Ivy says:
I have been using online banking to help me with my budgeting for years now. My bank now offers something called “My Portfolio” where I can see how much money I have been spending in certain categories. I know I could do this in Quicken or MS Money, but I’ve been remiss and haven’t. Conveniently, my bank auto-sorts things and all you have to do is go through and make sure anything hasn’t been mis-categorized.
So, I set up “My Portfolio” and found that I have been spending WAY too much money on going out to eat. Way. Too. Much. This is a good thing to know, however. I’ve been wondering why I’ve been so broke lately- now I know!
Once you know where you are spending too much money, it is easy to make cutbacks in that area. This is why it’s so important to track where all your money is going. I used to be meticulous about that, but haven’t, ever since we started making more money. The old axiom of “the more you make, the more you spend” is true, if you stop paying attention to where every dime goes because you have more dimes.
So, the lesson today, kids, is pay attention to where your money goes, whether you use your bank’s online budgeter, or another program, or if you’re old school and budget on paper. It will save you tons in the long run, and you don’t have to be one of the “more you make, the more you spend” people.
