Looking for Expense tracking solution and tips to save

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Looking for Expense tracking solution and tips to save

Rmani

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#303480 13-Feb-2023 12:06

Hi GZers, with the rise in inflation, we are trying to track our expenses and reduce them where possible.

How do you people generally do your money management, use any apps or excel or the traditional pen & paper. Looking for some app/template recommendations to track the expenses. Would be helpful if you can list down/suggest few tips to minimise the spending. Understand not everything may be applicable to everyone, but anything that could help.

Cheers!

Rmani

alasta

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#3035859 13-Feb-2023 12:15

I use YNAB. I load my transaction in once a week, and each month I set my budget for the month to follow.

Specialised software like this works really well but incurs an annual fee. If you decide to use a manual spreadsheet instead then make sure that you have some way of performing regular bank reconciliations.

evnafets

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#3035861 13-Feb-2023 12:20

Who do you bank with?

Some provide a 'track my spending' type of service. That works very well if you do 95% of your transactions with their card.
Less helpful if spending cash.

tweake

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#3035943 13-Feb-2023 13:05

one of the issues i've come across with people tracking their spending is they can see the "limit" more easily, which often means it enables them to spend more not less.

to not spend its more about dealing with peoples personality rather than tracking money. how and what to do depends on the situation. some times its as simple as essentials only, unless your almost starving to death your spending to much. also dealing with the "i'm bored/tired/sick of being tight with money" so will splash out on something. also i like revolving credit, or offset mortgages, because everything you earn goes to the house first, then anything you spend is costing you in interest rate as well as not paying for the house. so thats a big incentive not to spend, but can be down right dangerous with the wrong person. with fixed interest its easy to declare that the "house is taken car of this month/week" so everything else is free to spend as we like. if you don't know where your limit is, you may be more conservative in spending to make sure you don't spend to much.

its not just about dollars but how people think.

ANglEAUT

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#3035979 13-Feb-2023 13:54

tweake: ... its not just about dollars but how people think.

Amen to that. Goes hand in hand with Five Intelligent Financial Goals for you to Set in 2023!

For the OP:

PocketSmith (with referral link, thx to Dynamic)
www.tillerhq.com
expense tracking app in nz (GZ)
Recommend me a budgeting/finance app (Android) (GZ)

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

Rmani

279 posts

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#3036297 14-Feb-2023 10:29

evnafets:

Who do you bank with?

Some provide a 'track my spending' type of service. That works very well if you do 95% of your transactions with their card.
Less helpful if spending cash.

I am with ANZ, wife with bnz. Trying to bring them together to get an overall view.

Rmani

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#3036298 14-Feb-2023 10:31

tweake:

one of the issues i've come across with people tracking their spending is they can see the "limit" more easily, which often means it enables them to spend more not less.

to not spend its more about dealing with peoples personality rather than tracking money. how and what to do depends on the situation. some times its as simple as essentials only, unless your almost starving to death your spending to much. also dealing with the "i'm bored/tired/sick of being tight with money" so will splash out on something. also i like revolving credit, or offset mortgages, because everything you earn goes to the house first, then anything you spend is costing you in interest rate as well as not paying for the house. so thats a big incentive not to spend, but can be down right dangerous with the wrong person. with fixed interest its easy to declare that the "house is taken car of this month/week" so everything else is free to spend as we like. if you don't know where your limit is, you may be more conservative in spending to make sure you don't spend to much.

its not just about dollars but how people think.

Agree. I am trying to understand the area where we spend most and see if those are really necessary.

Rmani

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#3036397 14-Feb-2023 13:56

ANglEAUT:

Amen to that. Goes hand in hand with Five Intelligent Financial Goals for you to Set in 2023!

For the OP:

PocketSmith (with referral link, thx to Dynamic)
www.tillerhq.com
expense tracking app in nz (GZ)
Recommend me a budgeting/finance app (Android) (GZ)

Thanks for the links. Listening to the podcast now. Will go through the other discussion threads as well.

Rmani