Started tracking my spending again about 3 weeks ago after letting it slide most of the year, and I watched a video that changed how I do the categories part.
The part that stuck: instead of budgeting by category like groceries and transport, she splits it into needs, wants, and future-me money, and only tracks the wants category day to day. Everything else gets set aside automatically the day money comes in.
Tried it for the past 2 weeks and the difference is I actually open the app now instead of avoiding it. Before I was tracking 12 categories and gave up by week 2 every time. Now it’s one number I check.
A few other things from the video:
– round every purchase up to the nearest dollar when you log it, keeps the number honest
– do the weekly check on the same day every week, not whenever you remember
– if a want purchase is under $5, log it and move on
Been doing this between job applications the past few weeks so it’s nice to have one thing that isn’t stressful to look at. Anyone else track spending by fewer categories instead of more.