Much we need, including housing, power, food, fuel, and water, costs money. Even in the best of times hundreds of thousands of people have financial troubles each year. Consequences include eviction, foreclosure, car repossession, semistarvation, utility cutoffs, and other issues.

While feds deny inflation, they lie-if today's CPI were calculated as in Carter's term, it'd be in double digits. CPI changes substitute “imputed rent” for real estate prices, assumes we shift to cheap food when good stuff rises, and “adjusts” electronics for “improved performance.”

Policies like enhanced unemployment disincentivizing work giving skilled-labor shortages and wage hikes, massive “stimulus” spending, and low interest rates fueling real estate combine with scarce parts and WuFlu caused shortages all drive up prices.

The Feds admit to “temporary inflation.” This will not be temporary-it will last until sanity returns to government. Sheeple will call for government control, handouts and socialism, making things worse-sane policies may be years (Russia took 70 years), and much economic devastation, away. Inflation aggravates personal financial problems by destroying savings and pensions.

Preps we've discussed in this column, including preps for inflation, require cash unavailable if our finances are uncontrolled.

To control finances, we must budget. Only then can we prep for inflation by stockpiling and investing.

Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statements

We want two financial statements: a balance sheet and a cash flow statement, and use them as basis for budgets and financial plans.

A cash flow statement records all funds that come in or out over time. This may begin with monthly cash flow and expand with actual data or estimates into quarterly or yearly cash flows. Include debt payments and interest charges.

The balance sheet lists assets and liabilities (debts), the difference between assets and debts is your net worth; we need a detailed balance sheet including key terms like interest rates and minimum payments in addition to amounts owed. The balance sheet also must list a realistic resale value for all our assets.

Expense Tracking

Rules of budgets include budgets must fit individuals and allow reasonable spending. Your budget must not be what a guru wrote, or an adviser suggests, but must fit YOU. It must allow for each expense, while setting realistic spending limits and be based on realistic income.

To do this, we must track your income and expenses for one or more months. When budgeting, we use tracked monthly expenses as initial allocations for each category, revise for likely changes, and then review for possible savings.

Computer Expense and Income Tracking

While expenses and income can be tracked by hand, most find a smartphone, tablet or computer useful. While there are planning and budgeting programs available, like Microsoft Money, Quicken, Gnu-Cash and others; a basic spreadsheet suffices. Quicken and similar aid tracking expenses by downloading transactions from banks but automatic classifications are based on names and Walmart may be groceries one day, and TVs the next.

To use a spreadsheet to track expenses: In column 1, list major categories of expenses, each on their own line, with a few blank lines under them; these should include Housing, Fun, Eats, Medical, Improvement, Telecom and Debt Service. In the second column, under each major category, list subcategories each on their own line; for example, Housing may have subcategories Mortgage (or Rent), Taxes, Utilities and Homeowner's Dues. Under Eats, list groceries and restaurants separately. List sub-subcategories like Gas, Water, Electric and Garbage in the third column under the associated category line (Utilities). Then, label column 4 top with a month, and enter dollar amounts of each expense that month under the appropriate subcategory-there may be multiple payments in each, ideally on separate lines. In column 5, in an otherwise-blank line at the end of each category, subcategory, or sub-subcategory, total the expenses in column 4 (@SUM), and total all totals with another sum.

Carry a notebook and write down and categorize cash $ spent, do the same with checkbooks-checkbooks come with carbons or ledgers for this purpose. Similarly, save receipts to track credit and debit card charges.

Since things like car insurance and property tax are not paid monthly, get payments expected and month due, then list a monthly average for each in the spreadsheet.

Get paystubs or statements from each income source, then track these in another spreadsheet section listing after-tax and mandatory deductions monthly or quarterly income.

Whether done by hand or computer, the income, deductions, and tracked expenses form your personal “cash flow statement.” The more detailed the classifications, the more easily and realistically you can budget.

WuFlu

Counts

June 20, 2021, 10 p.m. 178,433,377 infected (3,864,702 dead). U.S. 33,541,889 (601,826 dead); India > 29.88 million, Brazil > 17.9 million. In U.S., California > 3.81 million, and Texas > 2.98 million. Colorado 553,868 cases (6,886 dead). Fremont County 6,521 (state) with 109 “variants of concern,” county shows 6,512, 3,186 community cases-3,266 in prisons, 4 in hospitals, 63 dead, 12,521 vaccines administered. Neighbors Chaffee 1,753, Custer 221, El Paso 72,694, Park 828 Pueblo 19,495, and Teller 1,909.