Money Skills 101 – Pass/Fail
Earlier this year, around the time I bought my house (the fixer-upper bungalow), I had become particularly proud of my money tracking abilities. I meticulously logged my paycheck deposits, savings, 403(b), and my IRA. Everything was beautifully formatted on a funky Excel spread sheet with whacky formulas. I thought this was the path only the enlightened were able to tread.
I was an absolute nut.
The time I devoted to tracking such funds and expenditures streamed into dozens of hours of tweaking figures, creating formulas, renaming and creating categories. Now trust me folks, such an endeavor has nothing to do with Writerbabe’s OCD (that’s another post for another time).
It had more to do with the fact that I was at an absolute loss on how to adequately track my spending. Now, some people like the meticulousness of charts, spreadsheets and lists – I don’t. Data like that is nice to look at, but in the end it becomes too much of a pain to create and maintain. I want simple, clear cut and to the point – an Excel sheet just doesn’t cut the mustard.
I wanted (needed) something to do that for me. Also, it’s a little pathetic trying to track every last dollar by relying on something like the 3 pound mass sitting in your head.
Then, I discovered the wide, wide world of money tracking software. They have weird, playful names like Wesabe and straight to the point monikers like Microsoft Money. Mason Curry of Slate online wrote an investigative piece chronicling his money tracking adventure – it’s quite helpful for those (like me) who find themselves wanting to get out of the funhouse maze of financial software.
Suze Orman’s book, “The Money Guide for the Young, Fabulous and Broke” makes great reading for those who want to get serious about mananging their money. Orman delivers straight talk with a healthy dose of optimisim about being young and financially restrained. She doesn’t pretend that Gen X-ers and Y-ers are able to save like their parents used to or that the realities of day to day living don’t have a bigger impact than ever before.
There’s no-nonsense advice about saving, using credit cards (she actually encourages it!) and becoming financially grounded – it’s a small investment for a lifetime of advice, folks. I still find it relevant and useful given America’s current economic crisis.
If those of you out there can suggest other books or websites geared towards Gen X and Gen Y, feel free to pass them along. I’d love to hear about ‘em!
