Don't keep too much in there, though - your checking account is the digital equivalent of keeping money under the mattress. I keep a bit of a cushion in it, just in case ( there's always something) and experts say your checking account should hold at least a month of net pay. My bank sends me a daily update on the balance and any activity. I regularly use three credit cards (two airline rewards, one cash back, none of which are so fantastic I feel the need to recommend) and I don't carry any credit card debt. I toyed around with the idea for a bit, but never could make it work in any meaningful way. I don't include my credit card balance because I can't see the point in double-listing that info. Nearly every expenditure on this sheet is made via credit card. I have two accounts, actually, to keep my savings goals separate. (This is not a plug or sponsored post - after reading enough personal finance bloggers sing Ally's praises, I decided to give it a shot, and it's working out so far.) That sounds meager, but it's about 100 times what you earn in a standard savings account. I have a high-yield savings account with online bank Ally that earns me 1% on my savings. That's a quick way to drive yourself nuts. I choose to leave them off, operating with the idea that I don't want to check them every day. Where are your retirement savings and investments? I don't know if it will always suit my lifestyle, and tracking spending expense by expense drives some people up a wall, but for now, I like the close look at my finances.
I like to do it every day because if I waited a week, I'd have to spend much more time on it in one sitting. If something looks odd, I'll pop into the online portals for my credit cards and make sure I can figure out each charge.
I still have my LearnVest account, so I pull the numbers from there. To answer some of the questions and comments I expect will crop up. Again, you can access the spreadsheet HERE »
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