I'm still working on automating further my personal finances tracking system.
It's kind of challenging and it I'm learning from time to time some Excel tips and hints to reach this goal.
It will be step at a time and will require brainstorming, innovative and experimenting till I reach my goals and leave the financial auto-pilot drive by itself.
Saturday, 4 September 2010
No wonder accounting is a lengthy task
I was working in closing my monthly balance. I confess that it was a time consuming and lengthy process but I still have the determination to continue it month after month because of its realized profound value to control my expenses and believing that I'm going to master and improve it which will eventually reduce the time and effort month after month.
They key important point that I will not stop it or get bored from doing it.
I will continuously think about improving it and automating it.
I read in one of the guide book for personal finances to automate the budget spreadsheet as an autopilot.
That's what I'm working on now.
My monthly budget was depending on adding up the different items which is definitely lengthy process if we are taking about family spendings between different countries and withdrawing from different bank accounts!!.
I decided to create new cell in my budget Excel spreadsheet and to insert the starting balance for each month which and the end balance including only the incomes added to the starting balance and the actual balance. This will give me indication about the total expenses. Though it will be gross but it will be informative about the total expenses each month.
I will subtract from this gross monthly expenses my spending items and the left will be the gap to be reduced gradually by improving the tracking of my budget.
Let' see if these ideas will work.
I really understood why my colleagues in the business process, accounting, and business analysis are spending long time at the last week of each month to close the balance sheet of our business unit.
I truly believe that the business intelligence and the strict following of best practices can reduce gradually the majority of this effort and time at the corporate and personal levels.
They key important point that I will not stop it or get bored from doing it.
I will continuously think about improving it and automating it.
I read in one of the guide book for personal finances to automate the budget spreadsheet as an autopilot.
That's what I'm working on now.
My monthly budget was depending on adding up the different items which is definitely lengthy process if we are taking about family spendings between different countries and withdrawing from different bank accounts!!.
I decided to create new cell in my budget Excel spreadsheet and to insert the starting balance for each month which and the end balance including only the incomes added to the starting balance and the actual balance. This will give me indication about the total expenses. Though it will be gross but it will be informative about the total expenses each month.
I will subtract from this gross monthly expenses my spending items and the left will be the gap to be reduced gradually by improving the tracking of my budget.
Let' see if these ideas will work.
I really understood why my colleagues in the business process, accounting, and business analysis are spending long time at the last week of each month to close the balance sheet of our business unit.
I truly believe that the business intelligence and the strict following of best practices can reduce gradually the majority of this effort and time at the corporate and personal levels.
Reading habits
I changed my reading habits. In the past I was very shallow reader who is scanning the words without bothering to comprehend or to understand between the lines or to think about the fundamentals behind what I was reading.
I was scanning with my eyes like a dummy machine the words and absorb what goes smoothly to my mind and the skip what challenges my mind without bothering to comprehend it.
I changed this habit since I started to think deeply about my work domain where it has developed the deep thinking and innovative and creative thinking. My mind has gained again how to deeply process the information and to deeply dive into it to understand the roots of it.
I accepted now as well that sometimes you can not understand simply the complicated information from the first time and I need to double the effort if I want to understand it. In the past, I didn't give myself this chance.
This was drastic change in my reading and digesting what I read instead of the shallow knowledge. Now my mind has to question, criticize, and comprehend and even create and innovate something out of it and consolidate opinion about it.
I was scanning with my eyes like a dummy machine the words and absorb what goes smoothly to my mind and the skip what challenges my mind without bothering to comprehend it.
I changed this habit since I started to think deeply about my work domain where it has developed the deep thinking and innovative and creative thinking. My mind has gained again how to deeply process the information and to deeply dive into it to understand the roots of it.
I accepted now as well that sometimes you can not understand simply the complicated information from the first time and I need to double the effort if I want to understand it. In the past, I didn't give myself this chance.
This was drastic change in my reading and digesting what I read instead of the shallow knowledge. Now my mind has to question, criticize, and comprehend and even create and innovate something out of it and consolidate opinion about it.
Financial tips already implemented or in progress
- I'm regularly logging to my online banking and copy the download the monthly bank statements for the saving accounts and for the credit accounts in certain folders to keep the full record.
- I'm copying also any new items in the credit to a master Excel spreadsheet where I can analyze and understand them and calculate the credit debit and classify them to the different shopping categories to understand my spendings.
- This process has helped me to control any new item in the credit and established the regular checking of my online banking as a routine habit.
- I'm planning to subscribe in the SMS alert to receive notification whenever there is any transaction in my accounts.
- I'm working on automating some of the steps to accelerate the process and to reduce my manual interference.
- The linking between the bank statements spreadsheet and the budget spreadsheet is done manually for the time being but I'm working on linking them automatically.
- I'm building more awareness about the currency conversion and how I can reverse it to my favor.
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- I'm copying also any new items in the credit to a master Excel spreadsheet where I can analyze and understand them and calculate the credit debit and classify them to the different shopping categories to understand my spendings.
- This process has helped me to control any new item in the credit and established the regular checking of my online banking as a routine habit.
- I'm planning to subscribe in the SMS alert to receive notification whenever there is any transaction in my accounts.
- I'm working on automating some of the steps to accelerate the process and to reduce my manual interference.
- The linking between the bank statements spreadsheet and the budget spreadsheet is done manually for the time being but I'm working on linking them automatically.
- I'm building more awareness about the currency conversion and how I can reverse it to my favor.
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Organizational skills
I strongly believe that the disciplined life and the organized persons are getting profound value from these positive habits. On the other side the undisciplined persons are paying daily heavy prices for this lack of organizing skills and their lack of well to be organized.
I read before an article saying that the personal discipline is improving the mental power and the intelligence. It was based on a simple and obvious conclusion that discipline is utilizing frequently the logical skills to locate items where they supposed to be and sorting and categorizing them. All these mental skills are exercised frequently in the disciplined environment.
Huge and considerable of time can be saved by following rigid discipline.
Money also can be saved where many time we are regenerating or re-buying items simply because we can find the old ones.
I decided before that I will never spend my time searching for any thing and I will avoid this frustrating time totally by improving drastically my discipline and my organizational skills.
Discipline is reflected also in the psychological mood of the persons where whenever your eyes go in your house you will find pleasant scene to look at instead of the chaotic random location which silently leaks unpleasant feelings to your soul.
Organizational skills and discipline are totally gained habits and can be gained and improved by the well and practicing.
Disciplined location is a source of fairness to the soul and source of self-satisfaction.
I 'm gradually increasing my discipline in my life.
When I received my current overseas assignment I was requested to provide so many papers and I couldn't find some of them due my lack of discipline. I decided since then that any effort in the discipline and organizing my life is worthy.
I'm still beyond perfect by I'm improving gradually till I reach to my goal of perfect discipline in the life.
I read before an article saying that the personal discipline is improving the mental power and the intelligence. It was based on a simple and obvious conclusion that discipline is utilizing frequently the logical skills to locate items where they supposed to be and sorting and categorizing them. All these mental skills are exercised frequently in the disciplined environment.
Huge and considerable of time can be saved by following rigid discipline.
Money also can be saved where many time we are regenerating or re-buying items simply because we can find the old ones.
I decided before that I will never spend my time searching for any thing and I will avoid this frustrating time totally by improving drastically my discipline and my organizational skills.
Discipline is reflected also in the psychological mood of the persons where whenever your eyes go in your house you will find pleasant scene to look at instead of the chaotic random location which silently leaks unpleasant feelings to your soul.
Organizational skills and discipline are totally gained habits and can be gained and improved by the well and practicing.
Disciplined location is a source of fairness to the soul and source of self-satisfaction.
I 'm gradually increasing my discipline in my life.
When I received my current overseas assignment I was requested to provide so many papers and I couldn't find some of them due my lack of discipline. I decided since then that any effort in the discipline and organizing my life is worthy.
I'm still beyond perfect by I'm improving gradually till I reach to my goal of perfect discipline in the life.
Budgeting and credit and debit cards to capture it
As per my previous resolution to discipline more my budget monitoring, I'm trying to push further for using the credit and debit card in the majority of our family spendings. The online banking service and extracting the statement about the credit and debit spendings is really facilitating my effort to maintain regular and accurate as possible monthly budget.
I pay anyway the bank fees for these cards so it is better then to utilize them as operate the bank as my personal accountant!!.
Some people are regarding the plastic money as evil where they loose control on their expenditures and spending is very seducing using it.
In my perspective it is very convenient mean as long as I'm continuously extracting each new purchased item from the online banking and copying it in my Excel spreadsheet to update the all balances.
Following this manner has gave me the full control and show me the value of this bank records.
Debit cards definitely are much better where there is no risk of over-spending from the credit or any credit interests.
That's why I reactivated by debit card and I'm using it more than the credit since then to reduce the credit spending relative to the credit spendings.
The second resolution is the due payment time of the credit which I was missing always and credit interest charges were accumulating.
This was totally avoidable and unnecessary cost and I already implemented my previous resolution to pay before the due time and I will even deposit upfront in the beginning of each month our projected expenses to cover the expected credit.
By this way I will avoid totally the credit interests and this silly late charge assessments from HSBC!!!.
I pay anyway the bank fees for these cards so it is better then to utilize them as operate the bank as my personal accountant!!.
Some people are regarding the plastic money as evil where they loose control on their expenditures and spending is very seducing using it.
In my perspective it is very convenient mean as long as I'm continuously extracting each new purchased item from the online banking and copying it in my Excel spreadsheet to update the all balances.
Following this manner has gave me the full control and show me the value of this bank records.
Debit cards definitely are much better where there is no risk of over-spending from the credit or any credit interests.
That's why I reactivated by debit card and I'm using it more than the credit since then to reduce the credit spending relative to the credit spendings.
The second resolution is the due payment time of the credit which I was missing always and credit interest charges were accumulating.
This was totally avoidable and unnecessary cost and I already implemented my previous resolution to pay before the due time and I will even deposit upfront in the beginning of each month our projected expenses to cover the expected credit.
By this way I will avoid totally the credit interests and this silly late charge assessments from HSBC!!!.
Real estate bubble
Egypt as a developing country is going through a real estate bubble. The investment in the properties is very high and the amount of the business in the compounds, land properties, coastal resorts, apartment complexes is representing huge volume of the current Egyptian economy. It is even attracting the foreign investors to invest in the real estate in Egypt.
It was well known in Egypt between the public that the best and the most secured business is in the real estate. People where buying either apartments or lands and utilizing them or mainly freezing them as frozen assets till they reach their target price due to the appreciation value of these properties.
I think it is the time for me as well to benefit from this bubble. I will avoid the freezing of the property since I've ethical concerns about that where it is freezing the wealth which is holding the value of the money from spreading mutually between the people.
It is still puzzling for me how this real estate sector is flourishing in Egypt although the weak purchase power. apparently the only interpretation that Egypt is one of the countries where there is a considerable class in Egypt where they have their own savings but because of the limited and modest living facilities they didn't have the channel to spend their money except accumulating them in the banks.
This real estate book has withdraw the liquidity and the savings of these people by attracting them to buy properties as liabilities for living or as assets for investments.
Though the governmental officials are claiming that the real estate sector is very healthy for the economy where it is activating about 18 other industries like steel, cement, ceramic, etc, but I believe that it is not the best way to utilize the savings of the people.
Dubai was a clear example for the uncontrolled expansion of the real estate bubble and building luxurious towers without balancing that with investing in productive and revenue generating sectors like trading, industry, IT, or agriculture or services.
Same risk is potential for Egypt.
Property investing is competing with other more vital sectors to the economy and it reduces the potential of the local investors to invest in other more vital sectors for the economy.
People are resorting to the real estate sector because the other sectors are less secured or not available which is clear indication of the poverty of the investments in Egypt.
The proportionality of the real estate investment to the industrial, agricultural, services, or IT investment could work as a health check of the investment and economy of any country.
It was well known in Egypt between the public that the best and the most secured business is in the real estate. People where buying either apartments or lands and utilizing them or mainly freezing them as frozen assets till they reach their target price due to the appreciation value of these properties.
I think it is the time for me as well to benefit from this bubble. I will avoid the freezing of the property since I've ethical concerns about that where it is freezing the wealth which is holding the value of the money from spreading mutually between the people.
It is still puzzling for me how this real estate sector is flourishing in Egypt although the weak purchase power. apparently the only interpretation that Egypt is one of the countries where there is a considerable class in Egypt where they have their own savings but because of the limited and modest living facilities they didn't have the channel to spend their money except accumulating them in the banks.
This real estate book has withdraw the liquidity and the savings of these people by attracting them to buy properties as liabilities for living or as assets for investments.
Though the governmental officials are claiming that the real estate sector is very healthy for the economy where it is activating about 18 other industries like steel, cement, ceramic, etc, but I believe that it is not the best way to utilize the savings of the people.
Dubai was a clear example for the uncontrolled expansion of the real estate bubble and building luxurious towers without balancing that with investing in productive and revenue generating sectors like trading, industry, IT, or agriculture or services.
Same risk is potential for Egypt.
Property investing is competing with other more vital sectors to the economy and it reduces the potential of the local investors to invest in other more vital sectors for the economy.
People are resorting to the real estate sector because the other sectors are less secured or not available which is clear indication of the poverty of the investments in Egypt.
The proportionality of the real estate investment to the industrial, agricultural, services, or IT investment could work as a health check of the investment and economy of any country.
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