Growing Money

Goal: Reduce the number of accounts being tracked in Money

On the front page of Money, I see a list of all my accounts every time I open it. I remember I started with only a few accounts in 2003. Today, I have 40 accounts actively tracked in Money. I think I have way too many accounts now and it’s time consuming to keep track of all the accounts, even with Money. I will close accounts I don’t need and keep only those I still use.

Here’s a snapshot of my Account List in Money:
Bank Accounts: 6 accounts
Credit Accounts: 12 accounts
Investment Accounts: 12 accounts
Loans and Liabilities: 9 accounts
Asset Accounts: 1 account

Total Accounts: 40 accounts

I plan to consolidate my Account List. I will close bank and credit accounts I no longer use. There are some accounts I use infrequently, but I will still keep them open for now. After analyzing which accounts I can close, I think reduce my Account List by 10 accounts, to a new total of 30 accounts.

Here is a list of accounts I will be closing off in Money by March 1, 2008.
My HSBC
Ing Direct
Capital One Credit Card
Chase Perfect Card
Chase Visa card
Washington Mutual
Old tenant accounts
Old loan accounts.

The new snapshot of my Account List in Money should be:
Bank Accounts: 4 accounts
Credit Accounts: 9 accounts
Investment Accounts: 10 accounts
Loans and Liabilities: 6 accounts
Asset Accounts: 1 account

Total Accounts: 30 accounts

I think managing 30 accounts would be much better than managing 40 hours. This should shave some weight off my accounts list and will save me time when I try to balance my Money accounts.

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My article, New Year Goals for 2008 is posted on Carnival Of Personal Finance #137.

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2008 will be an exciting year. It will be a year full of opportunities and challenges. I see opportunities in picking up good stocks in the stock market, another rental property in the beaten real estate market, finding a new job, getting a higher education, and making more money. All these opportunities will not come to me easily, however. I will have to work towards it and that’s why I am setting goals for this year.

I have a long list of things I want to accomplish for 2008. I have been thinking of pursuing an MBA program for a long time and I think now is the time to do it. It’s now or never. Also, I have been thinking of creating a website for my company so I can get some exposure. It would be nice to have business cards so whenever I meet people, I can say, “Here’s my business card.” The website and my contact info will be listed on the card.

The stock market performance came off to a horrible beginning in January. As I focus more on my career and entrepreneurship, I will have less time to focus on my stock analysis. I plan to build a more stable portfolio that focuses mainly on dividend stocks that shows growth over the long term. Dividend paying stocks tend to do well in bad stock market years.

I will try to update more frequently on the status of my progress. I will use this blog to keep track of my progress. It will be a log of my journey to my financial success. I look forward to a very busy but productive year.

GOALS for this year

Pursue MBA Program
An MBA program will give me better credentials and that will help me more in my career and business opportunities. Also, I may expand my business network.

Start a website for my company
I am self-employed and own an unincorporated business. I plan to create a website and print out some business cards to build a foundation.

Expand my business network
Attend more business events and meet people. I will have business cards handy so people can contact me.

Invest in Dividend Stocks
As I get more involved in my career and business opportunities, I will have less time to research individual stocks. I plan to have a portion of my money invested in stable and high-yielding stocks to create a more stable portfolio.

Post Frequently About My Progress
Write more on the status of my plans and goals. I will use this blog to track my progress, so I can look back and see how much I have accomplish and what I will need to do.

TASKS for this year

Contribute to SEP-IRA
My accountant will come up with the amount for my SEP-IRA contribution for 2007. I will contribute the maximum allowed for income.

Contribute to ROTH-IRA
I like to contribute early, in January, for the current year so I can take advantage of time.

Reconcile accounts in MS Money
My account balances are sort of out-of-whack right now. I will have to sit and reconcile the balances for each account.

Set up Fidelity Money Management Account
This account offers a lot of flexibility and benefits. It is a hybrid of a checking and savings account. Also, Fidelity they will reimburse all ATM fees. I think that make it very easy for me to withdraw money. I plan to open an account by the end of February.

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We use financial software to track our financial accounts and transactions. There are many programs created to serve this purpose. The two most popular ones are Microsoft Money and Intuit’s Quicken. I use Microsoft Money. It came with my computer a long time ago and I have been using it since.

There are also alternatives to these two commercial products if you need something more simple or if don’t want to pay for them. Someone asked me earlier if there was any good free product out there to keep track of financial accounts. I have recently found Finance Explorer from Metalogic Software. I read up on their features and description and the product looks good at a glance. Best of all, it’s free. Below is a screen shot. If I weren’t already using Money, I would give this software a try. Finance Explorer looks simple to use and can do the job of keeping track of my accounts.

Before Microsoft Money, I used Excel to keep track of my financial accounts and transactions. Excel is a great tool if you already have it. The great thing about Excel is that you can customize your spreadsheets. I have always liked to make my own templates to suit my needs. However, if you want to have something to use immediately, there are many templates available on the web.

Personal budget

Personal monthly budget

Monthly and Annual Expenses Planner

Expense reports

Back in the days, I kept a financial diary on paper. I have found old records of my financial bookkeeping. I wrote down the dates of each month and next to each day, the daily expenses. I see dates going back to my childhood, but of course, there are many gaps. I am surprised I have started tracking expenses so young. I guess it’s in me, even as a kid to be organized and keeping track of my financial records.

There are many ways to help you keep track of your financial accounts - pen and paper, Excel, Microsoft Money, Quicken, and Finance Explorer. You can decde on the software or method, but the point is to keep track.

Related Posts:

Financial Bookkeeping - Advantages (Part 2)

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Oil Prices touched $100 a barrel today on the first trading day of the new year. The market tanked today from the weak manufacturing reports. There are many talks about an upcoming recession. The market certainly does not look good right now, and the dollar is still very weak.

I realized most of my losses in my portfolio before the end of last year to offset my gains. My biggest loss for the year was WM. I will have to assess the damage the credit crises has done to my portfolio. And I will put 2007 behind me so I can prepare for a new year. I will do more research and see which stocks and funds I should invest in for 2008. With high oil prices, the upcoming US presidential election, housing, credit issues, this year should be very interesting.

Good luck everyone. Be careful if you are trading in the markets.

Oil Futures Rise to $100 a Barrel

Stocks Drop on Weak Manufacturing Report

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Happy New Year!!

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