Ok, i’m fucking brutal with accounting for my spending. I feel I really need to get on top of this. Everytime I do I fall off. I say the reason is I suck at it. That being said what does everyone use keeping track of their finances, software, spread sheet etc.
And if it’s simple put up a link. I don’t have a complicated financial situation, so I just need to keep track of what I make and what I spend it on.
Tnx peeps.
accounting isn’t simple
I’m not asking for an accountant, if I wanted that I would’ve went to A-Nation…y’know because we can be pros at anything we read about on the net. I just simply want an easy way to be more aware of where my money is going and to have a record of it.
I use quicken to track everything right down to the pennies. I pretty much have the same bills and contributions from month to month. Once I’ve seen to those I give myself $1000-1500 to play with and the rest goes into savings. As long as I meet my financial goals and obligations then I don’t really fret over my monthly play money.
Overall I really like Quicken. I’ve got it set up to automatically download all my recent transactions from ALL of my accounts. 401k, credit cards, student loans, car note, checking and savings, everything. Places I normally shop are automatically tagged and cataloged. Albertsons is listed under groceries. The two comic shops are listed under geekness. Expenses that are a little more atypical are easily categorized. At any time I can look up ans see how much money was spent on comic books, guns, food, bars, cars, etc…
There is an app for that.
I kid you not, there is.
Have you tried a simple ledger? Money in money out?
Are you trying to keep track of trivial things? Like every penny you spend or just major bills? I don’t understand how one could not know where their money is going? Like Houstonguy said, simple ledger if need be.
your online banking doesn’t itemize every fucking thing??
Spreadsheet.
Opening Balance + Inflows - Outflows = Closing Balance
Forecast your typical direct debits, forecast what your weekly/monthly budgets are on luxuries and necessities, etc. Create a conservative budget of outflows, and try to come under budget each time (which should be easy but not too easy).
When you have weekly goals, you become more conscious on the smaller things. Those smaller things add up and make a big difference long term.