Does anyone else track every single penny or do you just keep a rough idea in your head?

I used to just ballpark my spending each month and hoped for the best. Then I got hit with a $400 surprise car repair and realized I had no clue where my money actually went. Switched to logging every purchase in a spreadsheet about 6 months ago. My friends think I'm crazy for counting the $3 coffees. But my savings account went up $200 a month without me even trying harder. So which side works better for you guys? The detailed tracking that catches the small leaks, or the less stressful big picture approach?

2 comments

2 Comments

robert_roberts7d ago

Track every dollar for two months just to see where it goes, then decide from there. After I did that, I realized I was bleeding $60 a month on vending machine snacks alone. Once you've got that baseline, you can usually just ballpark it without stressing over every single penny.

the_lucas7d ago

Did you track down to the dollar or just round things off? I did something similar and realized I was spending way too much on coffee runs, so now I just limit myself to two a week and it's way easier to manage.