conversation: User (crossbeats): "I keep my income, expenses, and bills on an Excel spreadsheet, and try to go over my monthly budget every week, on my payday. I tweak it for anything I've bought in the last week that wasn't already accounted for (to make sure my spreadsheet is up to date), go back over expenses for that coming week, and pay as many bills early as I can. Then a week or two before the end of the month, I put together my budget for the next month, estimating variable bills based on what I paid the previous month.\n\nSince starting to use a budget I'm finding myself FAR more relaxed about my financial situation than I was before. I just don't want to go TOO overboard and end up obsessed with checking, and calculating, and playing "what if" with myself.\n\nSo how often do you check your budget? What's the method to your budgeting madness?"
  Self: "I only check once a year, although I'll check my account balances during the year to make sure everything is ok. In the first week of the year I do an analysis of my debit card, bank account and credit card statements (which covers 99.5% of my expenses) and create a "Financial Report" for the year, which includes an outlook and budget for the next year."
  