How to track expenses

Hi there,

I am starting to track my expenses. Did not realize I was spending so much… 2902 CHF in August and I am single and did not go on holidays.

Is there any tool that can help track spending across various platforms? I use Credit Suisse, Revolut, and N26.

I did a quick Excel to see how much I spend but it is very time consuming and not categorized for now.

Regards,

mmm

CS Revolut N26 Outflow Inflow Net Flow 2nd Pillar Total In
2’260 342 300 **2’902 7’917 5’015 2’000 7’015**
6.80 20.00 85.00 1’500.00
15.00 27.00 45.00 500.00
22.00 17.00 23.94
70.80 12.50 8.70
16.72 20.50 18.41
19.90 5.00 26.00
210.85 11.20 4.23
10.90 1.35 26.50
13.20 44.90 12.00
24.00 13.00 12.00
219.00 15.10 24.00
19.00 17.00 13.80
50.00 40.00
113.00 18.00
4.40 9.50
31.00 70.30
31.00
4.90
17.90
1’000.00
360.00
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Hi mmm

I am using this excel sheet. Maybe it will help you as well to track your expenses over time:

https://www.finanzfluss.de/finanzfluss-haushaltsbuch/

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I use google sheet, so I can easly add expenses from my phone.

Just create six or seven categories and write down whenever you spend money. Bonus points if you split your grocery expense by type (food, house stuff,etc)

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I used to track via an app (money android) for 6 months, to get the most precise spending analysis by categories.
Now that I got that insight, i don’t care anymore for so much detail, so I turned to ebanking reports from UBS, and I see the transactions sent to Revolut as “credit card expenses”.

P.S. Nothing terribly bad about spending less than 3k/month. My expenses are pretty much the same (given that I live in Basel, and lease a car too).

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I just use a credit card that I put everything on. Along with the few bank transfers for recurring expenses, that gives me a good monthly estimate.

I don’t really do further expense tracking. Nor do I have a detailed budgeting system. I just try live by a few “lazy” budgeting rules. Not sure if you can even call them budgeting, and they’re most probably nothing new for Mustachians:

  1. Try to to limit recurring expenses like subscriptions and long contracts and keep to the essentials (rent, health insurance, transport pass, internet, mobile phone/internet, gym, and of course taxes)
  2. Don’t dwell on the cost of education. It’s an investment.
  3. Food is a small everyday joy. Try to cook regularly and find a good balance between taste and nutritional values. Buy only as much as you need but don’t skimp on quality.
  4. I’m don’t like smoking, alcohol or other (non-food) drugs much, so hardly spend anything on them.
  5. Clothing needs replacement every once in a while. One wants to look decent and attractive.
  6. Think before you buy. Defer to a later date if possible and think again if you need it. Don’t buy superfluous things like clothing, furniture.
  7. Try to to shop affordable, with “value for money” mind. Wait for good deals on items that you don’t immediately.
  8. Allocate a small amount as “fun money” that for discretionary spending. No need to feel guilty about it. Maybe 300 CHF a month. I wouldn’t include food or drinks on that budget item, but do include a (roughly yearly) holiday.
  9. Save the rest and invest
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I use the original Microsoft Money since back in 1999… so like 20 years and it is still working amazingly fine. :slight_smile:

P.S. Bill Gates, I love you…

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I use Google Sheet. I shared a link to my template once somewhere on this forum, but I can’t find it now. I’m also considering moving to the software recommend by hedgehog - it’s called bean something.

One:

Two:

Three:

Four:

YNAB is in my opinion a good choice, best if you use it together with the toolkit for ynab chrome extension. Good expense tracking, additionally budgeting and networth tracking.

On android, Isavemoney is a pretty good free app. it keep tracks of every expense you enter with the possibility to tag it, let you create domain specific budget that you can report month to month (for example, i have a sport budget of 250chf/month, it covers very irregular expenses like annual passes, equipements and so on, and i know when i can afford something without going over budget). Month to month, you can clone your budgets and category and export the data to excel spreadsheets.

the only downside is you have to enter expenses manually…

Hi all,
I have been an avid and silent reader of the forum for a very long time and this is my first post, will make a proper introduction soon :wink:
Just my 2 cents here, I’ve been using AceMoney (www.mechcad.net) for more than 15 years and is the best piece of software for the job, similar to Microsoft Money mentioned above.
Unfortunately the company owner died on a plane crash and whoever took over stopped developing and updating the software regularly.
Nevertheless stills works very well in current versions of Windows and I couldn’t manage my expenses and investments without it.

1 Like