How I Manage My Money - featuring My Excel Daily Expense Tracker - Steal This Now!

These are the tools and strategies that have helped me knock out credit card debt, a car loan, and 75% of my student loan, while making a modest salary, and living in an area with the highest cost of living in the United States. I am an expert on NOTHING but my own story. I’ve lived in different countries and had varying incomes/housing situations, but the way I handle and track my money has remained the same.
I know that when I’m in times of stress and uncertainty, my spending is one of the ways I cope. Just the process of tracking my numbers daily helped me to feel more calm. This works for me. This has helped me dig my way out of a financial hole and it helps me now make progress each and every day toward my ultimate goal of financial stability and freedom.
HERE'S THE BUDGET TEMPLATE I USE - www.etsy.com/WellBehavedWalle...
Here's what I do:
Daily:
Track ALL expenses. If I don’t spend anything, I enter it as a NSD “No Spend Day”
Check my bank balances
Save Receipts
Make Wish/Want lists to cope with impulses
Weekly:
Empty all receipts into monthly folders
Check my budget / square against my spending.
Before I go out to spend, I total what I’ve already spent in that category and square against my budget.
Monthly:
Budget Close Out
Yearly: (usually on my birthday)
Check my net worth/total debt
Pay My Taxes!
HERE'S THE BUDGET TEMPLATE I USE - www.etsy.com/WellBehavedWalle...
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[@hiicaliber]

this is super helpful!!! Thank You!!!

[@incomestockinvesting5626]

Very nice way to track everything. 👍 ..I need to make myself one too. ☺️ Thanks for sharing.

[@jenniferdorn9958]

You are so amazing!!! I’m so inspired by your process.

[@rachelhagen9176]

Great video The key to staying out of debt is tracking every dime you spend

[@dianaghazarian7565]

I love this! Can you do a video on how you actually set this all up on Excel? I love how organized your tracking is!

[@valerialucario9754]

Yes! How do you set up the second monthly tab ?

[@SeanBaker]

I've been specifically tracking my money since mid 2019. It's been a game changer.

[@AllanGeorge]

Thank you a lot for making this video. It has helped me understand how to properly manage my money for when I finish college. This is a new subject for me since I still live with my father and he is the one that pays the bills. I don't have a current income, but sometimes I get some money by freelancing and the mindset I had was just to spend it all since "it isn't much".

[@TheBudgetBounce]

First, I love this setup. Great aesthetics! Second, thanks for sharing your strategy. It gave me some ideas on how to manage the way I store our taxes, and your spreadsheet is awesome!

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Ahhhh!!!! Thank you so much, Jen!!!! That means so much!!! And glad it was helpful!!!

[@IsFIREforme]

Thanks for sharing. Fun to see what others do

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Absolutely!!!! Thank you for watching.

[@Smilo-the-Sabertooth]

What an essentially helpful channel you have here, I love it. Thank you so much for all of your incredibly helpful advice.

[@WellBehavedWallet]

My pleasure!! Thank you for watching.

[@Smilo-the-Sabertooth]

@@WellBehavedWallet You’re very welcome my friend. 😉👍 Liked and subscribed.

[@eyodraws6302]

Great video, thank you so much!

[@WellBehavedWallet]

You're very welcome!

[@LisaRaePageRosenberg]

It's so funny. I have that exact same red Mead folder that I use for my financial stuff for the same reasons! Thanks for your videos. xo

[@WellBehavedWallet]

lol - Yes!!! The red folder does stand out when you're looking for documents quickly, right? And Mead Five Star reminds me of high school student I wish I had been. 😜😝

[@Yollande16]

I really like the setup of this video!

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Thank you, Yolanda!!!! So glad you liked it!!!! I really enjoy this topic, too.

[@ROHIT-V7]

Hi nice video🙂

[@TkayofUK]

This was really helpful. Thanks

[@WellBehavedWallet]

SO glad it was helpful!

[@jewelasalvador]

Finally! A video I can relate to! I’ve been searching youtube since end of last year on how I can do my tracking this year. When I was younger, my friends would make fun of why I write down my daily spending. I’ve been doing it for so long that when I tried to stop, I just couldn’t. It’s more stressful for me not knowing where, what, how much I spent, etc. So I went back to doing it. I am not as stressed out when I know where all the money went😆, rather than asking family members if they can remember where I spent this much on this date. But I’ve been writing them all down. I love the details as well! But calculating everything is sometimes a hassle. I’ve always been an analog type of person. Maybe I’ll try to do a digital one just to see if I can maintain it. Thank you!

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Yay!!!! I'm so glad you enjoyed this and can relate. I am an analog girl at heart for sure!

[@joseaparecidoconceicao7878]

Good system!

[@FaysalEasyExcel]

you've done it beautifully.

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Thank you so much!!!

[@hechernandez]

I’m thinking about starting to track my money cause I need to be smarter on how I use my money and I really love your video and I also love the “wishlist” part cause it makes you wait for those things so there’s not too much impulse buying. I can’t wait to see my spending changes, hopefully it goes well🤞😅

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Yay!!!! So glad this was helpful!!!

[@faizfoad1771]

The level of organisation though ! 👏

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Ha - thanks... If only you knew!

[@KateKaden]

Random, but I loooove your thumbnail!!!!!!!! Wanted to tell you! And thank you for sharing!!!!

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Thanks, lady!!! I gave the thumbnail quite a bit of thought!!!

[@sody2000]

I do this too and I'm glad to see it works for you! (I thought I was micro managing my finances... but it is the only thing that works for me)

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Yes! Absolutely the same for me, too. It's just become a habit for me at this point.

[@slmunney7760]

I'm a huge fan of tracking expenses. For me, it was the first step to getting control of my spending and all other things related to my finances. My tracking spreadsheet has become pretty complex over time, but a simple system does just as well and may actually be better. I like the annual binder idea. I may try that.

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Ahhh!!!! Yes!!! Completely agree with tracking expenses!!! And the annual binder is a new idea that I'm really liking so far!!!

[@Farzi.motivation1]

Awesome..Can you please make a video on how to setup this on Excel?

[@tracysimon8431]

Absolute gorgeous!

[@diannealcantara7148]

Thank you thank you. This is exactly how I imagine my expense tracker to be like

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Yay!!! So glad this was helpful!!!

[@Albinontheroad]

2:40 I can totally relate with what you said :) Its fun for me too Good luck with the competition with yourself :p MORE NSDs

[@WellBehavedWallet]

lol - YES!!!! Gotta keep things interesting!!!

[@suzie.9379]

You are a very smart young lady 🌸🌸👍

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Thank you!!! That just made my night. 💞😊

[@suzie.9379]

Well Behaved Wallet oh yes, time difference! It is 8am in London. Keep up the good work 🌷🌷📚📖

[@timadams2956]

youtube self updating money tracker, its the one from cool monkey spreadsheets, only just got it so can't say a lot but looks good in how it functions for my sinking funds.

[@danielyorkman846]

wow, one that actually uptates on its own, that's cool!

[@lorichar2307]

this is so helpful thank you! is there any way we access that spreadsheet to save time on recreating it?

[@tuilleri]

Did you ever find out

[@sara-er1yr]

how were you able to set up your headings of each column to be sortable? I'm new to google sheets and struggling a bit haha!! this video is so so helpful thank you!

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Ah - yes. Good question about making headings sortable. I just went to "Data" and added "Filters" and then you have the option to make your headings sortable. Hope that helps!

[@DiscoveryWonders]

whoa, that's a lot of work. My bank acc does this detailed summary for me. and separates foods from bills from stuff like gas, housing, blah blah... and you can set the limit for each and it tells you..but that's Finland so I don't know maybe people in the USA don't have banks like that. We almost never use cash here. In some places, cash is obsolete, which I don't think is a good thing, but it does come with less corruption. Good video. Do you do calculations formulas on your Excel sheets? I like to track things like future and past expenses and plans on paper, for my own amusement, because it's sorta like a doodle fun, and I'm tired of making excel for work purposes, but for business, it is a MUST.

[@WellBehavedWallet]

lol - Yes, my bank would do it for me, but only for credit card transactions.

[@CentsibleLivingWithMoneyMom]

Love the spreadsheet., You are so dedicated. Do you sell the spreadsheet ?

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Not yet, but maybe I will!!!!! Thanks for the idea, Ms. Money Mom!!!💞

[@CentsibleLivingWithMoneyMom]

@@WellBehavedWallet you could sell it on etsy

[@ArshadPadhiar]

that's what i was looking for, detailed daily expense columns. Very well organised!!! Can i get the template or suggestions how to setup the template like this on excel. Thanks

[@WellBehavedWallet]

So glad this is helpful!!! I will work to create a download/template! For now, you are welcome to copy what I have set up!

[@ArshadPadhiar]

@@WellBehavedWallet thank you so much you are awesome. God bless

[@GirlCodewithBee]

@@WellBehavedWallet You should sell the template, I'd purchase in a heartbeat (which probably says a lot about my spending habits) let me know if you're planning to sell though, I'd seriously purchase.

[@SafakErkol]

Have you tried an app to track expenses instead? I've been using Monshare

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Ohhh, thank you for the recommendation! I've not heard of Monshare yet!

[@jaindia1661]

That's great, any chance to get the template download? Or is there another video where you show us how to actually create it?

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Ah YES - for sure. If you send me an email, I can give you access: [e-mail]

[@jaindia1661]

@@WellBehavedWallet Thank You :) I have just sent you an email

[@lickabadger]

Well Behaved Wallet hi there, I’d love to get a template of your spreadsheet please! I’ve also sent you an email :) thank you

[@Christian-dg9qt]

oh when you said steal I thought you meant five finger discount lol

[@WellBehavedWallet]

lol - oh no!!! but I can see how you thought that!

[@donnaledbetter1571]

What do you use to track your net worth?

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Hi Donna - Right now I'm just tracking my net worth on a plain old Word doc, but it might be worthwhile to use an actual Excel sheet!

[@janefromthecountry1820]

Hello! How much do you spend on groceries every month? We track ours - $400 a month for two adults. Accelerating our mortgage. Do you do your own nails? Look pretty.

[@venniewhite4813]

Total Excel novice so please be patient: At 3:45 you say, "you can see I've spent at total of $219..." Where does the $219 show on spreadsheet? Thanks.

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Ah! Good question. Totally my fault because you can't see it on the spreadsheet. Where it WOULD show is in the lower right hand corner. Here's a screenshot: drive.google.com/file/d/1kyo8FNJxcp6jIautB633Nc0yeAE0Xo7D/view?usp=sharing

[@HarPlayer]

Any new video's coming out????😄😄😄😄😄

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Another one coming out on Saturday morning!

[@zekemelixsebulino290]

i wonder if you can share your excel file :)

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Hello there - yes, I am planning to make this version shareable. I hope give out further updates soon!

[@Muskrat56]

@@WellBehavedWallet Thank you for the video, it is very helpful. I am completely new to spreadsheets. I am wondering if there is a way to make a sheet or column and take a photo or scan the receipt into that space. Thanks again.

[@geoffreycurrie9582]

Make bagels at home. It's just flour which costs $2 ?

[@WellBehavedWallet]

This is very true! The ingredients for bagels + spreads are pretty cheap.

[@HarPlayer]

Don't 4 GET 2 morrow a New video!!!!!!😃😃😃😃

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Already scheduled and ready to go!!!!!!!

[@ValleAlejandra]

I am still waiting for a step by step on how you did this... This video is basically you venting on your expenses... lost just 3 min of my time

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Hey there - I'm really sorry you feel like you lost time. Starting at 1:39 I show a step by step of the Excel template. Can you let me know what else I could have shown to make it more useful for you?

[@richsamuel]

maaan isn't she lovely?

[@HarPlayer]

What is your back ground?????😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄

[@HarPlayer]

But SERIOUSLY FIND A RICH HUSBAND!!!!!!!!💵💵💵💵💵💵💵💵💵💵💵💵💵💵💰💰💴💴💴💴💴💰💴💴💷💷💷💶💶💵💵💵💵💵💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💸💵💵💵💵💵💵💵💵💵💵!!!!!!

[@Matt-rw9py]

Your beauty was distracting me the whole video

[@WellBehavedWallet]

Awww - thank you! You made my day. :)