Monthly Money Check In

The new year is great motivation to get your finances in order and set goals for the upcoming year. I am sharing the spreadsheet that my husband and I use to keep track of  our investments each month.  It's a pretty simple concept but I find it helpful to understand where you sit financially each month so that you can make the best decisions around spending. 

	INVESTMENTS	Jan-15		Feb-15		Mar-15
SHORT TERM	Capital One 360	1000.25		750	-250.25	813.94	63.94
MID TERM	Fidelity	1500		1500	0	1575	75
LONG TERM	401k	10752.65		10250.89	-501.76	10498.75	247.86
COLLEGE	NYS 529	750		765.78	15.78	783.25	17.47
	TOTAL	14002.9		13266.67		13670.94
	SHORT TERM	1000.25	7%	750	6%	813.94	6%
	MID TERM	1500	11%	1500	11%	1575	12%
	LONG TERM	10752.65	77%	10250.89	77%	10498.75	77%
	COLLEGE	750	5%	765.78	6%	783.25	6%

We have been tracking our investments for four years now and it is really interesting to see our savings patterns!!



Take some time to download the monthly finance document and follow the instructions below.

Download Spreadsheet Here

- Select investment term with the drop box on the far left of the worksheet (more information on term options below)

- Place investment name under the investment column; replace the current text of [Insert Investment]

- Input the current date along the top row

- Input each fund value in the row associated with that fund

	INVESTMENTS	DATE
SHORT TERM	[Insert Investment]	100
MID TERM	[Insert Investment]	100
LONG TERM	[Insert Investment]	100
COLLEGE	[Insert Investment]	100

Once you have input your data the following calculations will occur.

- After two months of data has been input the worksheet will calculate the difference in each investment from the previous month.  This is shown in the column on the far right in the example below.

	INVESTMENTS	DATE		DATE
SHORT TERM	Capital One 360	100		125	25
MID TERM	Fidelity	100		125	25
LONG TERM	Roth IRA	100		125	25
COLLEGE	UGMA	100		125	25

- The color coded rows calculate your investments per term selection as well as the percentage that each term is of your total savings

SHORT TERM	200	40%
MID TERM	100	20%
LONG TERM	100	20%
COLLEGE	100	20%

TERM LENGTH-

We break out our investments by short term, mid term and long term spending but you don't necessary need to do this.

                Short Term- Funds that you plan on utilizing in the next 5 years or so.  For us it is money we set aside for large expenses that might pop up (car issues, high credit card bill, etc.)

                Mid Term- Funds that you plan on utilizing in the next 10+ years.  For us this is large home renovations, wedding savings and some emergency fund.

                Long Term- Retirement savings (401k, Roth IRA, etc.)

                College Fund- Money being set aside for tuition payments as well as room and board 

Format Note: If you want to remove excess cells all you need to do is unprotect the sheet, delete the rows and then protect the sheet again.

Happy Tracking!!