Live and die by the spreadsheet

[bill_schubert]

I keep track of cash flow and net worth on a fairly simple spreadsheet. Since I've only got two checking accounts and one credit card account it is pretty easy to do. But I fiddle with the format occasionally and the month of April was a fiddle too far. I basically ended up with my mortgage payment listed twice which meant we lost about $1500 in cash flow in one month. It was a weird month anyway what with uninsured dental bills and inflation but that was a lot. I panicked a bit and red flagged any further spending for both Dana and me (she is great about that... I only have to say the word and she stops spending until I say it is OK). As sometimes happens I started looking at work opportunities and at advancing the beginning of her social security payments.

Then I found the error. Amazing what happens when you remove that second charge from the cash flow. Looks like we were actually almost $700 cash positive. The net worth went down if you don't include our house as I had to drain some for dental work.

BUT, then there is the house. We bought our house for about $280000 four years ago. I've refinanced it twice so our payments are incredibly low. And the Austin market is insane so now not even Mattea Roach can afford it.  So weird.

Anyway, I'm breathing better and will be working to keep that positive cash flow going.

Comments

[thestainlesssteelrat]

I have a similar spreadsheet, and have made similar mistakes rarely. I empathise, brown trouser moment!

[bill_schubert]

Yeah. The prospect of actually having to work again is terrifying!!

[susandennis]

spread sheet panic - it's a real thing. whew

[msconduct]

Phew! I do the accounts for our business and I'm terrible at it, so I have to work really hard at triple-checking everything and even then I make mistakes, so I'm well familiar with that icy cold feeling. I'm glad yours was in the right direction!

[bill_schubert]

I learned a lot in a dozen years of Quickbooks and spreadsheets while I was running my business. One thing was a feeling for what is within logical parameters. I had a couple of rules of thumb that I could go by in our business that were honed over the years and fairly accurate. How much gross daily receipts would keep us safe, that kind of thing.

This didn't feel right as we had some cash still. But it was a weird month. My process, as it was with my business, was to walk away and come back later. In this case I left it for two days and came back, started a review and found the error in a few minutes.

It is a waste that I no longer run a business, or am involved in one. I didn't start until I was 53 so I learned everything too late to still be using it. C'est live.

[msconduct]

Yes, it's a shame to waste all that expertise. Perhaps you could have a little gig consulting to small businesses.