Do you keep track of your money?

Do you always wonder where your money has gone? It's funny how often we don't seem to have a clue when we try to recall what we've done or bought with our money.

I used to be in that situation but I've since learnt my lesson. I learnt that in order to better control my money instead of letting it control me, I need to keep track of my money. Otherwise, the vicious cycle will just keep going on and on and on.

Here's what I do to keep track of my money:

1. Whenever I receive an income without an official payment voucher such as gifts, picking up a note from the floor, etc, I'll keep a record of it on my mobile phone with the date included.

2. I'll ask for a receipt for every purchase I make during the day, big and small, and keep it in my wallet. If a receipt is not available, I'll jot it down using my mobile phone.

3. At the end of the week, I'll file all the receipts in a proper file. For transaction records I kept in my mobile phone, I'll write them down on a piece of paper and file it together with the receipts. Remember to include the dates as well.

4. At the end of the month, I'll total up all my income - salary, dividends, interest income, etc - and my spending - food, transport, health, entertainment, etc - and then enter the data into my Personal Monthly Budget statement using Google Personal Finance Tools.

5. Rarely do I lend money to someone. But if I do, I'll write down the amount of money lent and key it into my Budget statement as 'Money Lent' highlighted in red under the 'Miscellaneous' column as soon as I get the chance.

If the money is returned during the same month I lent it out, I'll simply delete the earlier record from my Budget.

But if it's returned in a different month, then I'll record it down in that month's Budget statement as 'Money Paid Back' under the 'Income' column.

So, that's how I keep track of my money. Do you have your own way of tracking your money? Please share it with us.

Cheers~

Mark