Showerthought: I used to track every penny in my head and it cost me big time

For years I just eyeballed my bank balance and guessed what I spent. Last November I overdrew my account by $127 because I forgot about a subscription renewal. Now I run everything through a simple spreadsheet every Sunday night. The difference is I actually see where my money goes instead of hoping for the best. Has anyone else had a wake up call like that from just not writing things down?

3 comments

3 Comments

tylerj221d ago

The real wake up is when you realize how much you were just paying in overdraft fees over time. That $127 hit plus the fee probably could've bought you a nice dinner.

the_lee1d ago

Man, @tylerj22 you're not wrong. I started keeping a little notebook of every small fee I got hit with and seeing it all add up finally made me switch banks and actually keep a real buffer in my account.

burns.jenny1d ago

Call me crazy @the_lee but I actually think those fees served a purpose. They were the only thing that forced me to keep my head on straight about my spending. Once I stopped getting hit with them, I got sloppy and ended up in worse trouble a few months later. I'd rather pay a $35 slap on the wrist than let myself drift into actual debt that takes years to dig out of. Plus half those new banks find ways to ding you on the back end anyway, just fancier names for the same thing.