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For retired individuals that budget, I would like to know what system you use to keep track of your income and expenses and how extensive is the budget.
For example do you use the envelope system, computer program or other method to track your income and expenses? Do you budget large expenses but not regular monthly expenses, how do you handle emergency items, and the variable part of your retirement income. For those that rely on investments for part or all of their income it would be helpful to understand how you plan for the ups and downs in annual investment income and the liquidating of your investments.
I sincerely wish I could explain my husband's budget system. He is so totally down to the last penny budget nut. He has a spreadsheet on the computer, but used to do it all by hand.
If I could market his system, I'd end up a very rich person!
I track my income and expenses by entering everything in Quicken. I began doing this a few years before I retired so I could find out where my money was going and how much I would need to retire.
To plan my future income and expenses, I use a spreadsheet that projects my expenses and income many years into the future. Each column is a year; rows are items of income and expenses.
Do you budget large expenses but not regular monthly expenses, how do you handle emergency items, and the variable part of your retirement income. For those that rely on investments for part or all of their income it would be helpful to understand how you plan for the ups and downs in annual investment income and the liquidating of your investments.[/quote]
I track my expenses in Quicken and have a monthly budget in Word. My budget lists all fixed expenses and I allocate what's left to one category -- savings -- to cover unexpected large expenses like car repairs or travel. My budget accounts for periodic payments to the IRS/State, property taxes, car and house insurance, LTC insurance, and this is broken down to 1/12 monthly expenses.
The Quicken tracking tells me what I've spent, and the budget tells me what I can afford. It's not rocket science, but it works for me.
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budget? What's that?
I just charge everything on my credit card and they do a pretty good job of charting it for me. As long as I pay off card every month in full it incurs no interest~ as a matter of fact they pay me some back! Can't beat that~
Also have some money set aside for emergency use and as long as I don't use it I'm fine!
I've tracked nearly every penny for at least 25 years. Quicken and now Moneydance. For retirement I built a spreadsheet tracking each month's income, bills & major categories. Big or sporadic items go in the month they are due. I duplicate the worksheet for subsequent years so I can project out several years. Isave every month but my system just saves the leftover. In my 1st retirement year, I spend way under my budget.
I treat retirement as a business. I create income statements & balance sheets. I have quarterly strategy reviews and annually I create a rolling 3 year and 5 year plan.
Why did you decide to do this in a spreadsheet rather than using the features of Moneydance or Quicken? Was it so much easier in a spreadsheet?
I switched because I don't trust how Quicken calculates and databases. For about 10 months a few years ago, Quicken decided I had about 10 million more than I did. (If only!) I could not find the source of the phantom wealth, then just as suddenly, it disappeared. Not exactly a confidence builder. Moneydance is much more straightforward and uses true double entry bookkeeping. So, yes I'm glad I switched. Plus, updates are free with Moneydance. And it doesn't check in with the Mothership or advertise all the time.
I built the spreadsheet because I didn't trust Quicken and I didn't like the budget reports. I wanted a lot coarser budget so it is easier for me to see whether the plan will work or not. For tracking, the detailed categories are nice so I can see individual expenditures. For planning, the tracking programs give too much information in too much detail to be useful.
Since retirement is radically changing how income is received and spent, I thought I needed a different view. Plus the spreadsheet is easier to do what if's. I could copy a worksheet and change any number of things without affecting the real expenditure data or the other scenarios.
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Budget
) I could not find the source of the phantom wealth, then just as suddenly, it disappeared. Not exactly a confidence builder. Moneydance is much more straightforward and uses true double entry bookkeeping. So, yes I'm glad I switched. Plus, updates are free with Moneydance. And it doesn't check in with the Mothership or advertise all the time. 
