Increase Your Savings By Tracking Your Expenses

You may know how much you earn every month, but do you know how much you’ve spent? Apart from the golden rule – spend less than you earn – spending is highly relative to each individual. In order to avoid overspending, increase your savings and make your monthly budget work for you, the best way is to keep check of your expenses.

Tracking your expenses is a lot like exercise, you know it is beneficial but you are either too lazy or not motivated enough to do it. Listed below are 3 reasons why tracking is important.

In order to make your money work for you or to get the maximum amount of savings you need to first be aware of your finances – you need to know and understand where your money is going and how you are spending it. 

Knowing where and how your money is being spent, it becomes much easier to identify unnecessary or bad spending habits that can then be improved. If you realise that you are spending for instance too much on clothing, snacks or unnecessary purchases, you can then take steps to review your spending habits.

Once you are able to control your finances you have better focus on achieving your goals. You can prioritise where to best allocate your money and how much money to save each week or month for each of your goals.

Tracking your expenses does not have to be a tedious or complicated task. Here are three simple ways as suggested by three individuals, just like you.

Wilson, a game developer, like most young people professionals prefers tracking his expenses using an app. “I downloaded YNAB (You Need A Budget) app to help save money by letting me know where my money flows. It’s a paid application but I love how simple it is to use. In just a few clicks I’m able to create budgets for things I need in life, which helps me save up a lot more money than simply spending without any proper budget plan. Plus, the app makes it very easy for me to set both short- and long-term goals to save up for.”

TIPS & BENEFITS

Technology has helped simplify many things in our daily lives, making even budgeting a simple matter of downloading an app.

• A tracking expense app is the best option for tech savvy people.
• Easy to monitor and set automated goals.
• Can directly sync with your online accounts.
• Provides a more insightful and detailed analysis on all your savings and expenditures.
• Avoid disclosing any personal details or important information to suspicious services.

Fresh grad student Karishma, makes use of ledger to manage her budget. “As a student, I don’t have large amount of earnings nor am I thinking too far ahead into the future as yet towards buying a house or car, so it is easier for me to simply manage my everyday expenses and short-term goal savings via a ledger. I shop with a clearer mind and spend only on the things I need and can save for things I want like a road trip or a concert.”

TIPS & BENEFITS

It may seem a bit old-school but keeping a ledger is one of the simplest ways of tracking your expenses.

• Best for tracking small expenses and savings.
• All you need is a notebook, pen and your budget.
• Allocate a specific time at the end of each day to record all your daily transactions.
• Collect and organise your receipts.

Soon-to-be wed, Lydia, has her finances on the top of her mind and uses a spreadsheet to help manage and track expenses for her upcoming wedding. “Ever since I started saving for the wedding, I’ve used an Excel sheet to track all my daily, weekly and monthly expenses. From the wedding venue, florists, wedding photographer to even tie-pins, I’m able to keep track of all expenses for my wedding and it has helped me save more.” 

TIPS & BENEFITS

One of the most popular ways of tracking expenses is with the help of an Excel or Google spreadsheet. 

• Easy to use if you have basic knowledge on spreadsheets.
• Convenient for multiple goals as you can create several tabs in one sheet.
• Can use the formulas to easily calculate your expenses.

Fresh grad student Karishma, makes use of ledger to manage her budget. “As a student, I don’t have large amount of earnings nor am I thinking too far ahead into the future as yet towards buying a house or car, so it is easier for me to simply manage my everyday expenses and short-term goal savings via a ledger. I shop with a clearer mind and spend only on the things I need and can save for things I want like a road trip or a concert.”