I keep track of my income and expenses in an Excel sheet, but I just checked my actual money, and it turns out I have about $200 less than what my spreadsheet shows. I only counted my bank account and any cash I had, but didn’t include coins. There might be some expenses I forgot to add, but probably not that much. What do you think? Should I look for cash I might have left somewhere, or is there an easier explanation? Also, when I make a new spreadsheet for next year, how much money do I start with? Should I remove $200 from it?
Always go with the money you actually have, not what the budget tells you. Check for mistakes in your entries. If you forgot an expense, account for that in your next budget.
I’ll look for mistakes, but I feel like I usually notice them right away. Should I just count my actual money and then spread that across my budget categories?
Yes, count everything, including coins. The more accurate you are, the fewer mistakes you’ll have in your budget.
It’s okay to make mistakes! I prefer pen-and-paper budgeting because it’s faster for me. I document my expenses daily to keep everything in sync.
I track my income and expenses and cross-check with my bank records. I don’t track cash balances because it can get tricky.
I also track transactions since I use cash. Checking just my bank balance isn’t always helpful.