There are a lot of personal finance terms that might haunt you and make your hairs stick up when you hear them. Heck, the term ‘personal finance’ itself might be enough to scare you away! But there are so many reasons why you shouldn’t be afraid of personal finance. It can be fun, easy, and rewarding! [Read more]

Let’s take a look at this infographic from 1BOG, which explores the factors that influence retail gas prices. Understanding why they change can help us better plan for our finances and expectations for the future. [Read more]

I am loving infographics these days. They are a fun way to convey useful information. Recently, I stumbled on this awesome videoВ infographic from Mint.com! Very cool and dynamic information about how much people spend on food and dining. [Read more]

I found this article absolutely great because its exactly how I planned, not only for our retirement, but for all other major life events in our family. The columns on my spreadsheet include:

1. Kids: Two (2 years apart)
2. New Cars (every 8 years),
3. Planed Home Remodels (Kitchen, bathroom , basement)
4. Expected Major home maintenance (Roofing, siding, painting)
5. College expenses: Me and my wife’s Graduate School, Kid 1 College, В Kid 2 College
6. Job Income(s) – for both my wife and myself with expected salary increases
7. Startup #1 – Starting with some bootstrapping but eventually going to full time
8. Retirement Accounts: 401Ks, IRAs (with expected growth rate)
9. Investment Accounts: Our joint account (also with expected return rate)
10. Retirement (yes, all clear at 55)

I must say, it did not take me 30 minutes to put it together but I got a similar peace of mind as did @everydayfinance when he put his together. By the way, I am also an engineer with an MBA which explains the strange devotion to spreadsheets.

I did this back in 2002 when my wife and I bought our first home. After following our plan for the last 9 years, I have learned a few things.

1. The plan has worked for us well, and it puts me at easy every day. Specially when I can compare our actual savings with those in the plan and we are actually ahead
2. After our first son was born (by the way two years later than planned) the importance of the plan grew exponentially
3. The plan always needs some adjustments. However, making adjustments to the spreadsheet over 3 years after you built it is a total nightmare
4. My wife can not relate to the spreadsheet which makes me the sole manager of it and that just plain sucks – the plan has to be owned by the two of us

So, what I decided to do was to make my first startup a company to solve the exact problem! Except this time, there are noВ spreadsheetsВ or formulas for people to follow. We are making it as easy as drag and drop and so approachable that I expect my wife (and kids) will be able to relate to the plan as much as I do.В Thanks @everydayfinance for reminding me what got me here to begin with, maybe you can be one of our first customers. While we get the product ready, follow @everydayfinance advice and get your spreadsheet ready.