Tracking expenses

[rockyj]

We think one of the advantages of deep LBYM living is that highly accurate tracking of the smallest bars on your personal spending Pareto chart becomes meaningless, ... Therefore we keep track of items paid by CC, direct deduction or check (because there is little effort involved) but are more than content to let small cash purchases fall into a single misc bucket.

+1

For a couple of years, a few years back, we tried to track *everything* to the penny. We just put everything manually in a spreadsheet, so it was a big pain. We were already pretty well aware of significant recurring expenses as well as any individual expenses of consequence. A frugal lifestyle doesn't present that much opportunity for unexpected day-to-day leaks. We might have had a couple of surprises, but nothing we'd change our behavior over.

Now we just use the one bank statement (through which everything else ultimately runs) to come up with an accurate annual figure. That plus the pay stub (for withheld items that don't make it into the bank) gets us close enough for estimating total household expenses that will need to be covered in retirement.

The detailed process was perhaps instructive and reassuring, but in our case not very helpful for a continuing effort.

 

[Independent]

We are pretty heavy cash users.

I grab receipts and put them in my wallet, enter them in a Quicken cash account a couple times a week, and compare the Quicken balance to cash in my wallet.
If there is a meaningful differential, I enter a transaction labeled "Missed" to catch up.
The Missed is probably about 5% of the total transactions.

My wife uses the same system, but with paper and pencil.

 

[dmdunca44]

We use very little cash. I keep a $20 bill in each vehicle and I withdrew $20 last month from the ATM. I just enter the ATM withdrawals as "misc" in our budgeting software.

Small purchases go on our debit card to satisfy the 12 debits/mo requirement to get the 2.5% interest our credit union offers.

Nearly everything else goes on a rewards cc which is automatically paid off in full each month.

I use YNAB (You Need A Budget) to track income and outgo. It has a handy iphone app which allows me to enter transactions on the fly.

 

[obgyn65]

I download all my debits from my Bank of America account since January 1, and divide the total by number of months. Pretty basic but I don't have time for a more elaborate approach...

I’m wondering how you do this? The expenses from credit cards or checks are no problem, but what about cash purchases? Do you keep a notebook with you at all times and record every time you get something from a vending machine or get a $5 sub at Subway? Do you have a spreadsheet that you fill in each day? Do you write down credit card purchases when you make the purchase or write them down when the statement comes?

 

[fanmail]

This seems to be 2 topics in 1.

First is how frequently and what method do you use to track expenses. Historically, I have logged onto bank accounts maybe once a week to check balances and purchase history. I also created a budget spreadsheet in excel to guesstimate monthly expenses.

I am researching various money management software tools such as mint.com's, yudlee, personal capital and quicken. I'm probably going to use a free one like mint's though. These programs break down expense by category and automatically update daily.

The 2nd topic it seems is how you pay for items, such as food. I rarely use cash anymore. Why wouldn't I put as many purchases on a cash back or rewards card as I possibly can? It's free money from the credit card companies subsidized by those with credit card debt. I'm shocked that so many here use cash.

 

[Mulligan]

This seems to be 2 topics in 1.

First is how frequently and what method do you use to track expenses. Historically, I have logged onto bank accounts maybe once a week to check balances and purchase history. I also created a budget spreadsheet in excel to guesstimate monthly expenses.

I am researching various money management software tools such as mint.com's, yudlee, personal capital and quicken. I'm probably going to use a free one like mint's though. These programs break down expense by category and automatically update daily.

The 2nd topic it seems is how you pay for items, such as food. I rarely use cash anymore. Why wouldn't I put as many purchases on a cash back or rewards card as I possibly can? It's free money from the credit card companies subsidized by those with credit card debt. I'm shocked that so many here use cash.

I just read today in a newspaper article concerning MasterCard' s growth prospects. In USA total transactions are about 50-50 between cash/paper checks and electronic. The rest of the world it's 85 % cash 15% electronic. I was also surprised that Japan transactions were 3 to 1 cash/checks over electronic.

 

[Khufu]

Another home accounting issue is what to do with the receipts from credit card transactions and other sources? I'd like to throw them away immediately, but they could be necessary to dispute a charge, for instance. On the other hand keeping the paper means building up bundles of them that take time to sort and shred eventually. So, after we digitized our records before moving abroad I just started scanning each receipt using a ScanSnap scanner and the software that comes bundled with it. The software does OCR so we can search documents by content as well as by keyword and scan date. I have only rarely had to consult a credit card receipt, but it does happen sometimes.

If tracking all of our income and expenses is in the nature of a hobby, then scanning credit card receipts is probably OCD, but there it is.

 

[longinvest]

... I just started scanning each receipt using a ScanSnap scanner and the software that comes bundled with it. ...

What? I'm not alone in the universe scanning all receipts with a ScanSnap? I'm so glad I found this forum!

 

[sn2792]

I track spending using Mint, because it is mostly automated. We mostly use our credit cards for spending, and I often chalk up Cash Withdrawals as "Misc" because it is so low of a % of our spending.

+1

 

[Eunice]

I know there are posters here who track all their expenses very closely. I’m wondering how you do this? The expenses from credit cards or checks are no problem, but what about cash purchases? Do you keep a notebook with you at all times and record every time you get something from a vending machine or get a $5 sub at Subway? Do you have a spreadsheet that you fill in each day? Do you write down credit card purchases when you make the purchase or write them down when the statement comes?
Currently, I count ATM withdrawals as expenses and when I need more cash, I make another withdrawal, but this is not real accurate – I may withdraw the money in September but not spend it until October. It’s close enough, but I want to start tracking closer. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

I track the main expenses using debit card, I avoid as much as possible to use the credit card, but when using cash I just register how much and when I got it from the ATM. I am very bad with details so I use large categories of expenses in my budget and control sheat, including a fixed amount to be used freely monthly. I never use cr

 

[fritz]

I know there are posters here who track all their expenses very closely. I’m wondering how you do this? The expenses from credit cards or checks are no problem, but what about cash purchases? Do you keep a notebook with you at all times and record every time you get something from a vending machine or get a $5 sub at Subway? Do you have a spreadsheet that you fill in each day? Do you write down credit card purchases when you make the purchase or write them down when the statement comes?
Currently, I count ATM withdrawals as expenses and when I need more cash, I make another withdrawal, but this is not real accurate – I may withdraw the money in September but not spend it until October. It’s close enough, but I want to start tracking closer. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

We have always tracked (running total) of monthly expenses manually in an 8 1/2 X 11" spiral notebook like you would a checkbook (39 years and counting). We keep "all" receipts (you never know), but only track/write down CC charges, ATM/cash withdrawals, and miscellaneous checks (birthday, graduation, etc). Store receipts in a manilla pocket folder, then filed with the page out of the spiral folder at the end of each month. Spiral sheet is used to verify monthly CC billings. Shred the receipts @ 6 months (except those that have a warranty period). This forces us to watch our expenditures and stick to our monthly budget. Tracking cash withdrawals rather than cash expenditures keeps tracking issues to a minimum.

The actual budget we strive for each month is estimated yearly. Some months are budgeted higher for various reasons - three carry travel budgets, and three carry Christmas budgets (wife shops for Christmas starting in October). Some months we go over and some we go under, but overall we usually end the year coming in under the yearly budget. Say what you will, but tracking works.......

These budgeted/actual monthly expenses are tracked in an EXCEL spreadsheet and the yearly total is also shown as a single line expense item with the rest of our yearly expenses. These are the only yearly expenses that our within our direct control. All the others are pretty much outside of our control (utilities, insurances, etc.).

 

[truenorth418]

I track everything in Quicken and then keep separate excel spreadsheets for budgeting and planning. I may switch to Mint or some other web based program.