Tracking expenses means recording every payment with its amount, category and account, then comparing the total with your plan. The method matters less than the habit: log as you spend, keep categories few and clear, and review once a week.
Updated 12 October 2026 · 5 min read
What to record for every expense
Amount and currency: what you actually paid, in the currency you paid in.
Category: groceries, transport, rent, and so on.
Account: the bank account, card, wallet or cash it came from.
Date: so the month adds up correctly.
Four ways to track expenses, compared
Method
Good at
Where it breaks
Notebook
No setup, no screen
No totals, easy to skip, hard to compare with a plan
Spreadsheet
Flexible, free
Manual formulas and exchange rates; awkward on a phone (spreadsheet vs app)
Bank-connected app
Imports transactions automatically
Only works where your bank is supported; cash and wallets are missed
Manual-entry app
Works with every bank, wallet, cash and currency; totals and budgets update instantly
You have to log each payment (a few seconds each)
Make it a habit that lasts
Log within a minute of paying. At the till or in the car park, not at the end of the week.
Keep categories few. Ten to fifteen is plenty; split one only when you need the detail.
Track every account. Cash and wallets are where untracked money usually goes.
Record the original currency. Convert at the rate on the day, so totals stay honest.
Review weekly against a plan. Tracking without a budget tells you what happened; with one, it tells you what to change. Start with how to make a monthly budget.
Tracking expenses with BudgetByChat
BudgetByChat is a free expense tracker on the web. Each expense is saved in the currency you paid in and converted to your main currency at the latest rate, against a zero-based monthly budget. It never connects to your bank, so it works with every account in every country. Logging by WhatsApp message (for example “spent 45 AED on groceries”) is coming soon: join the waitlist.
Questions
The one you will keep doing. For most people that means logging each payment within a minute of making it, on the phone they already carry, and reviewing once a week.
Start with ten to fifteen: rent, groceries, transport, utilities, phone, eating out, health, and one for each goal or regular transfer. Split a category only when you need the detail.
No. Logging by hand takes seconds per payment and works with every bank, card, wallet and cash, in any country. BudgetByChat never connects to a bank.
Record the amount in the currency you paid in and convert it into your main currency at the rate on that day. BudgetByChat does the conversion automatically at the latest rate.