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at the end of every month in a spreadsheet : - manually log every transaction - manually record the balance of every account after a few months you’ll know where to improve.

Kinda always been interested in having a sense of independence and control of my money. Came from my single mom who had to really track her budget and get creative with both income and saving on expenses. Always good to start with getting a handle on your overall situation- most important is cash flow and a good sense of your budget. Don’t forget random things like birthday presents, annual fees for shit, lift tickets, etc. Net worth is next. Have an emergency fund. Spend less than you earn, continue to ratchet up saving/stacking as your earnings go up. And have something specific to save for so when you have to make a hard decision, impulse won’t always win :) The other stuff like insurance coverages, rent v own, etc. are important, but lots of resources on them and suggest focus on the basics ( positive cash flow, emergency fund, no high-interest debt). hope that helps and good luck.

i think the key is to have a good picture of what you earn and spend on, i do this with a basic excel tracking income & fixed costs (utilities, bills, etc.) + a monthly budget for the groceries and misc expenses. build a cash cushion of 3 to 6 months of living expenses depending on job stability. after that you are in a great position to start saving for the long term, which you should do as soon as you get a paycheck (pay yourself first). your saving & investments can now compound and you won't need to liquidate anything if something unexpected happens. hope that helps.

#asknostr

I have an excel with forecasts that I update with actuals monthly. It tracks my income, I split my expenses wrt food, fitness, university, home building / finishing. Everything else goes in a miscallaneous column, and I try to limit my frugality to that column. I split my savings between bank and Bitcoin. It let's me know my Bitcoin denominated position and cost basis. Then I have a dashboard with charts. It's pretty neat. Idk if that it's what flipped the switch. I definitely use it to plan my stacking, which guides my expenses. But I already have most of the information organised by Revolut. I guess having to write in the accounts is an opportunity to look back on stuff and budget for the next month. Before this, everything was haphazard, and I didn't care about savings. I'd cope with maximising ROI not net worth.