Currently, I just keep track of all of my bills and spending. Keeps me more accountable and conscious of purchases or savings. But I don’t take into acount the actual value of my bank account(s), just the money I’m bringing in and how I spend it.
How may of you balance your “checkbooks” with your budgets?
I don’t balance accounts but track expenses daily, rounding to the nearest dollar. Bills are checked against plans, and unexpected amounts are reviewed. Interest is only checked when running my balance sheet, with discrepancies over $5 drawing more attention.
@PEY I balance daily. It takes 5 minutes to update my spreadsheets with my purchases, payments, and new balances. It keeps me on track with my spending and helps me see how an out of budget purchase will affect my long term goals.
@economist1 I used to track every penny in and out so I could get a base for expenses for budgeting. I do that about twice a year. But now I mostly track bank account balances every couple of weeks instead