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1-Page Summary of Watchers

What Can You Afford to Spend?

People are spending more than they’re saving, which is bad for their finances. If you want to control your finances better, it’s important to know how much money you have left over after paying all the necessary bills. This will help determine what “discretionary” expenses you can afford each day. In order to practice financial planning and control in a way that’s similar to the popular Weight Watchers diet system, you should always be able to answer the question: How much money do I really have available today?

People are often unaware of the money they spend on minor, everyday expenses. For example, if you buy a $5 drink every day at a bar for the entire year, that comes out to about $1,825 in one year. If you can cut down on these types of expenses and others like them, you’ll have more money for important things in life. Research shows that most people become happier when they know what their income is and what their major expenses are; it gives them control over their finances.

To start the Wealth Watchers program, gather your financial data and store it in one place. Review your bank statements to see where you spend money. Check your pay stubs to determine how much money you make after taxes and deductions. Then create a monthly budget that includes these figures:

• Monthly net income – All money you earn or receive minus any gifts.

Monthly fixed expenses – The standard monthly bills such as your mortgage, tuition for your children, and health insurance.

• Monthly fixed expenses – Things like rent, utilities, and insurance that don’t change much. Monthly variable expenses – Such as groceries or gas that can fluctuate depending on your needs. These two types of expenses are the biggest drains on your income. Subtract these from your income to get a monthly disposable income—the amount you have left over each month after paying for necessities. Multiply this number by 12 to get an annual discretionary income and divide it by 365 days in a year to figure out how much money you’ll have if you spend less than this amount every day (which is what we’re doing). This concept is called “The Power of 365” because if you cut unnecessary spending daily, then at the end of the year you will have accumulated quite a bit more money than if you had not been cutting back daily. Set financial goals such as getting out of debt or taking that vacation. Tell someone about them so they can hold you accountable!

List All Discretionary Expenses

You need to start a journal of your spending. This will help you realize where you’re overspending, and it’ll give you an opportunity to analyze what’s going on with your money. You should keep track of all the purchases that aren’t fixed or semi-fixed expenses – things like groceries, gas, restaurants, etc. If this is something you do with someone else (like your spouse), make sure they do it as well so that neither person has any idea about how much the other spends. By doing this regularly, each of you can see how much the other person spends and have a better understanding for why he/she does it. The tallies in which this information is recorded are:

• “Daily total” – Add all your nonfixed or nonsemifixed daily expenditures. * “Weekly total” – Add each week’s spending and divide by seven for a daily average. * “Monthly total” – Tally your month’s expenditures. Create an average daily total by dividing the sum by the number of days in the month. * “Quarterly total” – Add these monthly totals to arrive at a quarterly grand total, then divide that amount by four weeks (or however many months there are in that quarter) to get an average per week/month/quarter. Your weekly, monthly and quarterly averages will show whether you’ve followed your budget. Next to each date in your journal, place a plus sign on any day when you save money and a minus sign when you exceed your budget. Your journal will help you control spending, which is one of the main elements of budgeting. A few tips: Do not enter gift cards or cash gifts into this record; circle reimbursable expenses so that they don’t slip past; credit returns as soon as possible after receiving them ; keep this record with whatever cash you have on hand ; always carry it with you ; do not include purchases made using debit or credit cards; if paid bills are due on certain dates but aren’t paid until later, still count those dates toward whichever period they belong (for example, if rent is due every 30 days but isn’t actually paid until 31 days later, count both 30-day periods toward “monthly”).