Apr 18, 2013

Dollars and Sense-1

"If it don't make dollas, it dont make sense" -Bushwick Bill/ The Geto Boys

 Ok, so I'm going on a path of more financial stability and better knowledge of how to make money, save it, and get out of debt. Like many folks, I went to art school (among many schools formal/informal) and I have debt. Not only that, I'm a freelancer so sometimes if I'm not teaching it can be hard to save and plan with a paying schedule that is up and down.

 Financial literacy is a skill,a razor sharp sword that can arm you against poverty or leave you defenseless if you're not literate in its language. I have a tiny working knowledge of it. No one in my family taught me to save money or necessarily how to do it. They all just stressed "work hard, study hard" (Korean grandmother voice*. And to be quite honest, there's nothing wrong with working to maintain and provide. My grandparents worked well past retirement age, like so many of our relatives now.

But at a certain point you just want to break the cycle of being broke right? Not to say I don't want future generations of my family to work, but to say I want to learn more about how to keep the wealth I make and pass it on. When I work it is selling my "time" so I'd like to have more to show for it at the end of the year. And for you lefties I'll probably touch on the evils of Capitalism. Later. Now though, instead of making excuses I will be looking for answers and asking a lot of dumb questions. Like this one:

Why do people use excel to manage their money? What is managing money? And How do you do it with Excel?
"I use a template that was made on excel. Can't remember where i got it. Only useful cuz it adds stuff up. It was helpful for me to keep track of all my expenses for a few months to see where i am spending and where need to cut back". -Sun (Homie/Mom/Do-er)
Heres a screen shot of my Excel"practice". Yes, practice.
 Peep this video I watched .
There's formulas to this shit god(Ghostface killah voice)!


If you're scratching you head, Excel is a program that allows you to make organized spreads of numbers, items, and other things. It comes with Microsoft Office and if you are using a library computer, they usually have it under Microsoft office.











More on this and the path to becoming a man coming soon. Follow me on this nerdy quest, leave comments, suggestions, and questions.

2 comments:

Nadia W said...

Hey Rob! Glad to see you're still active with your blog! Such an important topic. I've found www.mint.com to be super helpful for anyone who needs a push keeping track of expenses +financial goals (particularly if time is an issue).

Un abrazo!

Robert Trujillo/Tres said...

Gracias Nadia, como van las cositas en TNS? The blog is like exercise for me, to stay in shape and hold myself accountable, you know? Saludos desde Califas