Page 44 - Workbook1E

D Monthly Plan Summary Earns Big Rewards
#10
Step 10—of your Spending Plan Worksheet is a Monthly
Plan Summary. This crucial step keeps your Spending Plan as up-to-date, realistic, and effective as possible. A Monthly Plan Summary reconciles your Income and Expenses each month to make sure everything’s working. You’ll be rewarded by continually making the best use of your money. A routine review of your Plan ensures you stay on the fastest track to financial fitness.
Review Your Progress Monthly
At the end of every month record your total income and expense for each category on your Worksheet. You’ll see at a glance any trends or changes happening. Your Worksheet has space for your first three month’s actual income and expenses. To print out additional forms visit our website at accesseducation.org. When consistently summarizing your Plan, you can fine-tune it and make sensible adjustments to best use your money.
Evaluate Your Progress
You learned earlier how nothing stays the same, and our circumstances are always changing. It makes sense to continue to evaluate your habits and overall Plan
to review your progress. Best of all, this step provides you the best, up-to-date Spending Plan for the coming month.
Making Adjustments
At the end of each month you’ll need to enter the actual income and expense amounts on Step 10 of your Worksheet. Then evaluate any excess or positive balances in your Spending Register accounts. Some you can carry over to the
new month. But others, you may wish to put into other accounts according to your circumstances and/or to make up other category’s negative balances.
You Decide whether the positive or negative balance is because of something unusual
or is likely to happen again. Since your Spending Plan must balance, you need to carefully consider how to adjust accounts for the next month in an effort to keep things in balance.
40 Workbook 1: Building a Spending Plan that Works