Back in 2011, when I was in 8th standard, I started spending money more frequently 😬
Growing up comes with responsibilities, and one of them was dealing with money. But you know what? I didn’t like the feeling of not being in control of my finances 🙄
I mean, who likes not knowing how much money is coming in and how much is going out, right? 🤔
So, I started keeping a record of my expenses in a good old-fashioned diary 📒
It was a simple start, just jotting down what I spent and where I spent it ✍
Simply noting my expenses helped me see where my money was going and made me more mindful of my spending habits.
Fast forward to 2015, and I decided to level up my tracking game. So, I shifted everything to a spreadsheet 💱
That was a game-changer! 🏆
Suddenly, I had more power at my fingertips, with all the formulas and functions the spreadsheet had to offer. I could organize my expenses, make calculations, and even create charts to visualize my spending patterns 📊
You know, it’s funny how a simple tracking system evolved over time 🎢
As I got the hang of it, I started categorizing my expenses into different buckets like needs, wants, and investments 🛁
It felt amazing to have a clear picture of where my money was going and how much I was allocating for my future ⛳
Now, you might be wondering, why didn’t I just use one of those fancy budgeting apps available on the app store? 😅
Well, sure, there are plenty of them out there, but they couldn’t handle everything I needed ❌
My system needed to capture data from various sources – bank statements, credit card statements, expenses in cash, and more 💸
Apps can track everything online but they miserably fail to track your cash expenses. So it’s all about discipline, not tools 🧰
And guess what? If you’re interested in using the same template I’ve fine-tuned over the years, I’m more than happy to share it with you! 🤗
It might not be as fancy as some apps, but hey, it gets the job done, and I find it pretty darn perfect for my financial tracking needs 😁
✍ TODAY’S ACTION ITEM FOR YOU
Create your own simple and effective tracking system, or grab my template if you want to take a headstart in the expense tracking journey ▶
Start tracking expenses from July 2023 and you will be surprised with your own expenses (I’m not scaring you, okay? 🤫)
📅 WHAT I DID THIS WEEK
I spent my weekend shopping for my engagement. I mean, I’m allergic to shopping, but when it’s for something as special as your engagement, we gotta power up, right? It’s not an everyday thing! 🛍
On other hand, this was a low week. Honestly, I didn’t do much. There were days when I kept roaming the web without getting anything meaningful from that 😫
It rained heavily this week with an orange alert for 5 days of non-stop downpours! I was sleepy throughout this week! I mean, look at the weather! ⛈⛈
By the way, I learned to replace tomatoes with tamarind juice for my dishes this week! Who would’ve thought tamarind juice could be a tomato substitute? 🤩
Things taste so yummy with it. Especially, dal fry got such a unique taste with my secret sauce! 😋
I’m curious to see if this tomato-tamarind rivalry will continue in my dishes! Thanks to super-expensive tomatoes! 🍅🤭
📚 BOOK I AM CURRENTLY READING
Read a Marathi comedy book “Jawai Bapunchya Goshti” which was written in 1989. It’s a book full of hilarious stories about the author’s brother-in-law.
If you’re a Marathi reader, I’d recommend it. You will definitely have some giggles throughout the book!
🌐 AROUND THE WEB
I came across this article on Medium by Joan Westenberg titled “I miss the Internet.” Reply to this email if you want the link, I will share that with you.
I honestly love such articles that reflect the real thoughts of people without bothering about algorithms or the retention of people.
Almost all marketers that I know, do miss the old internet of 2000s and 2010s. Maybe because most of us have had enough of it and we have already seen the dark side behind this shiny globe icon 🌐