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Beating the W-2 Blues
8 (Surprisingly Painless) Ways to Achieve Financial Sanity This Year
Before you add it up, arrange your purchases by category.
McCurdy has made your job easier by providing a nifty Cash Flow Statement form in her book and on her Web site, how-much-is-enough.com. The form has columns for you and your spouse and it covers pretty much everything. It also reminds you about annual expenditures like property tax, holiday gifts, vacations and so forth; you just divide the annual amount by 12 and enter the figure for the month. Now, calculate your total expenses and subtract them from your monthly income.
If it turns out you are living within your means but still having trouble saving, the Cash Flow Statement form will show you where it's hiding. If you're spending more than you're earning – a very common situation, by the way – it will tell you why. "Basically, the Cash Flow Statement will show where the money needs to go versus where it's going now," McCurdy says. "Knowledge is power."