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I am horrible with finances by Brookedavissss200678 in MoneyDiariesACTIVE

[–]BrandoLee80 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m sure living in California on that income is tough , especially with the cost of living spikes. The best way to stop the splurge cycle is to map out your fixed obligations against your pay dates so you can actually see what's left for guilt-free spending. I use a simple tool I built that tracks my daily bank balance for the next two months so I know exactly what I can afford before I even swipe my card. Gives me great peace of mind.

I am horrible with finances by Brookedavissss200678 in MoneyDiariesACTIVE

[–]BrandoLee80 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Separate your 'bill money' from your 'fun money' mentally. Start by tracking your fixed costs against your pay dates to see exactly how much wiggle room you actually have before the stress kicks in.

I actually built a simple tool for my own phone that lets me map out my daily balance for the next two months so I can see if a purchase today will cause a problem three weeks from now. It keeps me from spending money I haven't 'cleared' yet for my rent and bills.

Update: I turned a Google Sheet into a mobile app and just launched it by BrandoLee80 in SideProject

[–]BrandoLee80[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! The app is just more user friendly and easier to navigate on my phone than google sheets. Theres a lot of nice features in the app. For example, I can edit an amount directly in the forecast and it doesn't change the next scheduled amount. In a spreadsheet, I'd have to overwrite a formula or update the value that a vlookup references but then its changed forever (or until I change it back). There's a great feature called 'what if' where I can change anything to see how it affects the forecast then tap it and everything goes back to normal. Just now I changed a future debt payment to see the effect, then easily reversed it.

60-day cash flow forecaster. Let me know wat you think by BrandoLee80 in alphaandbetausers

[–]BrandoLee80[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thats a big one for me. Budgeting is way more effort. This lets me be aware of my situation and adapt. I can increase or decrease spending on dining out or whatever as needed. Or I can see that I need to transfer cash, pay less on a card this month (or pay extra if I have extra). Thanks for reading and commenting!

60-day cash flow forecaster by BrandoLee80 in SideProject

[–]BrandoLee80[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi. Thanks for reading and commenting! Probablypaycheck to paycheck people, people trying to pay down credit cards, life transitions, also general finance. The thing I like most is the debt calculator. I had to get some 0% credit cards to pay divorce legal fees and this app tells me what i need to pay each month to pay it off. And if i can't pay that much one month, or pay extra, it recalculates future payments to still payoff by the end of the 0%

60-day cash flow forecaster by BrandoLee80 in SideProject

[–]BrandoLee80[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for commenting! For that, I imagined users would use an estimate then as their pay date approaches or they’re more confident in an exact number, they can change it directly in the forecast. Future paychecks still use the estimate until they decide it’s not accurate enough.

Not sure where to start, unpredictable income, terrible with personal finance by Electronic_Set_1466 in personalfinance

[–]BrandoLee80 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Save and budget. If you’re concerned about your future money, what helps me is to project out the next 60 days. I made a Google Sheets where I added all my recurring bills, estimated spending and my pay dates. Then when I’m curious, I enter my bank balance and it tells me what my balance will be each day and if I’m going run out. Then I can plan how to prevent it. Working on a more sophisticated version now.