These 5 Tips Will Help You Know Where Your Money is Going Every Month

Tracking your expenses sounds like something boring only accountants do. But when it’s the middle of the month and your account balance is already depressing, it dawns on you: money left your account fast, and you weren’t tracking any of it.

You don’t always need spreadsheets and stress to get better at money management. With these simple tools and habits, you can start tracking your monthly spending and finally understand where your money is going. 

This might not be your first guess, but for people who don’t enjoy budgeting apps or Excel sheets, a good old notebook works just fine. It’s low-tech, distraction-free, and makes it easier to stay consistent.

Write down what you spend, when you spend it, and what category it falls under. By the end of the month, you’ll see clear spending patterns: how often you eat out, how much goes to transport, or how subscriptions drain your account. You can pair this with coloured pens or highlighters to separate needs, wants, and savings for better visual tracking.

People who prefer writing by hand, offline tracking, or want complete control over how their budget looks would love this. For convenience, always keep the notebook with you to save yourself from relying on your memory for everything you spend on.

This step helps you stop asking, “Where did my money go?” every single month. When you break your expenses into four key categories: needs, wants, savings, and debt, you understand how your income works for (or against) you.

• Needs: rent, food, bills, transport

• Wants: entertainment, eating out, impulse shopping

• Savings: emergency fund, future goals

• Debt: loan repayments, borrowed funds

When your expenses are grouped like this, it’s easier to track your habits and see which area is draining your income the most. It also gives you clarity on where to cut back without feeling deprived.

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One of the smartest ways to track spending is to set boundaries ahead of time. A simple rule that works for many people is the 50/30/20 rule:

• 50% of your income goes to needs

• 30% goes to wants

• 20% goes to savings or debt repayment

But if you earn irregular income, like you freelance or run a small business, you’ll need to budget based on your lowest expected income and build a cushion for slow months. Prioritise essential bills and save the extra when you earn above average.

Tracking your budget monthly also helps you adjust as your needs change. If your “wants” category has been eating up more than 30%, that’s your cue to reduce subscriptions or eating out.

If you’re already glued to your phone, it makes sense to let your phone help you budget smarter. These apps make it easy to track expenses without needing a calculator every day.

• Expensify

Originally built for businesses, Expensify also works great for personal budgeting. You can scan receipts and organise daily spending into categories. The app also supports automated reports and next-day reimbursements for company expenses. If you want a tool that handles tracking and budgeting in one smooth interface, this one is worth trying.

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• Fundall

This Nigerian app was built with your local spending habits in mind. It automatically tracks your expenses and groups them based on categories. You can also build custom budgets directly in the app, set income, assign amounts to each expense type, and let Fundall monitor it.

The best part? It offers recurring budget templates, so you don’t have to start from scratch every month.

Set up your account

• Monefy

Simplicity is Monefy’s biggest flex. The interface is fast and colourful, and it is easy to add expenses in two taps. You can instantly see pie charts showing how your money is being spent and make adjustments if things get out of hand.

Download the app

This sounds basic, but it’s one of the easiest ways to manage your finances. Instead of scrolling past your debit alerts, open your monthly statement and read it.

Look out for:

• Subscriptions you forgot about

• Price increases in things like data or electricity

• Random transfers or unplanned debits

• Trends in where your money disappears (late-night food orders)

This quick check-in will give you insight into your financial habits and help you spot problems early.

Tracking your monthly spending doesn’t have to be complicated or tedious. With the right tools, habits, and mindset, you can take complete control of your money and start making smarter choices every month.