On managing and keeping track of personal finances

It’s been more than a week now since I made an update of my daily expenses, I almost dread to open my accounting software today. I tried to be brave though and opened it anyway, and I saw the past expenses on the account register glaring at me, waiting for some new inputs.

Keeping track of my personal finances can be difficult if I neglect doing it even for just a few days. Good thing, I use an accounting software which makes it easier for me to track down my income, monthly budget and daily expenses among other finance related stuff. Looking at my cash flow forecast for the next 30 days is enough reason for me to pack up my things and head on to Mars. Yes, it doesn’t look nice. Sure, I can always juggle funds, though I avoid it as much as possible, it just make things complicated sometimes.

How about you? How do you manage your finances? Are you on top of it, with your savings and investments intact, or still struggling to make both ends meet? The topic of personal finance is always interesting, and some even discuss it with passion, while others would get emotional at the mere mention of numerous debts and bills to pay.

I was reading over some informative online community finance forums and was interested about the story of a mother who can’t sleep at night. She was too worried about her dwindling finances and thought of selling their house to pay the bills. Her story isn’t much different from a lot of people I know. I was impressed with the reply of another forum member, who gave valuable insights on her predicament which made me realize something about debts too.

Online finance forums are communities providing an avenue for people to help, advice and support personal finance issues.  Discussions are categorized into general finance, personal loans, debt, mortgages, real estate, credit cards, and other finance related topics. Those interested with retirement issues can join the 401k retirement forums and pose some queries on pension schemes and retirement options.

While most people prefer to avoid discussion of finances, and would rather talk about the weather, it helps to communicate with others about money issues. There is always something to learn and share with others. After all, we need to manage and control our finances instead of the other way around.