I have been asked a few times how to use a Filofax Finance/Expense Sheet, so I thought I might as well make a blog post that tries to explain it easily, which could be hard, but I will try anyway!! I have done pictures step by step of how I use it so you can see and maybe it will work for you, or you will have a different way of using them, this just may help to get you understanding them better??
I feel like an Accountant when I use mine, as I work in an Accountants all day, and I have no idea how to do Accounts, but this is like my mini Accountancy. (Random fact for you there)
Here is the past few days of my Finance Sheet..
To some people this may look like a lot of spending (and I would completely agree) but it was pay day and I had to get a few things, and I treated my boyfriend and I to a Starbucks as we did the Carboot, I just did a few treats this weekend to make up for the Carboot, as we are not Carbooters at all!!!
Here is a key as to how to use a Finance/Expenses sheet: (I will explain each point no matter how obvious and simple they are)
Date - this is where you would put the date of the expense, or purchase, or income, e.g. 3 July (my birthday)
Description - This is where you write what the expense is? e.g. Imy's birthday present
How you paid for the item? Here all you have to do is tick the correct box, there is Cash, Credit/Debit Card or Cheque (I know Cheques are pretty much a dying thing so maybe say Paypal instead? as an idea)
Next is the Income and the Expenditure section... this is where it can get confusing...
The
Minus, is the
Expenditure side, which is where you write what you have spent, so say you spent £60 on my present you would put it in that box.
The
Plus is
Income which is if you receive money, whether it be wages, eBay money etc...
Total is the final column, this is where you total up all the Income and Expenditure, but depending on how your using the sheets it can vary.
If you are putting your wages at the top and adding in Direct Debits and all you will obviously take off any expenses and add on any Income, but I use it in such a way that I do not write my wages, I just try to keep a track of everything I spend, so I add the Expenses Column up and then take off any Income which then leaves a total expenditure.
As you can see it can get very confusing and messy, so I have done a small example for you below:
Here is the receipt that is next to my finance sheet ready to go through it and break it down to use in the sheet.
When I see the receipt, this is what I see, I don't look too much at what I bought, I usually put it under a set category.
First thing I do is the
DATE
Next is the
Description
How did I pay for the item?
Is it an
Expense or Income?
How much did I spend?
Total
I carried forward the total on the opposite side of the sheet, which left the total so high.
This is a brief description of how I use my Finance sheets, if you have any questions let me know!
