Track Spending With A Moleskine Notebook

Ben Popken at The Consumerist with a tip for keeping track of your finances, simply.

One of the first steps to take in getting a handle on your budget is to start tracking your spending, and for those who like to do it analog, moleskine small ruled notebooks ($10.50) are awesome.

They fit in your pocket. They have a nice hard cover with a bit of pliancy. There's a folder in the back where you can hold receipts. There's a built in ribbon as a bookmark. An elastic strap keeps the whole book bound shut. It feels very legit and professional, yet personal.

Ok, so what's the point of all this fetishization? Won't a regular notebook or piece of paper do? Certainly.

Read the full post.

[via J. Godsey]

[Originally posted 6.27.07. We will be back to our daily posting schedule tomorrow]

Ben Popken at The Consumerist with a tip for keeping track of your finances, simply.

One of the first steps to take in getting a handle on your budget is to start tracking your spending, and for those who like to do it analog, moleskine small ruled notebooks ($10.50) are awesome.

They fit in your pocket. They have a nice hard cover with a bit of pliancy. There's a folder in the back where you can hold receipts. There's a built in ribbon as a bookmark. An elastic strap keeps the whole book bound shut. It feels very legit and professional, yet personal.

Ok, so what's the point of all this fetishization? Won't a regular notebook or piece of paper do? Certainly.

Read the full post.

[via J. Godsey]

[Originally posted 6.27.07. We will be back to our daily posting schedule tomorrow]

Comments

[Becky]

It really is a good system. I keep everything in one notebook, so I started a ledger system in the back, working backwards to the middle. It's a really great system because it makes you think about what you spend -- you don't really want to write a new expense in it, so you don't spend the money. Plus, Moleskines are a perfect way to want to keep it up -- nothing is quite like the satisfaction you get from filling a whole notebook.

[Sophie Brown]

The Artist's Way and Debtor's Anonymous, both tell you to do just this. Most people find it very helpful. And you'll find that old timers will say things like, "My father always did that." It used to be a more ingrained habit around the turn of the century.

[Sam Alarcon]

That little pocket-sized notebook is a fantastic way to keep track of one's dailu expenses as well as stay on top of how much you spend when you go out.

[not]

I use Moleskine for writing that I want to keep, but not budgeting.

For budgeting, a $1 notebook from the nearest drugstore is adequate (and gives you $9-20 less to subtract from your money).

[Sophie Brown]

Either way, all of these people on the blog are like, What's the big deal about these notebooks? If you want to save money, why would you buy them? Ironic because I'm sure their own luxury items are probably more expensive than notebooks. I really think for a little luxury in life having good notebooks and pens will go a long way to keep you from feeling deprived (and THAT will help you with your budget too). They will realize if you tell them that they are comparable to the perfect blank book and not to the comp books in the drugstore. But if you don't get it, it seems you REALLY don't get it. Probably we'll end up with Moleskine ledgers.

[Felicitas]

I use a small cahier to keep track of my spending. I generally would agree, that it is not the best start to spend a lot of money to start saving. But I also believe that it does help to deal with something nasty (like to track your spending to find a way to save money) if you use gear you really like. It might be worth it. But if you don't need that trick to deal with that chore (even if you 'invented' it yourself): Congratulations!

[Abdullah]

I think keeping a notebook in one's pocket is an effective way to not only track one's spending but also to reduce it overall.