Financial Adulting

CHAPTER 5Your Money Outflows

You have your goals and your income; now it's time to move on to your expenses. To make a plan for your expenses (or outflows), there are few things you need to do.

Map Out Your Expenses

First, think about the next 12 months. Are there expenses you expect to come up this year that didn't last year? For example, you might be planning to move to a different apartment, know you have a trip planned over the summer, have a best friend's wedding in six months, or plan to send more money back home. Jot these down or download the spreadsheet in the Financial Adulting toolkit.

Write down any new upcoming expenses.

 

 

 

 

 

Are there any experiences or expenses you'd like to incorporate into your plan this year that you didn't last year? Maybe you would love to get a gym membership or want to be able to take a vacation (or an extra vacation). I call these lifestyle upgrades and there's nothing wrong with them. These are things you'd like to work into your plan. Write them down here.

Write down any lifestyle upgrades or new expenses you'd like to incorporate.

 

 

 

 

 

Next, let's look at your current expenses or what's actually happening with your money. Start by listing each of your expenses in the space provided. You can put them into categories later if you'd like. To make it easier, you can look at previous bank and credit card statements to jog your memory.

Looking at a few recent statements will help a lot, so you can start there, ...