Should You Use a Spreadsheet to Keep Track of Bills?

Everyone wants to grow up when they’re a kid. If only we had known what awaited us at the finish line: bills. Lots of bills.

Escaping the rat race of monthly payments is nothing more than a pipe-dream for most. In fact, the average person has nearly $40,000 in debt – excluding mortgage payments. It’s hard to keep track of every lease arrangement and dental visit bill and everything in between.

Instead of the sticky notes, you should use a spreadsheet to keep track of bills. If you’re tired of remembering, or if you’re out of sticky notes, here’s why you should give it a try.

Money In, Money Out (MIMO)

Keeping a running total of your expenses can tell you a lot about your situation.

Analyzing where your money is going with a cash-flow system is fundamental to financial independence. Pinpointing which expenditures are the heaviest or most pertinent allows for better spending habits. If you have medical bills that need paying, seeing how much you spent eating out puts things into perspective.

Sometimes it takes a hard look in the mirror to know that there’s a problem. A spreadsheet is the perfect reflective surface.

It’s also a naturally gifted habit-tracker. As you imbue the spreadsheet with more data, it tells more about you. Using it to gauge how much you’ve improved, regressed, or stagnated in spending.

Correcting bad habits in finances is a good step in achieving financial freedom.

A Spreadsheet to Keep Track of Bills Could Save You

Having a spreadsheet of all of your past expenditures makes for great record-keeping. So, throw away the key to your ol’ filing cabinets. They’re relics of yesteryear.

Having a record of expenses through the years can come in handy in case of financial scrutiny. An audit is nothing to scoff at.

Having something to back up your receipts can be a lifesaver. Keeping a tab on everything frees up some brain-space; you won’t have to remember every transaction.

The more granular your spreadsheet the better. That is, the more diversity in your expenditure categories, the easier it is to keep track of everything accurately.

However, this comes with a trade-off. The more detailed a spreadsheet, the harder it is to maintain. The necessary work to keep a detailed record could dissuade some.

Small Business Owners With Bills

Having a business means a lot of expenses. It can be a whirlwind of money, and that makes it near impossible to remember everything.

Keeping track of your bills through a spreadsheet becomes doubly necessary if you’re a business owner.

Fortunately, there’s a lot of avenues to help keep track of business bills. There are different services and third-party teams that can take care of accounting.

Teams like ThePayStubs, QuickBooks, or Intuit can make keeping track of everything a seamless breeze. It’ll even alleviate any stress of having to mark down expenses in a spreadsheet.

Don’t Drown In Bills

Being an adult is a lot of work. Remembering to pay your bills can be mentally exhausting.

Tracking where your money goes can help anyone achieve personal financial success. Use the spreadsheet to keep track of bills to monitor spending habits.

Spreadsheets, if you’re diligent, can also save you during an audit.

If you’re a small business owner, there are services that allow for automatic spreadsheet services. They’ll account for all of your expenses without the hassle of learning Excel.

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