<p>I would like to use a phone app to track spending…especially small expenses. The small expenses are the ones that are easily “lost” and forgotten. </p>
<p>It has to be quick and easy to use, otherwise I probably won’t use it effectively.</p>
<p>I prefer one that is good for Android and iPhones. </p>
<p>What have y’all found and why do you like it?</p>
<p>This might be to obvious…your bank’s free online app. That’d be first app to get.</p>
<p>Anyone use Intuit’s ‘Mint’ Android app?</p>
<p>I have “Mint” on my phone. It’s great and all, but I do not use it because I don’t want to sync my bank account with it.</p>
<p>Confession…</p>
<p>I don’t really need this for myself, but H nickels and dimes himself to DEATH. So, I thought it was only fair if we BOTH tracked our daily spending. Yes, anything with a debit card gets tracked easily and can be seen online. </p>
<p>I want something that can easily be used on the phone to track cash spending or whatever. </p>
<p>Personally, I would get rid of nearly all cash spending, but H always likes to have $80+ in his wallet and goes thru it like water. It’s a New Year, and I’d like him to SEE where his cash goes. He truly never remembers within a day where the cash went.</p>
<p>Maybe this is hopeless because he may just refuse to enter his purchases. :(</p>
<p>Maybe I can get him to agree to $20-40 in the wallet and only “replenish” on a weekly basis and used Debit Card for EVERYTHING else. </p>
<p>H is a “consumable spender”. He rarely buys anything that is “kept”. He’s the type to run into the Quik Stop at the gas station and blow $20 on just crap…seriously…a couple of bottled beverages, snacks, etc…at crazy gas station prices. He does this even when he isn’t stopping for gas. He hates the “hassle” of regular stores.</p>
<p>He’s also a big fan of Drive Thru’s and he, alone, can ring up $20 in fast food…no problem (no, he’s not fat, he’s tall and athletic).</p>
<p>I call it “invisible spending” because he has nothing to show for these consumed purchases…so they’re quickly forgotten in his head. “Hmmm…I had $60 a couple of days ago, where did it go.”</p>
<p>Well, an app can’t track cash without input. Does he not have an updated check book. (Although, I feel like I already know the answer…) </p>
<p>His spending habits need to be address. I see you’re trying to start that by showing him where his money goes. </p>
<p>Does he keep receipts? I have found that going through receipts is helpful. This last summer, I (had to) made an excel sheet that was able to show where I spent my money, when I sorbt my money, how much of my income I spent…all that jazz.</p>
<p>Can he take a photo of a place where he is spending followed by a photo of the bills and coins he gives to the cashier? That will not help with tracking, but at least he will have some ideas about where the money went… :)</p>
<p>Your husband has to be willing participant tracking his spending. Maybe have him carry a regular old checkbook register and make entries in it…instead of logging checks…enter cash purchases. </p>
<p>If he isn’t willing to log purchases…use my mom’s system…her right hand. Just clean all the cash out of his wallet each morning before he leaves home.</p>
<p>Don’t clean out his wallet! :eek:</p>
<p>That’s how it works with my parents since the ‘incident.’ One time my mom goofed up the checking account and bounced like a dozen checks. She ‘voluntarily’ gave up her checking writing privileges at home after my dad semi-blew his top. Now if my mom needs money she just grabs it from my dad’s wallet when she feels like it. Seems fair and their system works ok for them.</p>
<p>That’s different from cleaning out his wallet. </p>
<p>Everyone needs emergency cash or something…</p>
<p>Assuming you aren’t asking to control him, just that you want him to see where it goes…he might be willing to get receipts for every purchase, and he doesn’t get new $ to carry unless he produces the receipts of what he spent. It will force him to at least acknowledge what he spent $ on all week.he might not participate if he thinks you will try to take $ away from his spending money. You could have a little money meeting each Sunday night before you load up the wallet with cash for the week.</p>
<p>Assuming you aren’t asking to control him, just that you want him to see where it goes…</p>
<p>lol…I’ll own up to both. What I mean is…we’ve been together for over 30 years. This has long been an issue. Money burns a hole in his pocket. He truly doesn’t remember what’s he’s purchased…and he probably doesn’t WANT to remember because then he’d feel some obligation to own/accept it. lol</p>
<p>H would like to retire in the next couple of years…maybe sooner if the numbers work out. He’s 58.</p>
<p>BUT… before he retires, I want him to have a handle on this. He REALLY THINKS that he doesn’t spend any money. lol He’ll say, “look around, where are the things that I’m buying?” When I try to explain that he spends money on consumed stuff (food, beverages, snacks, golf, gym, etc), he thinks I’m crazy because he’ll say, “oh that’s nothing.” (and this is from a math guy…he doesn’t do the math…lol). He’ll say, “you’re the one who just spent $150” (uh yes, $150 for a repair for one of our rentals! lol…I’m not wearing that $150!!!)</p>
<p>See that’s the problem. My spending can be big…much bigger than his. But it’s not on myself! One of my rentals is a vacation rental (fully furnished, you get the idea). So, yes, when the big screen TV went out a short-time ago, I had to quickly buy another…that was more than some fast food purchases! (but I got a good deal! It was a SamsClub return and I got the store to knock off even more.) </p>
<p>I know it’s crazy, but H will sometimes equate a business or family expense as a “M2CK’s expense”…lol (for instance, when we bought our first son his baby crib (on clearance/low price!), H called that “M2CK’s expense”. (nutty, I know!!! He’s long apologized for that crazy thinking)</p>
<p>Yes, I realize that an app that tracks cash purchases needs the person to input. I think I’m going to have to convince him to go to a “low cash allowance” and buy everything with a debit card…even if it’s a $4 coffee.</p>
<p>So, yes, guilty at wanting to control some of this, but also wanting H to become more aware while planning to retire. He really doesn’t think he spends any money!!</p>
<p>Do you have a debit or credit with decent rewards? We had a credit card from the same company that held our mortgage for years. We’d never used a CC much but the rewards was cash towards your principle balance. We started funneling every purchase through that account making a single payment each month. I’m talking everything. We each carried a $20 for emergencies because there are times a card reader is down. Our mortgage has sense been sold to another lender and we now have a similar card through our bank that simply puts cash back in $25 increments into our savings. We don’t fly so airline miles that a lot of cards give wouldn’t work for us. Anyway, if you can get your DH on board with a rewards card and the benefit of running every purchase through that account he may be more likely to comply. Just a thought. Good luck. In a 25-30yr marriage there are always a few tweaks to be made. ;)</p>
<p>We’re not much credit card users. We’re pretty much debit card and cash users. </p>
<p>however, you did give me an idea. our credit union gives some kind of points for each “swipe” of the debit card. I’ll tell H that even for little purchases, to swipe his debit card. </p>
<p>I’m really starting to suspect that he REALLY doesn’t want a paper trail for all the sodas, coffees, snacks, Taco Bell stops, etc. </p>
<p>I guess I’m just annoyed that “M2CK spending” is for family/business and is larger, so he thinks whatever he’s doing is better. (8 years ago, I bought a $15 pet blanket at Costco and H complained! Our pets still USE that blanket…it’s folded in their crate! Yet, $20 thru a Drive thru is gone is minutes never to be seen again…(ok, let’s not go there! lol) </p>
<p>ugh!!! If retirement wasn’t looming, I probably wouldn’t be fretting…</p>
<p>Even though my husband is the one who makes all the money… I have him on a cash allowance.
We do not have debit cards only the atm card for the bank. He puts gas on a credit card but for everyday purchases he is limited to the amount I give him every week. Of course if the car needs repair or he needs to buy a new suit for work that’s ok. But things like the stops at dunkin donuts, the book store and going out to eat for lunch… that all comes out of his weekly cash. I don’t care what he spends it on as long as he doesn’t go over. Maybe you could come up with a weekly amount and hand it to him and say that’s it… I give my husband his cash on Thursdays…</p>
<p>I do think a weekly cash allowance is the answer. I don’t care if he blows thru a small amount. He’s a grown man and everyone has a few things they blow some money on. He just doesn’t realize it all adds up. If he blows $30 a day, that’s just too much per month. but, he doesn’t like doing the math. i am NOT talking about gas, etc. These are totally excessive consumer spending.</p>
<p>Whatever we do, we both have to do it and that’s fine with me. I don’t want H to feel “picked on” which he would feel if only he were on an allowance. I just want to make sure that we have all our ducks in a row before he retires. </p>
<p>Another thing is…he doesn’t pay the least bit attention to totals when he buys something…even with a debit card. he recently was overcharged over $100 for a Rx, but he didn’t notice. The pharmacy forgot to run his insurance and just billed him $128. He didn’t even notice. I noticed it so he had to go back and get that fixed. The only reason I noticed was because the receipt was stapled to the bag. How do you pay over a hundred dollars for something that you know should only cost you fifteen bucks? That was the only thing purchased during the transaction.</p>
<p>^ lol. I pick up all our prescriptions. I’m not sure my husband would even know what he should be charged for certain Rx.</p>
<p>Perhaps a different approach. You could tell him with possible retirement looming (or whatever reason) you are going to start tracking monthly expenses. If he has anything that’s NOT a personal expense (gas, something for the house, etc), could he please give you the receipt to track properly. Otherwise you’ll simply code all of his cash withdraws as his personal expenses. Then you start coding. The TV for the rental unit is no longer a M2CK expense, but ‘rental maintenance’ or whatever you wish to call it. You can use any simple program for this. It puts the onus on you, but the likelihood of him keeping track is small. Perhaps when he sees the monthly expense reports you provide he will see two things…he is spending a lot on non-essentials (which he’s either okay with or not), and M2CK personal expenses aren’t so high. If he wants to reduce his personal expenses he needs to give you receipts showing otherwise, or spend differently.</p>
<p>Obviously, easier said then done. Again just tossing out an idea. If you find one thing that’s worth trying then it’s all good.</p>
<p>But receipts! ARGH, I can’t stand receipts.</p>