Post: #1

So I am trying to track all of my financial transactions be they online banking, cash, crypto - whatever. So far I've been doing it 100% manual with excel. The real motivation for doing this is to track all of my money habits with an eye to reducing unwise spending and becoming more aware of what I am spending on period.

I try to make a month-by-month comparison, pie-charts etc. to get a better idea of my spending habits and assign my transactions a code e.g. primary and secondary codes.

Example 1 - Accommodation related costs: Primary: RNT (Rent) Secondary: ABB (Air b and b), MOR (Mortgage payment), STO (Storage facility).

Example 2 - Food costs: Primary: 'FOD.' Secondary: GRO (Grocery from Tesco etc. assumed to be healthy diet), JNK (Junk food e.g. mcdonalds etc.). You could have another one for eating out at higher quality restaurants.

I think you get the picture. Every month I do an audit comparing all my receipts (both bank card and cash) to my spreadsheet logged transactions as well as screengrabs of my online banking statements. Almost every month there is a massive mismatch (last month it was over 100 bucks!) which somehow I failed to account for.

In the USA you have this app known as 'MINT?' which apparently can be linked to all your bank accounts etc. which allows you to make custom categories which make tracking transactions much easier. You probably would have privacy related issues with that as well as the fact I heard banks don't like it when you link your accounts to such software. But when you compare the benefits... MINT seems to be only for USA customers, is there a counterpart of similar prowess for UK users?

Post: #2

If you get a Revolut or Monzo card and use that for all your purchase it will categorise everything for you.

Post: #3

I use an app called Wally on my iPhone. When I purchase something, I add the price and section (food, transport, housing, etc). It's easy and fast (important so you don't forget to add data). Then you can watch/study the charts to see where your money is going.

You can add receipts but I prefer to keep some privacy.

Post: #4

I've been using Money dashboard. It is good for getting an overview of all your accounts in one place and it categorises transactions for you.

Post: #5

(04-22-2018 10:23 AM)WannaBang Wrote:  So I am trying to track all of my financial transactions be they online banking, cash, crypto - whatever. So far I've been doing it 100% manual with excel. The real motivation for doing this is to track all of my money habits with an eye to reducing unwise spending and becoming more aware of what I am spending on period.

I try to make a month-by-month comparison, pie-charts etc. to get a better idea of my spending habits and assign my transactions a code e.g. primary and secondary codes.

Example 1 - Accommodation related costs: Primary: RNT (Rent) Secondary: ABB (Air b and b), MOR (Mortgage payment), STO (Storage facility).

Example 2 - Food costs: Primary: 'FOD.' Secondary: GRO (Grocery from Tesco etc. assumed to be healthy diet), JNK (Junk food e.g. mcdonalds etc.). You could have another one for eating out at higher quality restaurants.

I think you get the picture. Every month I do an audit comparing all my receipts (both bank card and cash) to my spreadsheet logged transactions as well as screengrabs of my online banking statements. Almost every month there is a massive mismatch (last month it was over 100 bucks!) which somehow I failed to account for.

In the USA you have this app known as 'MINT?' which apparently can be linked to all your bank accounts etc. which allows you to make custom categories which make tracking transactions much easier. You probably would have privacy related issues with that as well as the fact I heard banks don't like it when you link your accounts to such software. But when you compare the benefits... MINT seems to be only for USA customers, is there a counterpart of similar prowess for UK users?

You're looking for Money Dashboard

EDIT: Realized this was a dupe of the post above but am leaving it as my post adds the actual link to the app/service. Good luck OP.