Money Management

'Money Management' 'Household Budget' 'Expenses' 'Bills' 'Savings'... all these terms are troubling for me. I am not really the very 'spend your money carefully' kind of person. Until now, I and my husband would spend more and save almost nothing. It was just the two of us. We had already bought our house and that was the biggest saving that we did. Pretty much satisfied with it. I mean, who buys a house at 26 and that too in Bombay. How we bought it, makes a good story for another blog post, so more on that later.


But now that I am a mother, I have an added sense of responsibility . I have to save for my child, to make sure he gets a secured future. 


So to keep a track of our expenses and make sure we save something at the end of the month after investing, I came up with this excel sheet tracker. I intend to update it every week, so that would be about 4to5 times a month, which I think is fair. This will make my life so much easier.


The intention of making this tracker is not only to track the expense but to identify any 'unnecessary' spend and try to curb it the next time.


So here is the tracker for you all. Use it if it suits your lifestyle, amend it. Also, if you have any suggestions for changes or additions, please let me know.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjfGqaNj_aLddDh0X0NOMWlMLXlwcUM4RFVaTnA4X1E#gid=0

Please note: there are four categories where we could specify the expense weekly as you scroll down and i have added a formula where the weekly expense will be added in the main table.

Perception

I have received the below mail many a times before as well, however, every time it makes me think. Are we really missing out on the beauty around us. The small moments that make life and fill us with Joy. 


Today we are being bombarded by Brands and Media (I am a victim myself), have we stopped realizing and paying attention to whats available at no cost around. Things to ponder...

Perception

THE SITUATION

In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.


About 4 minutes later:


The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.


At 6 minutes:


A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.


At 10 minutes:
 A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.


At 45 minutes:


The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.


No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?


One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . ..

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?