Alt, we need to clear up some important points before we start talking. Saving money is one thing, keeping track of it is another, and managing it is another.. Often in my work I encounter some confusion: the women I meet start from ideas that are really in the middle of the real path and that must be anticipated by preparatory steps.

I mean, before you can talk about savings management, you need to learn how to save well, and before you can save well, you need to learn how to control our cash flows in and out very well. It’s not just a matter of using the currently trendy app: the first step is to start working on changing mindsets and habits. Financial thinking begins with a full understanding of how and where we spendwhy and when, because money is closely related to emotions and aspects of our lives, especially women. Therefore, even before saving, let’s talk about monitoring, controlling and tracking where our money goes.

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Control and track expenses

I have dedicated this article to the issue of keeping track of the expenses we deal with on a daily basis, and the tools can range from the classic piece of paper with notes written in pen, to more or less long sheets of Excel, to amazing and colorful special applications.

Which of these tools is the best?

We try to abandon the notion of absolute best, otherwise we always fall back on the age-old fallacy of wanting to standardize all diversity, people’s idiosyncrasies, habits and predispositions, in the unfortunate recipe “you can’t fail with this tool.” It’s not impossible, failure is inevitable, and that’s perfectly normal when you’re approaching something new, especially something complex like money and the universe that revolves around it. Normalized this point, let’s say that it is sacred that you choose the instrument that YOU feel best withand it may take you several attempts to identify it.

What costs less and breaks the ice is the paper-based approach, be it the simplest notebook or Kakebo. For those familiar with computers, even an Excel file is great to work with, and just do a Google search to find examples ready to compile, but something that includes a simple list of items prepared by us will also work. Speaking of personal expense tracker and tracker apps, it’s easy to find up-to-date review lists online to help you make your choice.

A couple of thoughts:

• – Pay attention to free versions and limited functions, as well as a request to upgrade to a paid version in order to be able to transfer, for example, data from an application to our computer or have something more in-depth as a service.

• – Do we know where this data goes? I’m talking mostly about the free versions. You know that if something is free, then the reward will be you and your data. Information is valuable in today’s society, so all that good data about our spending habits, where does it go? Where are they stored? Who are they read by? And how are they used?

These are the questions I ask myself that leave me confused about using apps at this stage. Perhaps you should also think about this before downloading another app and signing up for a personal account. However, there are some banks that also provide functions related to expense categorization and related statistics in their application, which is convenient because you can combine using the usual application of your bank and your current account with simple management and daily control of items. expenses.

Next step: save money

Here, when we are clear where our money is going, we have a good basis for assessing what can or cannot be avoided. After all, saving is just spending less than you earn, but when we live by the principle of “income – expenses = what I can save”, we risk never saving anything.

Even before looking for the perfect app, we need to establish a new principle in our habits on which we will base our daily lives – “income – savings = what I can afford to spend.” If we really want to save money, this should be a point that comes into play as soon as we receive a salary or compensation for our work.and once put aside, we adapt our way of life to live with what is left.

I’m well aware that fixed costs can be high, especially during this period of frenetic price and bill fluctuations: but it’s possible to start saving little by little, get carried away, end the eternal cycle of “I have to, but I can’t” never start. And in any case, if fixed costs are unchangeable, well, there are not many magic formulas, we need to increase our skills and abilities in order to increase income.

I personally believe that certain applications can be useful for those who want to get used to saving small amounts: there are cashback mechanisms, discounts on purchases, savings on percentages of spending. Obviously, if we move to real planning, other steps will need to be taken, and this is where we cover the third stage, i.e. savings management.

How to manage savings

When we want to give this change a more structured framework, not only in mentality, but also in habits and in the management of our finances and savings, then financial planner figurebecause the application is not enough to develop and achieve your economic freedom.

It is with a professional that you will find that you analyze the status quo in detail, understand what needs to be changed and how, build up resources in order to become independent in the future: effective and efficient personal finance management requires teamwork, and for this you need a real person. The technological aspect of the applications remains useful and functional, in many respects definitely comfortable, but must be combined with everything else, a holiday that always sees you at the center, with a project tailored to your needs.

So feel free to experiment with paper, Excel spreadsheets and similar software, as well as various applications to monitor, track and control your expenses, and at the same time choose the right professional partner to help you manage and invest your savings so that you finally money worked. for you, not you for them.