One of the challenges most persons have is their inability to keep track of their finances – that is, being able to say for sure where their money comes from and where it is going to, as expenses, investments or savings. In a previous article, I shared that being able to keep track of your finances could be one way to tell how financially intelligent you are. This is because managing your finances goes beyond just increasing your inflow to ensure you never go broke.
No! In fact, it is believed that expenses will always grow to meet income. The more money you make, the more things you realize you have need of that you need to spend. So, it is important that while your income grows and you spend your money, you are able to effectively keep track of your finances. To help you do that, here are three ways you can get started with keeping track of your finances.
Keep A Note
As simple as it sounds, keeping a note is one of the basic ways to keep track of your finances, no matter the level you are currently financially. You can get a note with which you record all of the money that comes to you in a day and everything you spend money on in a day, no matter how little or insignificant it may seem to you.
Keeping notes will not just help you keep track of your finances but will also in the long run help you develop discipline in the way you spend your money. When you realize that you will have to document the money you plan to spend, you will think twice about every expense.
Check Your Bank Account’s Monthly statement
I was speaking recently to one of my uncles and I shared with him the importance of keeping track of the finances in his bank accounts through monthly account statements. At first, he dismissed it as a waste of his time, but I was able to make him see the benefits. Not many do this, but if you are looking to keep track of your finances you must ensure you demand and obtain your account statement from your bank every month.I will give you two instances from my experience. Last year, through my account statement, I was able to understand that I spend a lot of money buying airtime through my bank app. When I received my account statement one of the months, I was surprised at the amount I had spent on the purchase of airtime alone. I resolved to stop buying airtime through my bank app or USSD and switched to buying airtime only through recharge cards. Since then, I have seen a reduction in the amount I spend on airtime in a month.
The second instance happened early in the year, I had subscribed for Zoom’s monthly plan and forgot to cancel it before the renewal. It was only through my bank account statement that I was able to figure this out and stop it.
You can also achieve the same for yourself. Yours may not be airtime or unwanted renewals.
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Use A software
With the advancement in technology, there are now many software and applications that can help you effectively keep track of your finances. All you need to do is to input your data as contained in the software and it will provide you with an analysis of your financial inflow and outflow. Check out your Appstore for some of these apps, read the reviews on them and make your choice on which serves you best.Final Thoughts
Aside from helping you know how much you are making or spending per time, keeping track of your finances when done consistently will help you develop the discipline that could be useful in every other area of your life. So, it is a win-win for you. Get started today.
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