Hot take: tracking every penny made me miserable, but trying it blind for 3 months saved me $800

I used to think you had to log every single purchase in an app to win at budgeting. That drove me crazy. I gave up after 2 weeks. Then I tried the opposite: just set one rule for myself that any non bill spending under $20 didn't need recording. I stuck with it for 3 months and saved $800 on random stuff. The win was automatic, no tracking needed. Has anyone else found that strict tracking backfired or that looser rules actually worked better?

3 comments

3 Comments

elizabeth22012d ago

Man, strict tracking is the worst! I tried that once and gave up after three days. Loose rules are where it's at. I just started checking my bank balance once a week and it saved me a ton without the headache. How did you pick that $20 cutoff?

elizabeth_ramirez12d ago

Wait you're telling me $20 was the magic number? That's insane.

dakota_taylor3912d ago

Did you mean $200 cause $20 barely covers one takeout meal nowadays?