How to track your spending (and keep it up)
Updated October 7, 2026 · By the Souski team
Tracking your spending means writing down where your money goes during the month so you can compare it with what you planned. It's the step that turns a budget on paper into a budget that works. Here are the 4 ways to do it, a simple routine you can keep up, and the mistakes that make people give up.
Why track your spending?
Because almost everyone underestimates what they spend. The big bills (rent, loans) are known; it's the small, repeated purchases that quietly push a budget off course.
Example: Tom thought he spent "about €100" a month on extras. After a month of tracking, he finds €64 of coffees and pastries, €78 of food deliveries and €38 of small online purchases: €180. The point isn't to cut everything, but to decide with your eyes open. By halving his deliveries, he frees up almost €40 a month for savings.
The 4 ways to track your spending
| Method | Strengths | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Notebook | Simple, no tools | No calculations, easy to forget |
| Your banking app | Automatic | One bank only, shows the past, no planned budget |
| Spreadsheet | Free, made to measure | Fiddly on a phone |
| Budgeting app | Fast, automatic calculations | Takes a little habit-building |
The best method is the one you'll still be using in three months. If you do your admin on a computer, our free budget spreadsheet is a good start. If you mostly spend with your phone in hand, an app will feel more natural: our comparison of budgeting apps helps you choose.
The 4-step routine
1. Set up your categories
Eight to twelve categories are enough: housing, groceries, transport, eating and going out, shopping, health, subscriptions, hobbies, gifts, miscellaneous. Too many makes logging a chore; too few teaches you nothing. Give each category a planned amount: that's what makes your tracking meaningful (see how to make a monthly budget).
2. Log each expense on the spot
The right habit: log it within seconds of buying, as you leave the shop or put your card away. Three details are enough: the amount, the category and a word to remember it by. By the evening, it's already too late to remember the small purchases.
3. Do a 10-minute check-in every week
Once a week, compare your spending with what you planned, category by category. Glance at your bank statement too, to catch anything you missed. If a category is already well used, there's still time to slow down before the end of the month.
4. Review at the end of the month
Look at the gaps between planned and actual, and adjust next month's budget. A realistic budget usually takes two or three months of fine-tuning. It's also a good moment to spot subscriptions you no longer use.
5 mistakes that make people give up
- Tracking in too much detail: 40 categories plus sub-categories is a guaranteed way to quit within two weeks.
- Saving it all for the weekend: things get forgotten, the numbers drift, and you stop trusting them.
- Tracking without a budget: knowing you spent €320 on groceries is useless if you don't know you'd planned €280.
- Feeling guilty: tracking is for deciding, not for judging yourself. An overspent category is information, not failure.
- Stopping after a bad month: that's the month that teaches you the most. Just pick it up again next month.
Tracking your spending with Souski
Souski is designed to make tracking take as little time as possible:
- the ＋ button adds an expense in 5 seconds, and the category is guessed from the description;
- recurring transactions (rent, subscriptions, salary) are added automatically every month;
- you can import a statement exported from your bank to catch up (Premium);
- you see live what's left in each envelope and how much you can still spend today.
All with no connection to your bank: logging spending yourself is exactly what keeps you aware of it.
Your budget ready in 3 minutes, your spending logged in 5 seconds. Free, no bank connection.
Frequently asked questions
Should I track every expense, even the tiny ones?
Yes, at least for the first month. A coffee, a snack or a takeaway is nothing on its own, but they're usually what explains "I don't know where my money goes". Once you know your habits, you can group small purchases into a single category.
How much time does it take?
A few seconds per expense if you log it on the spot, then 10 minutes a week to check where you stand. That's far quicker than rebuilding a whole month from your bank statements.
Isn't my banking app enough to track spending?
It shows what has already gone through your account, sometimes a few days late, and only for that bank. To know how much you can still spend in each category before payday, you need to compare that spending with a planned budget.
What about cash payments?
Log them straight away, or they vanish. If you take €50 out of a cash machine, you can also log the withdrawal as a "Cash" expense and skip the details.
This guide gives general pointers and isn't personalised financial advice.