Daily money routine that actually works

 Daily money routine that actually works   

        The money routine that actually works that takes 10 minutes (after the many that failed, of course)

I used to think that there are money applications that will assist me in saving my money mess! In the past 2 years I have downloaded 4 of them. I used each of them for about 11 days and then I left them to themselves – just like I left my gym membership in February.

    It was not the app itself that was the issue. That's because I took money management as a project and I never followed it as a routine, it was taken with a lot of enthusiasm. But it's not that way with money. They are more akin to brushing your teeth: tedious, mundane and only noticeable when not done.

That's what happened. Uses about 10 minutes per day (and 30 minutes per week). So, it's not a fancy post processing at all. It's like that.

The 2-minute check-in will be conducted each morning. The 2 min check-in is done each morning.

The first thing I open in my e-mail when I get it is my banking app. Not to do math. Just to look.

    That's it. Not doing any maths! As you'd look in the mirror before going out the door, I'm just learning to find out where I stand. The greatest amount of financial stress that I've had in my life stemmed not from not having enough money, but from not knowing if I didn't have enough money. Better to be a fool than a knave, it is always the not-knowing.

If it's something that I should have known within day one and NOT month 3, like, payment didn't go through, payment that should have been on subscription, I find it within day one and NOT month 3.

Write at night on your personal piece of writing paper what is still in your pockets.

That one thing that was easy, compared with all of the other things: I write what I did that day before I go to sleep – that's kind of cringeworthy easy. Not categorized. Not analyzed. Just listed.

• Chai and snacks – 60
• Walk to station – 80
• Groceries – 340

    Takes approximately 3 minutes. I do have a notes app, but a pays notebook is as good — some people find it is real to write by hand, which is true.

    It isn't that it tracks, it is the magic. Once the spending is discernible. That money that you swipe through tap and pay, or UPI notification doesn't tally the same as cash that comes out of your wallet. There is a 2 second pause in the brain when you write it out so that you have to think "I spent money. This time out impacts behavior in advance of the budget, or the rule enters the door.

Once a week, this Sunday Sit-Down will be held.

I do 3 things each Sunday at the same time in the same chair:

Using the daily list what did actually go out? What is not what I was meant to be doing — but what is.

Compare with 1 number and NOT 10. Generally, there are 12 items to be budgeted for in the budget. I've found that's when I can quit, when about the third week. One number I am holding on to is the value spent weekly vs an estimate value that I set myself. If I am up, it's a merry thing to rise. When I'm over, I ask WHY once and I go back to the water - if I am going to get into a guilt spiral I don't!

I don't see how this makes sense until I transfer funds. The part, which people don't read and which is most important. I make a decision to save and/or invest for that week, and it goes into my bank account or investment portfolio that same week – no "just this once" purchases. It will never save money at the end of the month as there always seems to be too much to spend. At the start there's always something left over.

Once a month: The 20 minutes that are uncomfortable.

I ask myself every month without a lie the following 3 questions:

1. What was the amount payed for that I can't remember enjoying?
2.  Do any debts or EMIs get reduced, stayed the same or increased?
3.  What was the amount of my earnings for the past year?

  

  I really don't give any great answers with these. I sit with them, but I don't do anything else. Just as with money, awareness accumulates little bits at a time are big bits that must be implemented at a later time.

If Apps didn't then this wouldn't work. This is because this would not have been possible, if Apps didn't.

    All of the apps I tried provided me with nice pie charts and breakdowns by categories in detail. Did not ask me the following day for any reason to open it. Each time, a simple piece of code which lives in a plain notes application that you haven't used for two weeks will beat a complicated application.

Another tidbit that you won't get from anyone: This isn't a money thing. It's the difference between the money that you think you are spending, and the money that you actually are spending. It's that space where most of the burden of finances is residing. The majority of people are not bad with money; they simply do not know about it and that's as bad as it is to be bad with the money from the inside.

There is no finance qualification required. Not to mention, that I didn't have to rely on willpower — they only have 2 minutes per day, so not a biggie in willpower.

Start tonight. Record some items that you did today before going to sleep at night. That is the first step and that is what I've done. The remaining can be delayed till the Sunday.