6 ways to track your expenses in minutes is a great article about how to track your expenses in 6 simple steps so that it becomes a 15 minute a month task. I’m not so sure on the claim about it only being 15 MINUTES a month, but.. then again I’m a bit of a freak because I love budgeting and Excel.
Moving along………
1. Use cash as little as possible because you don’t get an automatic paper trail of where you spent your money; use your credit or debit card instead. If you use your credit card wisely and always pay off the full amount by the due date, then using your credit card will avoid debit card charges. Otherwise, use your debit card. The small additional fee will be worth it if it helps you track your expenses.
FB: OR, use cash but write down every expense. I’m not sure about using a credit or debit card instead only because the statements don’t give you some real financial details like exactly WHAT you bought at Jacob or Winners..
That’s why I like writing down ALL of my expenses either in cash, credit card, debit card, whatever, and making detailed notes about what I purchased. Not so sure about this tip.
2. Have fewer accounts. The fewer places you have to get your financial transactions from, the easier this process becomes.
FB: I concur with this one. Although I do admit to having 4 bank accounts (am trying to pare down! Promise! But those darn automatic debiting things that I forget about always get me.)
3. Opt for the statement option with cancelled cheques on your account. This provides more information than a passbook.
FB: Who writes cheques any more?… Who wrote this article anyway?
4. Pay your expenses consistently the same way. It’s easier to track how much you spend on food for the month, for example, if you always pay for your groceries with the same bank card.
FB: I agree with this one. It made it easier for me to use only one card for a certain purpose, and my other credit card for another, so I could compare the balances at a quick glance and see how bad I was that month.
5. Take advantage of online technology, such as paying bills. This allows you to easily retrieve your information.
FB: Am so on board with this!!!! I can’t live without paying bills online now.
6. Use accounting software, such as Quicken. You can download your financial transactions into the software. With most of your entries, all that’s left to do is click and confirm the category, such as food. Print and read the report each month.
FB: Yes but software isn’t perfect….. to be honest, the best thing is just to have a note book or an Excel sheet with the following:
- Date
- Amount
- Store
- Budget Category
- NotesI do this in Excel so I can use Data Filter and sort it by Date, Store or Budget Category to assess the damage I did in a certain store like Shoppers Drug Mart
Then at the end of the month, tally it up in each Budget Category and see how well you did with what you prescribed/set out to do
Read the entire article here.
- Random thoughts
- ING Banking in the States – Info please!
- Company Expenses and your methods to handle it
- FB’s Financial Goals for 2008
- RFID Credit Cards may be convenient.. but for who?
Meg from The Bargain Queens & All About Appearances
on Jan 6th, 2008
@ 1:47 AM:
My AmEx account was too good at showing me how much I was spending and where! Now I’m using my debit cards a little (I have one “personal” and one “joint”) but hardly ever do I use cash. The good news, is that I think that I have managed to cut down on spending.
To be honest, I probably will go back to using a credit card once things are under control. I appreciate the extra protections I get when using the AmEx.
Fabulously Broke in the City
on Jan 6th, 2008
@ 8:45 AM:
Meg: I like credit cards too, only for the points/convenience and I don’t forget what I spent it on. I’m putting a ban on using it this month though, just to “clear” the balances down to $0 and re-calibrate and reconcile everything for the new year before spending again.
Andrea
on Jan 9th, 2008
@ 1:42 PM:
What you said to Meg is right on. I use credit cards instead of cash because of the points but make it a point to either pay that charge as soon as I get home from making it (huzzah for online banking), or within a week. I too like the paper trail.
Like you, I document all credit card purchases in Excel. I have a column in which I list the purchase date, and another one in which I list when it was posted online to the account. It works like an online version of a bank book. Once a month I reconcile by downloading the online statement to another tab in that spreadsheet.
Every so often I need to “re-calibrate” like you.
Fabulously Broke in the City
on Jan 10th, 2008
@ 12:55 PM:
Andrea: Great minds think alike
I find that cash slips through my hands, and cash for me, is “mad money”… as in I don’t track it or care once it’s out of my bank account. (bad FB!)
And I do exactly the same thing in Excel. Wow
Hey, if you read this comment and are willing to share, I’d love to see your budget template just to get an idea of how others do it… Maybe I can improve on mine.
You can email me at: brokeinthecity at gmail dot com
Andrea
on Jan 10th, 2008
@ 6:17 PM:
“Budget template”? I have no budget template. Perhaps I should. Inspired by a meeting with a financial planner I downloaded my Visa statements for November and December last week to see if my actual expenditures were close to what I guessed. Boy was I off. I realized where my weaknesses are though, and I acknowledge that I would be spending a lot more money if I had a car or a bus pass (I walk to work) and if I wasn’t frugal. Years of living low income got me accustomed to spending little. I guess now my “I can afford it now” moments are more frequent than I thought.
Maybe I need a budget template. I envision adding a column for purchase category to the spreadsheet and keeping track of how much I’m spending in that category, even better if I can set up Excel to do the calculation by category for me. This might require another tab and copy/paste of data from the main spreadsheet to the category tally. Then, no matter where I am in the month I will see how much I’ve spent so far at Shopper’s Drug Mart, which deserves a category of its own.
(Shiny, pretty products + Bonus Optimum points = trouble.)
…Now that I’ve had that idea I have to keep this post starred in Google Reader, as it was previously, so I don’t forget the idea.
Fabulously Broke in the City
on Jan 10th, 2008
@ 8:46 PM:
Andrea: *gasp* you and I are budget twins.. LOL
That’s what I did with MY budget!
I put a column with the store “Shoppers Drug Mart” and when I do data filter on it, I can sort all my purchases do a sum of exactly how much I spent there :\ Plus read my notes in another column so I know WHAT I spent it on.
Surprisingly, I spent more at Starbucks
……. so I know where my weakness is, and I’m gonna feed it (a bit).. so it doesn’t go overboard.
Thought of Earning Optimum Points = The Devil Incarnate
Andrea
on Jan 25th, 2008
@ 2:52 PM:
What’s also funny is that at first I thought you were someone I know, but that person remains in their home base more often, or so I think, and as far as I know she’s been single for awhile.
(Although you could be her, and if you are they you know who I am by my name and this comment. Confirmation not required either way, and if I ever discuss this blog with anyone I wouldn’t say that I have a guess about your identity.)
P.S. Bonus Optimum Points this weekend, for only $20+!
Fabulously Broke in the City
on Jan 27th, 2008
@ 9:23 AM:
Andrea: I’d say it was me.. except all my friends know I NEVER remain in my home city most of the time and I’ve always been attached to someone
at the hip 
I saw that too! $20 this weekend, I’m thinking of buying a moisturizer for my ridiculously flaky skin