlyf excel budgeting spreadsheet will help you keep score better than ever before, keep your history so you know if you are improving, and help you set appropriate goals.

Download the xlyourfinances "Excel Budget Spreadsheet" today and start winning the game against impulse purchases from coupons, bulk stores and grocery stores.


*http://www.fmi.org/research-resources/supermarket-facts

Xlyourfinances Customer Interview (Eric)

4/10/2021

 
Eric is a young business professional who purchased the program around the time he got married.  ​I followed up with Eric to see if he would be willing to do a personal finance interview and he agreed.
Tell me about your personal finance journey and where you think you are on that journey?
My personal finance journey began when I first got my personal bank account and debit card around the age of 13. I was always a big saver, so I did not struggle with overspending. However, I never really looked to the future or what the ramifications were of my financial decisions. Now, I take these decisions much more seriously. I'm also constantly trying to learn money management strategies to improve my family's financial picture.
How did you handle your personal finances before you started using xlyourfinances?
Before xlyourfinances, I never tracked anything. I would just gauge how much I spent based on if I felt like I was spending too much recently. I'd occasionally check my balances, and that's it. I never had a budget.
What do you like about the spreadsheet, any favorite features?
I definitely wanted to track my spending in Excel, not Mint.com or some other clunky program. My plan was to just build my own Excel spreadsheet, but it would've taken me so much time and it still wouldn't have come close to as good as this one. My favorite feature is how easy it is to import data from my accounts into the spreadsheet. I love that it only takes me about 10 minutes every week to import.
How has your view of finances changed since you started using xlyourfinances?
I used to cringe when I hadn't checked my accounts in a while. Now I have a firm grasp on every detail of my finances, so I actually look forward to sitting down and reviewing our transactions. It's also impacted my wife, as before, she hated numbers, finances, all of it. Now she gets excited to see how we are doing in different categories each week.
Were there any surprises or 'aha' moments once you started using xlyourfinances?
My biggest surprise was realizing how quickly little transactions can add up into a big number at the end of a month in a certain category. It forced me to think about all of those minuscule transactions that don't seem like a big deal. 
What advice would you give for someone who is struggling with their finances?
​Track everything. You can't fix something if you don't even know what's exactly wrong with it. You have to measure your results.
What level would you recommend someone be at before using xlyourfinances?
Beginner. The spreadsheet is designed to be very easy to use, so that anyone can pick it up and use it. All of the heavy Excel lifting is already built in. No formulas, no formatting, just copy and paste your data in and categorize how you want.

    Author

    I have been an Auditor, Analyst, Accounting Manager, Business Systems Manager, Controller, School Board Vice President, Director of Finance, CFO and COO over the past 2 decades of work experience. In my free time I developed the XLYourFinances spreadsheet and website I enjoy golf and spending time with my family.  We attend church at LCBC.

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  • Home
    • Budgeting Spreadsheet
    • Free Budget Spreadsheet
    • FORECASTING SPREADSHEET
  • Budget Blog
  • FAQ
  • Support
  • Videos
    • Budgeting Videos >
      • Enabling Macros
      • Getting Started
      • Overview
      • Setting up Accounts
      • Default Categories
      • Importing Transactions
      • Budgeting
      • Mortgage & Loans
      • Cash Forecasting
      • Expense Tracker
      • Mass Import
      • Download from Mint
      • Notes
      • Tracking a HELOC
    • Forecasting Videos >
      • Enabling Macros (Forecasting)
      • Getting Started (Forecasting)
      • Forecasting Overview
      • Income
      • Loan
      • Asset with a Loan
      • Investments
      • Expenses
      • Your Forecast