Step 1 of 10 Steps to Financial Wellness
Mastering the skill of tracking your spending is easier said than done. How can you track every dollar you spend when you make multiple purchases each day?
For the first step in your journey to financial wellness, we've outlined a relatively stress-free way to track your spending. This is a crucial first step to achieving financial wellness.
Choose your tool
With the proper resources, tracking your spending can be quick and simple. Depending on your comfort level, one of the following money-tracking techniques will be beneficial for tracking.
Budgeting apps. In the digital age, a budgeting app is the most convenient way to track your spending. Apps like YNAB or EveryDollar allow you to allocate a specific amount of money for each spending category and enable you to track your spending with just a few clicks.
Track yourself. Prefer the manual route? Whether you choose to put pencil to paper or record your spending habits on a spreadsheet, you’ll want to be extra diligent. This will be a daily gig.
Review, review, review
Whether you go the app-assisted or manual route, it’s a good habit to also review your checking account and credit card statements at the end of each month. Not only will this help you double-check your figures, it also makes it easier to spot potentially fraudulent activity that you can fix before it’s too late.
You can choose to go paperless or receive paper statements in the mail.
Next up: Create a Budget
