Comingling funds

One of the quickest ways to loose track of your expenses is to comingle your funds into all one pot. Pretty soon all of your good planning is messed up and you just can't figure out why. How much did I pay for food this month? Why is the business not making a profit? There are as many ways to keep things straight as there are people but some of the most common are the ledger book, excel, color code your check register, or separate envelopes for various cash expenses. Figure out what works for you and if it doesn't, try something else. Unless you can keep track you don't have a clear picture of what's going on. This gets even more tricky when two people are dipping into the pot and have different priorities and habits. Above all, keep business and personal expenses separate. This is imperative as it affects not only your record keeping but tax preparation and other legal matters. This may seem obvious but it is so easy in a small business to have money in one account and not the other and the mixing begins.

The Chipmunk and the Bear

Once upon a time there was a busy little chipmunk who spent all his days gathering nuts and hiding them in little clutches so he would always have plenty to eat when the winter came. He scampered and scurried in his daily search and then would run to hide his treasure. There was only one problem with his plan.....

In the same neighborhood forest was a huge bear who lumbered along always looking for the chipmunks treasures and when he found them he would smash them up, stomp them down and rob all the nuts the chipmunk had collected. His appetite was unsatisfiable and his mission in life was to scout out, follow, and find out some way to steal the nuts from all the chipmunks in the area.

And, there was nothing the chipmunks could do. They were too little and the bear was too big. But wait, what is that in the distance? A bear hunter with all his dogs coming closer and closer.......

$1 million in savings.

Personal financial management is the talk of the town. The financial downturn has gotten people thinking and talking about their budgets as one of the hottest topics around. It's no longer a hush hush topic. Everyday there are news tips, financial articles, and local talk about how to save and manage money.

The following article highlights the benefits of saving money and I am including it because of the charts that show how quickly $1 million can be saved. Hard to believe but possible for many more people than would ever imagine it. The popularity of stocks for a retirement plan seems to have dwindled with so many loosing so much and good old fashioned savings plans are back in style. http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/article/107884/turn-small-savings-into-a-big-nest-egg?mod=retire-401k

And, what seems to be the most noted area to find ways to cut expenses? Restaurant meals and mochas. Why do you think Starbucks is getting so rich? We like our coffee. It is that same money that can turn into your own little nest egg.