When I say tracker, I’m talking about being a great money tracker and not being like Wolverine. Most people have a hard time tracking where all their money is going and it just leaves me scratching my head as to why this mistake happens over and over and over. The biggest culprit of this would be young millennials and first term Airman.
Good money habits can often times get lost in the sea of likes, tweets, post, and hashtags. Additionally, with the popularity of credit cards and apple pay, you can buy anything within seconds. With that said, there are plenty of things you can do to fight off the distractions and live the good fight of getting freedom…financial freedom.
The line I always hear is “I’m broke” or “I can’t afford that now because I have no money.” The problem with those statement is that it’s only partially true. The reason why most people are broke is because people just don’t know where all their money is going.
Personally, if I am sacrificing my time grinding away prime years of my life at work just to spend that money on garbage, I would care very much want to know where my money is going…all the way down to the penny.
Today is the day to care.
It’s not about how much you make, it is how much you spend and the gap between.
Fall in love with the gap.
Track every penny.
Two apps I’ve used have greatly improved my money tracking abilities if you are the tech savvy type.
Mint and Personal Capital.
• Mint: Gives a good snapshot of your finances including your retirement.
• Personal Capital: Also provides a good snapshot of all your finances similar to mint but I like this 10 times more because of the detail it provides for the user.
These two apps are free and takes minimal time for set up. Once everything is up and running, you can see every transaction and the progression of all your investments. It really doesn’t get any easier than that. You can even set a budget up on Mint for each expense so you know when you are getting close to going over. Both are very good at what they do and I highly recommend them.
For someone who wants to do it a little more old school, I would suggest Microsoft Excel and track it on your computer.
For the ancient types, I would go the ole shoe box route. No apps needed. Just find a shoebox and keep all your receipts inside until the end of the month. If that seems too long, I would aim for a weekly budget check to stay on track.
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