# Tracking Money



## christinad (Apr 30, 2013)

I just received a $1600 Visa statement this month and I feel like I have no idea what I spent! I know there are online tracking tools for if you use interac. (At least I thought I remembered there was). Does anyone know what they are? I guess I could use my CIBC Visa too as it tracks by category.

Thanks,

Christina


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

Most credit cards (all?) have online access whether it be with your bank or not. My Visa is with my bank but my Amex is not and I check all my transactions online for both cards weekly before paying them off. Everyone if different but the longer you wait to review your transactions the harder it is to remember what you bought, even though you know the store. 

One great thing about using a credit card for everything, well for the things that are allowed, is tracking your monthly/yearly expenses is easier.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

Doesn't your statement show what and when transactions occurred?

Signed,
Confused


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## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Mint.com is great for tracking your transactions throughout the month.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Or a spreadsheet works fine as well (and does not put your info into someone else's hands).

Or there's software (ex. Quicken for a fee [http://quicken.intuit.ca/personal-finance-software/index.jsp] or GnuCash for free [http://www.gnucash.org/] that will also help.


Though if you want really recent info - either online or through the phone to the CC company (ex Visa or Amex or MasterCard) is really the only option.


Cheers


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

My Own Advisor said:


> Doesn't your statement show what and when transactions occurred?


The statement may or may not be all that useful.


The one item I've ever challenged from my CC was something like ...


> 123546 Stratford Inc. $56.75


Calling the CC company wasn't much help. Until I found the sales slip two days after I challenged the charge, it was impossible for me to know that this was "The Old Englishe Pub" in Waterloo, ON.

Even then - I have lots of sales slips that it is only the date/time/amount that confirms the two different names are really the same thing.


Cheers


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

I use the You Need a Budget (YNAB) software, which is great because anything you charge to your credit card this month has to come out of this month's budget, even if you're paying for it next month. That tends to keep me more aware of my credit card spending, and ensures that I always have enough money available to pay my credit card bill in full. 

I simply save receipts and enter them into the software by hand; for charges made online I go to my credit card provider's website once a week and enter the transactions into the YNAB software from there (you can also download them into the software if you prefer).


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## christinad (Apr 30, 2013)

Thanks Spudd. I found I had bookmarked Money Strands but I don't think it has a Canadian version. 

My Own Advisor: To be honest, by the end of the month I find it difficult to remember everything I bought. I'm sure if I sat down and looked at it in detail I could do it. I think I need to look at my money spending more frequently.


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

Hey Christina,

I wasn't trying to be smart, I just assumed most CC companies provide that min. detail in their online or printed statements.

I'm a nerd when it comes to expenses, not always frugal, but I check stuff every few days for budgeting or hacking purposes.


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## the-royal-mail (Dec 11, 2009)

I don't see why you need 3rd party software to learn what you could learn by simply reading your statements. That's what I've been doing for years and it works. The main enemy is recurring expenses. Know how to say no to stuff.


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

the-royal-mail said:


> I don't see why you need 3rd party software to learn what you could learn by simply reading your statements. That's what I've been doing for years and it works. The main enemy is recurring expenses. Know how to say no to stuff.


Exactly, not sure what the need for software is either then again my statements are rather simple. 

My Visa Example:

Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Safeway 12.79
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Walmart 17.28
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Princess Auto 7.89
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88
Tim Hortons 1.88

My fuel and food go on my Amex from Costco.


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## Barwelle (Feb 23, 2011)

@cainvest: You've got the cheap variant of the Latte Factor: The Timmy Ho's Factor! :biggrin:

I do like the fact that my employer pays for coffee at work...

My girlfriend uses Mint to budget and track her expenses... seems simple enough to use, and nice that it's automatic. I used Gnucash last year and it involves a fair bit of work... you're supposed to be able to import transactions but I found that I had to manually change most of the transactions. Either the program's not set up right, or (more likely) I just didn't get a hang of it (you should be pretty good with computers as it is an open-source program so it's geared more towards computer 'geeks'.)

Only reason why I haven't tried Mint is because of security... I'd rather not have one program accessing all of my financial accounts... but it is supposed to be secure.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

I think the online tracking things are a really bad idea. Give your banking/cc password to a separate web site??? No way! I would never do it.

As soon as that second web site gets hacked -- and it will -- the hackers have all the info to access your accounts. Web sites get hacked all the time. Incredibly frequently (e.g. Yahoo, Twitter and LinkedIn were both hacked recently and had many user passwords stolen, and those are huge professional operations).

Look guys: if Twitter, LinkedIn, and Yahoo can't prevent a breach and theft of usernames & passwords, then Mint.com can't prevent it either.

I simply use a spreadsheet where I add an entry for everything I spend, whether it's cash or credit card. It's manual work, sure, but it pays off and you'll know exactly where your money goes.


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## lonewolf (Jun 12, 2012)

Some say to have a seperate computer that is just for banking.


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

@Barwelle: Yes, I'm a partial Timmy's addict. 



james4beach said:


> I simply use a spreadsheet where I add an entry for everything I spend, whether it's cash or credit card. It's manual work, sure, but it pays off and you'll know exactly where your money goes.


I can understand cash payments but is it manual entry for your CC as well? Doesn't your online banking give you the option to download in csv/txt?


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

cainvest said:


> I can understand cash payments but is it manual entry for your CC as well? Doesn't your online banking give you the option to download in csv/txt?


They (the cc web site) does, but I track it separately because this tracking process is also how I verify every item on the credit card statement. I manually track each spending item. When I get the credit card statement I run down item by item, verifying against my manually built spreadsheet.

Just two days ago I caught an improper charge when doing this check.

If I just downloaded the cc items in CSV, it would be easier to miss wrong charges because I wouldn't have an independent record to compare against. But I guess it depends on how much you trust the accuracy of CC charges. At some point you have to verify them item by item anyway, right?


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

the-royal-mail said:


> I don't see why you need 3rd party software to learn what you could learn by simply reading your statements. That's what I've been doing for years and it works. The main enemy is recurring expenses. Know how to say no to stuff.


Where the line item on the CC statement or online is unique enough - sure. However, as mentioned up thread - what's in the line item description may be of no help at all.

I'd also have thought the "it's a reasonable amount" whim transactions would be the bigger enemy that recurring items that have to be paid anyway. But then again - I don't put any recurring discretionary items on my CC.




james4beach said:


> They (the cc web site) does, but I track it separately because this tracking process is also how I verify every item on the credit card statement. I manually track each spending item. When I get the credit card statement I run down item by item, verifying against my manually built spreadsheet.
> 
> Just two days ago I caught an improper charge when doing this check ...


+1.

If there is a bogus charge - it is automatically included in both the online and statement CC details that will make up the *.csv file. So I can only see using this feature *after* confirming the details in the file are valid.


Cheers


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## cainvest (May 1, 2013)

james4beach said:


> At some point you have to verify them item by item anyway, right?


Agreed, well at least everyone should. I verify each item online weekly before I pay it off but I also don't keep any local records of my CC, other than what they send me.

One oddity, my Visa has no option for paperless but my Amex does, go figure.


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

Hey Christine, it may help to write every expense down. Manually doing that may be better than reviewing your VISA statement online.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Cal said:


> Hey Christine, it may help to write every expense down. Manually doing that may be better than reviewing your VISA statement online.


Write it down ... use a notepad in one's smartphone ... copy the details from the sales slip into a spreadsheet ...

Whatever way results in the needed info being readily available.


Cheers


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## donald (Apr 18, 2011)

Has anyone used~myfinancetracker?(rbc)I didn't even ask for it.I link all my accounts and it automatically can identify all purchases and than allocates it(1 mth/3 mth/1 yr ect)
It will automatically breakdown my Rent/utilities/gas/consumers/restaurants/cc ect
It shows percentages/amounts/dates ect(you can compare)---I'm shocked it can sort and identify all my purchases.
It is a sweet system rbc has......somebody out there must have what i have.?......It is similar to rbc direct and how they breakdown all investments ect in the tool bar section.


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## christinad (Apr 30, 2013)

Thanks for all the advice. I think i'll try pocket budget - its an android app. I set up mint but I think it will be hard to differentiate between categories. For example, I shop at Walmart and there doesn't seem to be a way to split an expense into more than 1 category. Maybe i'm wrong.


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## christinad (Apr 30, 2013)

Whew! When I received my paper statement in the mail it was only for $795. When I looked online it was showing 2 months and since I had a $700 moving expense it added to $1600. I learned I spent $160 in clothes and $260 in groceries from looking at Mint. I still think it will be worthwhile to track my spending as I would like to save more.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

^^^

Tracking is a good idea ... just make sure to pick a method that works for you or your won't keep it updated! :chuncky:


Cheers


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

I get so excited about tracking spending. I think time spent doing this is a much bigger contributor to growing wealthy, compared to investments. Even if you optimize your investments you may gain what, like another couple % a year in performance? Big deal. By managing your expenses well you could be saving 10% or even 20% more income.


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## Barwelle (Feb 23, 2011)

James, I agree with you that keeping spending in check is crucial, but managing investments is just as important.

Let's pick some random numbers - I'll try to pick something middle-of-the-road:

Say you make $50,000 per year, and have a $500,000 mutual fund portfolio.

If you save 10% of your income, you've saved $5,000.

If you save 1% on investing fees (MER) by switching your mutual funds to ETFs, you've saved $5,000.

Now we can cherry-pick numbers and situations and investments all we want, every single situation is different... and I am not saying it is wrong to mind your expenses... but, living frugally while ignoring your investments is a good way to overlook some major potential growth in wealth. That "couple % a year in performance" can translate into big $ amounts as your savings and portfolio grow. Admittedly not so important with small portfolios, but in time, it becomes more and more important.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Barwelle, you're right... that couple % savings on a big portfolio really can save a lot (and I endorse minimizing MERs whenever possible). Bigger the portfolio, the more important fee optimization becomes. So absolutely you are correct, in a large portfolio, it does matter a lot.

Among young people my age, I don't know many with large portfolios, but I do know several with high incomes who blow it all away on wasteful purchases & habits


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## Koala (Jan 27, 2012)

I've had a few statements where I couldn't tell what the store was from the description or from remembering my spending. Google usually solves the problem using the description.


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