
Adulthood| So… I screwed up my finance planning
Throughout this entire time, I have adhered to a standard system where I use my monthly income to deduct all my expenses and save the remaining balance. However, over the past 2-3 years, I have been living from one paycheck to another, without any savings or leftover funds. This situation is quite distressing, but I have managed to remain composed and taken all necessary steps to ensure I don’t miss any payments.
This predicament arose because I indulged in excessive spending during December 2021, which had a detrimental effect on my finances in the subsequent months. In some instances, I had to sell some of my gadgets and gizmos to cover my credit card bills, while in other cases, I had to divide the outstanding balances into installments, perpetuating a cycle of debt. Upon analyzing my spending habits for a few months, I noticed several noteworthy issues.
- Monthly food expenses and transport fees are getting higher compared to when I was at the university.
- Quarterly beauty expenses are usually 300-500 bucks a round.
- Occasionally, I make big purchases using installments because I have so many things that I want to do, naturally, I have a lot of things I want to buy, such as a new camera, new lenses, new gadgets, utility bags, and such.

One major issue is that I don’t have a clear view of the money leaving my possession. Rather than making direct payments, I often rely on credit cards for various reasons. Since I don’t physically feel the money being spent, I tend to believe that I still have available funds to spend. However, this leads to anxiety when I receive my credit card statements. Even though I maintain a spreadsheet to track recurring fees and statements, it hasn’t been effective enough in making me feel financially secure.
To address this problem, instead of going through the process of documenting all the ins and outs once again, I decided to focus on accurately determining my monthly expenditures. As a first step, I downloaded an app (without any sponsorship) that solely tracks my “spending” portion of finances.

Why? I remember that when I had complete control over my finances, keeping track of my expenses and spending proved beneficial in identifying unnecessary purchases. You see, one of my strengths lies in avoiding things that don’t bring me any benefits.
I refrain from smoking or gambling because, in my view, they only lead to definite losses. While I do indulge in occasional drinking, I am mindful of not making it a regular habit, considering the adverse effects it can have on my kidney, liver, and finances.
In the past, I used to spend a significant amount of money on items like stickers, idol merchandise, craft, and music hobbies, among others. I also remember spending thousands on things like beading items, boarding games, young adult fiction novels, and all, but they are gathering dust in my room or I was forced to discard/giveaway to make space. As I reflect on my past actions, I develop thought processes to determine whether my potential expenses are truly necessary.
Clearly, this skill is not something innate to us from birth. It requires practice, and my lessons were learned through unnecessary expenses I incurred in the past. The key point here is that we must reflect on our actions to pave the way for a better future. Otherwise, if we continue without mindful consideration, we won’t achieve improved results.

So, I decided to visit the app store and searched for “spending tracker.” The first option that appeared was an app called Spendee, which had 6.5k reviews at that time. While there were other alternatives like Money Manager (Realbyte or Learnings.AI), my main focus was on tracking my expenses rather than income.
Spendee (once again, not sponsored) has proven to be extremely useful due to its simplicity. It allows you the freedom to personalize labels and categories according to your preferences. Additionally, you can set up scheduled transactions, whether they are recurring or one-time. However, since my objective is straightforward, I don’t require an account upgrade for more complex features, nor do I need to complicate the process with recurring setups.
Like many other money-tracking apps, Spendee offers the option to link your bank accounts and/or wallet. However, I do not recommend doing so, as it may pose some security concerns. When it comes to handling finances, I prefer to exercise utmost caution.
The standard interface of Spendee provides me with the necessary information to effectively monitor my monthly finances. It includes a straightforward transaction view and displays the remaining balance. While you have the option to view your bank or wallet details (although I advise against linking them to any apps), you can also make simple adjustments in the settings menu.
The Spending Overview page offers additional statistics. You can access charts that depict your total spending over various dates, as well as a pie chart illustrating the distribution of your transactions across different categories.
As of now, I have only utilized the app for the month of June 2023. I look forward to providing you with a comprehensive update on my experience in the coming months.
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