I apologize for the technical difficulties that you might have experienced with the site during January.  I am still learning how to run a blog and a website and got too carried away with Wordpress plugins.  I installed one too many and broke the site.  I had the choice to restore from backup and eliminate which plugin actually caused the problem or start all over with a more stable platform that is managed by a third party company.  I decided to go with a third party webhost to make the website maintenance easier so that I could concentrate on creating more content for Liberty Budget.com.

    After using the Liberty Budget spreadsheet for a while now, I decided to add some new time frequencies to the current list.  The new ones include the following:

Hourly (40 hour work week)
Semi-Monthly (2x per month)
2, 3, 5, & 7 Years (short-term planning)
10, 20, 30, 50, & 70 Years (long-term planning)

These new time frequencies will give you more choices when budgeting.  I am always interested in hearing what features you need to see in the Liberty Budget.  Just leave a comment and I will be glad to incorporate your suggestion into the Liberty Budget spreadsheet. 

    I recommend using the Liberty Budget, because I use it.  It's that simple.  I created the Liberty Budget to make budgeting easier for myself, and I work toward making the spreadsheet easy to use for anyone.  My goal is to make a spreadsheet that has color coded cells that allow anyone to enter their specific budget details without learning a lot about spreadsheet formulas and formatting.  I greatly welcome any comments about improving the simplicity and ease-of-use of the spreadsheet.  The reason I created the spreadsheet was to gain the simplicity of a paper and pencil budget combined with the power and flexibility of digital technology.  Even though I had a traditional budget, many expenses seemed to come out of nowhere and punch me in the face.  Just when I had tightened my financial belt enough to eliminate most discretionary spending and pay off a credit card, an unexpected and expensive car or house repair would set me back, forcing me to overspend again.

    The first debt score that most of us are familiar with is the big debt score (debt liability).  This big debt monster is the balance on all of your accrued tax liabilities, bank fees and penalties, credit card balances and penalties, loans, and mortgages.  This number is so big that loans are marketed with payment terms that require 1/3 up to 1/2 of total yearly income for 1/2 to 3/4 of our natural lives.  The big debt score is the easiest score to calculate because creditors are always sending statements with balances.  Anyone with a calculator, all their credit statements, and 30 minutes can calculate their big debt score.

    The second debt score that's more difficult to calculate is the little debt score (deficit spending).  This score is the little debt gremlin that shows up at random times throughout the year and takes some of your well earned money and gives it to the big debt monster.