Do you know where your money went last month? Most of us can guess the big things, like rent or a phone bill. The small things are harder to remember. In this lesson of Mondosol’s Make Money course, Kofi shows you a simple way to track your spending, so your budget is built on facts instead of guesses.
Read the article, watch the videos, or press play and listen.
In this article
Why tracking matters
A budget is a plan. Tracking is how you check the plan against real life. Without tracking, you only see your balance go down, but not why.
When you write down what you spend, three things happen:
- You find leaks. Small, repeated costs, like snacks or a subscription you forgot about, become visible.
- You spend more consciously. Simply noticing a purchase often makes you pause before the next one.
- Your budget gets realistic. You can set limits based on what you really spend.
Tracking is not about feeling guilty. It is about getting good information, so you can make your own choices.
Three simple ways to track
1. Pen and paper
Carry a small notebook or use the last pages of your planner. Write the date, what you bought and how much it cost. It is slow, but the slowness helps you remember.
2. A spreadsheet
Make four columns: date, item, category and amount. A spreadsheet adds up totals for you and makes it easy to compare months.
3. Your bank app or a budgeting app
Many bank apps already list every card payment, and some sort them into categories automatically. Budgeting apps can do the same. Check the categories once a week, because automatic sorting is not always right.
The best method is the one you will actually keep using. You can also combine them: the bank app for card payments, and a note on your phone for cash.
Sort spending into categories
Keep it simple. Five or six categories are enough to start. For example:
- Housing and bills: rent, electricity, internet, phone.
- Food: groceries.
- Eating out and snacks: cafés, takeaway, vending machines.
- Transport: bus pass, fuel, bike repairs.
- Fun and shopping: clothes, games, cinema, hobbies.
- Saving: money you move to savings.
These match the three buckets from the 50/30/20 rule: needs, wants and savings.
A worked example
Here is one invented week of spending for a student who receives 2,500 kr a month.
| Category | This week | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Food (groceries) | 420 kr | Two shops |
| Eating out and snacks | 285 kr | Five small purchases of 45–75 kr |
| Transport | 0 kr | Monthly pass already paid |
| Fun and shopping | 150 kr | Cinema ticket |
| Total | 855 kr |
The surprise here is the snacks: 285 kr in one week. Over a month, that could be more than 1,100 kr, almost half of the monthly money. Nobody told the student to stop. Seeing the number was enough to decide on a change: bring a snack from home three days a week.
Watch: tracking explained
Video: “Keeping track of spending” by Moneysmart, on YouTube.
Video: “3 Easy Ways to Track Expenses for Beginners” by Frugal Creative Living, on YouTube.
Try it: Kofi’s 7-day challenge
- Choose one method: notebook, spreadsheet or app.
- For 7 days, write down every purchase, even the very small ones.
- On day 7, add up each category.
- Ask yourself: which number surprised me?
- Pick one small change for next week and write it down.
FAQ
How long should I track my spending?
Start with one week to build the habit, then try a full month. A month shows you bills that only come once in a while.
Do I need an app to track spending?
No. A notebook or a simple spreadsheet works fine. An app can save time if it reads your card payments, but the most important part is looking at the numbers regularly.
What about cash?
Cash is easy to forget. Write it down straight away, or keep receipts in one pocket of your wallet and add them up once a week.
What if I miss a day?
No problem. Check your bank app or receipts to fill in the gap, and carry on. Tracking does not need to be perfect to be useful.
Keep learning
- Practise it: open the interactive Make Money lessons in your learning journey.
- Previous lesson: The 50/30/20 rule.
- Next lesson: Emergency funds: your safety net.
- Related: Your First Budget: a simple 5-step plan.
This article is educational and is not financial advice. Kofi is a character from Mondosol’s story cast. Example numbers are made up to show how the idea works.
