Keep track of daily expenses how to#

Recording your expenses right after you make them can help you become more conscious of your spending decisions. How many times have you gone to a restaurant and paid for a meal with only a cursory glance at the bill? Think about the last time you used your credit card to pay for something online, do you remember exactly how much money you spent and on what? One side-effect that comes with diligently recording your expenses is that you’ll be more present when you’re making your actual transactions. Think about it, how many times have you found yourself staring at the numbers in your bank account at the end of the month and wondering where it all went? 1) Be present during transactions Knowing where your money is going each month, above all else, is THE ESSENTIAL starting point for managing your money better. Why start your personal finance journey by tracking your expenses and income? In the Google Sheet template, I’ve created a tab to track income from different sources and how much you’re saving, investing and putting aside from your income every month. If you want to use my Google Sheet as a template for your monthly expense tracking, you can subscribe below to get it for free. In my case, I transfer my expenses in each category to a Google Sheet at the end of every month. Some expense tracking apps already compile your expenses in fancy graphs and charts for you, so it won’t take you long to review your spending. Monthly reviews are where you’ll learn more about yourself and your spending patterns. Take about 30 minutes each month to review your expenses. The fewer obstacles you put between you and the habit (expense tracking) you’re trying to form, the easier it is to form that habit. Whatever method you choose, make sure it’s easy and convenient for you to record your expenses. And both you and your partner/best friend are upping your personal finance game together.

This way, you have someone to help you stay accountable. You can rope in your best friend or your partner and turn expense tracking into a group effort. If it’s a recurring problem, find creative ways to help you stay on track. This app hasn’t been updated since 2013Īt first, you might keep forgetting to record your spending, especially if you’ve never done it before. Personally, I use an expense tracker app on my phone since 2013. If you’re old school, you can jot your expenses down in a Buku 555. Or, you can set a reminder on your phone to record your expenses into an Excel sheet at the end of your day. You can use an expense tracking app and add your expenses as you spend money throughout the day. If you want to get serious about your money, you need to know what you’re spending your money on. Get into the habit of recording down all the expenses you make in a day on food, rent, transportation, clothing, hobbies, entertainment and so on.

Here’s how you can start tracking your expenses. Once you’ve developed the habit of expense tracking, the rest will fall in place later. You don’t need to do anything else besides tracking your spending when you first embark on your financial journey.

Keep track of daily expenses how to#

If you don’t know how to start, I suggest starting small and living by these 3 words: Yet, the first hurdle people face on their financial journey is the very act of getting started.Ĭonfronting your financial reality for the first time can feel intimidating but just like pulling off a band-aid, the quicker you do it, the less pain you’ll feel in the future. We all want to know how to manage our money well.