Balances Big Picture
You’ve made big progress on financial awareness by looking at your transactions. Now it’s time to see the bigger picture of your financial journey with your Balances sheet. Whether you’re in debt or have savings, your Balances sheet will become a scorecard for your progress.
Perhaps your goal is simply to not spend more than you earn. You can track it on the Balances sheet through steady balances in your primary spending accounts. If you’re paying down debt or saving, you’ll see those account balances improve. If you’ve lost income and are living off emergency funds, you can track your remaining reserves. No matter your situation, your Balances sheet will help you keep score.
This isn’t something to be feared or ashamed of. Seeing a negative net worth or facing a mountain of debt takes courage and that’s a win! If you’ve got a decent emergency fund or are halfway to your goal for the down payment on a home, you’re empowered with that knowledge, and it’s a win!
Example observations
I have more in my retirement fund that I expected. I feel more confident about the future.
Seeing my remodel savings account balance motivates me to spend less on discretionary expenses. I really want to upgrade our kitchen appliances!
Our nest egg fund is looking good. An unexpected event would be manageable.
I’d love to double my retirement contributions over the next year to see that balance grow. I might be able to retire a few years earlier!
Seeing all my debt like this motivates me to prioritize the changes I need to make to reduce that debt.
My education cost me a lot of money, but it was well worth it and my income now will help me pay off that debt in a reasonable amount of time.
Your turn to share!
What’s one observation about your Balances sheet exercise that might inspire someone else to make small changes to improve their situation? What did you learn about the current stage along your financial journey while reviewing your Balances? What do you hope to change about your situation that can be reflected by watching your Balances sheet?
Click “reply” below to share.
Resources & Support
Resources
Here are guides you may find useful as you work through the checklist for this segment:
- Reviewing Balances & Customizing Accounts
- Tracking balances for manual accounts
- What to do if you have trouble adding an account
- What to do if you have trouble refreshing an account
- What to do if you’re missing transactions
- A guide on refreshing and updating in Tiller Money Feeds sheets
Getting support
If you need help with completing any of the checklist items, including addressing account connection issues and errors, please reach out to our support team via the chat tool in the lower right corner of the Console at https://sheets.tillerhq.com/auth/google for the fastest response. The topics here are intended to be motivational, not for troubleshooting, and the team via Chat can help you faster and more effectively than anyone here in the community.