The one number a month
On the first of the month, type one balance for each account. Five minutes, twelve times a year, and the workbook does the rest.
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Welcome back. Today the habit the whole free edition is built on: on the first of the month, type one balance for each account. That is all. Five minutes, twelve times a year.
Click the Monthly Balances tab. Your accounts run down the left. The months run across the top, January to December, with an opening balance column before January.
Find this month's column. Click the cell for your first account.
Open your bank on your phone or in another tab, read the balance, and type it. Do not copy and paste; typing is faster and you will notice the number as you type it.
For a checking or savings account, type what is in it. For a credit card or a loan, type what you owe, as a plain positive number. The workbook already knows it is a debt: the A/L column, filled in from the directory, says Liability.
Press Enter and move down to the next account. Do every account in the column, even the ones that did not change.
When the column is full, click the Dashboard button at the top. Three of the four figures at the top of that screen come from the column you just typed: what you own, what you owe, and your net worth, which is one taken from the other. The fourth, Debt free in, is how long until your last debt is cleared.
Under the four figures, Net worth by month now has a point for this month. Which way the line moved since last month is the only number that matters.
If you miss a month, leave its column empty and fill this month. An empty month is honest. A guessed month is not.
Net worth monthly, weather daily. Your balances move every day and most of that movement means nothing. Once a month is often enough to see the direction, and rare enough that you will actually do it.
The column you just filled is the typing you do every month. Your net worth, its chart and your projection all start from it.
One column, once a month, typed by hand. Put it on the first of the month in your calendar, and the rest of the workbook takes care of itself. See you next time.
Welcome back. Today the habit the whole free edition is built on: on the first of the month, type one balance for each account. That is all. Five minutes, twelve times a year.
Step by step
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Click the Monthly Balances tabYour accounts run down the left. The months run across the top, January to December, with an opening balance column before January.
-
Find this month's columnClick the cell for your first account.
-
Open your bank on your phone or in another tab, read the balance, and type itDo not copy and paste; typing is faster and you will notice the number as you type it.
-
For a checking or savings account, type what is in itFor a credit card or a loan, type what you owe, as a plain positive number. The workbook already knows it is a debt: the A/L column, filled in from the directory, says Liability.
-
Press Enter and move down to the next accountDo every account in the column, even the ones that did not change.
-
When the column is full, click the Dashboard button at the topThree of the four figures at the top of that screen come from the column you just typed: what you own, what you owe, and your net worth, which is one taken from the other. The fourth, Debt free in, is how long until your last debt is cleared.
-
Under the four figures, Net worth by month now has a point for this monthWhich way the line moved since last month is the only number that matters.
-
If you miss a month, leave its column empty and fill this monthAn empty month is honest. A guessed month is not.