UNITED STATES—I am technically savvy, but anyone who knows me is aware that I am old school at the same time. Before we had cellphones, the infamous blackberry, the iPad, the desktop computer, the laptop, there was something most people used to keep track of things: paper. Nothing is more helpful to remembering things than jotting them down on a piece of paper, I prefer a notebook, but to each is their own.
With that said, I might be the only person I know besides my sister who actually keeps track of their expenses in a notebook. Hear me out first before you decide to provide any critiques. I have a checking account, I have a saving account and I know how to balance a checkbook, hell I think I’m the only person in my family who still knows how to do it.
It really is NOT that difficult, but you have to remember there are lots of people who don’t know anything when it comes to finances. I seriously think instead of teaching economics and civics in high school, it should be mandatory for people to know basics when it comes to handling money. Profits, losses, credits and debits and so much more America that NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT! You would be stunned how many people seriously have NO IDEA how to count money, and do bare basics when it comes to handling your money.
With that said, me writing out my expenses and income each week, helps me keep track of what is coming in, what is going out and where I could be saving more. There is like an impulse that moves through my fingers and travels to my brain when I’m writing things down. It is a trigger, it is a reminder. You need to ensure you take care of this, take care of that, don’t forget this; it is quite helpful to say the least people
Also who doesn’t want to have something that you can go back to over and over again to review your notes? So much was spent at this establishment last month, this month things decreased, a few weeks I spent a bit more at this establishment than I thought. You truly learn things about your spending habits when you have something staring you directly in the face. The biggest likely being the fact that you might frequent certain places too much and it might be a sign to cut down.
In addition to learning where your money is being spent, when you write out your expenses it produces a visual blueprint that becomes engrained in your memory for you. You know what needs to be taken care of; you know how much to spend; you know what to save. More than anything it helps you stay organized. That is the key word, it helps you stay ORGANIZED! So many of us are disorganized and that lack of clarity and structure only leads to more problems down the road.
With that said, writing things down is stimulation for the brain it helps improve critical thinking, analyzation and memory. Do as you like, but remember computers and cellphones weren’t all around, back in the day it was ALL ABOUT WRITING THINGS ON PAPER. Paper still exists so we should embrace it.
Written By Jason Jones
