Tracking your expenses and getting your finances together

Hey people ….. it has been a hot minute since I last updated this blog ….. working really hard on this consistency ish!!!! Lollll

Anywho!!! What’s good!!!!!! Hope you have been keeping well 💋

Me : I have been doing good and trying hard to fight my cake temptations lollll….. follow me on Instagram @mamieeze to get the full gist lolll.

Apart from the cake monster saga (lol) I have also been very intentional on keeping track of my spending because your girl needs to get out of debt!!!!! real quick.

It is really important to keep track of how you are spending your money because it helps understand how you are managing your money, and to taking control of your finances.

I hear you say … mamie that is not rocket science Na ….(apologies … I am a nigerian “geh” lol) but you will be amazed on how a lot of “us” don’t do this….. Let me use myself as an example…… even though I am “financially educated”…. (accountant lo mo 🤗)…. I have very bad spending habits 🥴☹️

Tracking your daily/monthly/annual spend may seem like a lot of work when you first begin, but you can make it as simple or complicated as you want to. Once you get the hang of tracking your expenses, it will help you stop feeling like you have little to show for your hard work…….Can I get an amen somebody !!!! Lol

For me I try to do the following steps and I know If i diligently stick to it ….. I will be laughing at the end of the year because I would have reached me goal on being debt free.

Step one: Tracking Expenses Creates Financial Awareness

The real reason you track your expenses is to create financial awareness. If you don’t know where your money goes or how you spend it, you won’t know what habits you can change in order to make your money work for you.

True wealth is built as you spend less than you make and to do that you need to know what you are spending. If you want to build wealth, then you need to stop wasting money. For me , my biggest spend area is FOOD!!!!!!

It was easier to make changes when i realised that i was not reaching my financial goals and was always “out of pocket” even on payday 😓

Tracking my spending daily allows me to now see where my money is really going so i do not end up with a financial hangover all the time!!!!

Step two: Stick to Your Budget

Now I won’t lie …. this ish is hardddd!!!!! Especially if you are used to just taping ur contactless card anyhow …..lolllll. It is essential when you budget you STICK to it. This year I have been consistently tracking my expenses, so I can get out of debt. This has helped me make the necessary changes to my finances and I know doing this will allow me to begin to build wealth and go after the things that i want out of life.

So if you are not already on this type of journey… why don’t you join me …. I will be documenting my process and sharing it with you on my YouTube channel @ bmamie and my Facebook group page @ Mamie Eze Come on!!!! join the gang …. let’s do this together💋

Step three: Ways to Track Expenses

An easy way to track your expenses is to simply write down every penny that you spend and where you spent it in a notebook, by budget category … complicated right? Ok ….. to make it easier you can use your banking App or 3rd party Software/ app… there are so many trustworthy ones out there. For me I simply download my transactions via internet banking and dump the transactions into excel …. this enables me to monitor my spending trends, highlight areas where I should cut back on etc ….I am an excel geek 🤓 this my spreadsheet shows me fancy graphs and charts to illustrate my spending habits.

Step 4: Keep Going Even When You Overspend

When you overspend in a few budget categories, it can be tempting to stop and then try again next month. It is important to continue to track throughout the month so you can identify what you need to change and by how much. Acknowledging that you are overspending consistently in one area can help you know if you need to increase that budget category and cut down in other areas.

I hope my above tips have been helpful…. please do let me know in the comment section ….. you can send me a DM on Instagram , YouTube or even facebook ….

Have a fanatic week and until next time guys …. as I always say more rant to come xoxoxo