Ask a Genius! (Part 4)

We are rolling now! More questions! More Answers.

Today's question is:

When I track what we spend on our kids for Christmas, do I include tax for each item? If so, how can I track that without getting bogged down in the details?

Yes, you should include tax when tracking what you have spent from your budget for each child. Otherwise you WILL overspend. If you have a $20 bill to buy gifts, and see 2 items for $9.99 each, you can't buy them both with that $20 bill. Same theory goes for your budget. Tax is money spent on gifts for that person, and should be deducted from their category. BUT if you go and spend $100 at Target and get a ton of gifts, HOW in the world do you split up the receipt?

The best idea would be to setup an Excel Spreadsheet that woudld do all the calculations for you. You could simply enter the price of each toy under that person's column and it would add in the tax for that item alone and subtract it from that person's Christmas Budget. Seems simple enough.

That is just what I have done. CLICK HERE to download a copy of the Excel spreadsheet. You must have MS Excel 97 or greater. Simply enter in your budget, and then the items you buy.

Rules for using my spreadsheet:
1) Don't spend more than you budget
2) Don't buy ANYTHING on credit.

Or else I will find you, come to your house and kick you in the shins. (Harsh I know, but I must be firm on these points). Please note that I have good shin-kickin' boots!