​IS IT TIME TO DO A QUARTERLY LIFE REPORT? By Pennie Hunt

I am not a numbers person. I have written many times about how words fascinate me, but I find numbers less interesting. Yet, there is one thing I do that is totally number based. I create a quarterly report of my husband and my finances.

I have done this for years. Over time I have honed a concise and easy-to-understand spreadsheet. Every three months I collect all the statements for any bank accounts and investments, as well as the current value of our home, vehicles, and any other large assets. After inputting all the information, we have a report that reflects our financial life situation.

I have become known as the family secretary. I make sure all bills are paid and keep on top of all things financial. That sounds like a lot of work, but it isn’t as difficult as it used to be.

The world of technology has changed the way this is all done. We can set up most of our financial transactions through autopay or with a tap on our phones.  I remember the days of balancing a checkbook, writing out checks, and mailing payments for bills or driving to the utility companies to pay them in person.

Now, I log into my accounts to verify that the few checks I write are accounted for correctly, and I pay attention to any incoming funds that we are expecting. All of this is simpler than the tedious way I was taught in 9th-grade business class. I will admit that at the time I thought it was so grown up to practice signing my name elegantly at the bottom of the pretend checks in class.

The quarterly report takes me back to that time of writing things down and tracking money. It is fascinating to watch the total net worth of our assets fluctuate. As we have all seen large swings in interest rates and the stock market, there have been totals that were less than I’d like and totals that made me smile.

You may be wondering why I do this if I am not a numbers person. I do it because uncertainty makes me uncomfortable. I like to understand exactly where we are in our spending and our income. I like to feel safe and secure. I like to feel in control by knowing if we need to change the way we are spending or saving. The point of the quarterly report is to know. To know the exact number on an exact day and to compare it to the last report and to a year ago. It is a picture of our life. A click in time that is accurate. It is certainty.

You have probably heard the saying - you can’t manage what you don’t measure. These reports measure our finances so we can manage them. Many things in life can be tracked in the same way. Our health, our exercise, our weight. What about measuring our relationships, our friendships, our time, and our efforts in life? What if on a regular basis we took a good look at our lifestyle and how we are living? What if we measured how kind we are? How friendly we are. How helpful we are. How giving we are. How loving we are.

These kinds of honest assessments of ourselves may be eye-opening and allow us the opportunity to improve. To be certain that we are being the person we want to be. To be comfortable with who we are. Maybe it is time for all of us to do a quarterly life report.
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                                                    Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                           You can’t manage what you don’t measure.
​                                               Start measuring your life!
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​YOUR TURN...        
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