Introduction
Expense tracking is a crucial part of being a digital nomad and keeping your finances up to date. It's also the first step in making sure that you're spending money wisely, whether you track every dollar or just want to get an idea of how much you spend on certain things. In this article, we'll explain what expense tracking is and why it's important for digital nomads. We'll also show you how to get started with tracking your own expenses so that you can start making smart financial decisions!
What is expense tracking?
Expense tracking is the process of keeping a record of your spending. It's not just for those people who want to be more frugal, though; expense tracking can help you save money, plan for the future and make decisions about where you spend money.
If you're a digital nomad who has been working remotely for several years now, chances are that at some point in time, you have been burned by unexpected expenses or missed opportunities because they weren't planned properly (or at all). In this post, I'm going to show how tracking my own expenses helped me become more efficient with my money and stay on top of my finances--no matter where I am working next!
Why do I need to track my expenses?
If you're a digital nomad, then you know that one of the biggest challenges is keeping track of your expenses. When your work takes you around the world, it can be hard to remember what all those dollars and cents are being spent on. This can lead to overspending and unnecessary stress (which we all know is NOT good for our health).
So why do I need to track my expenses? Well, there are several reasons:
It helps me see where my money is going so I can make better financial decisions in the future.
It helps me save money by showing me where I'm spending too much or not enough--and then giving me the opportunity to change those habits!
It makes me feel more financially secure because now I know exactly how much money is coming in versus going out each month (and therefore whether or not there's enough left over at the end of each month).
How do I know what to track?
It's important to track your expenses, but it can be overwhelming at first. You might not know where to start or what information you need to keep track of.
In order to create an effective expense tracking system, we recommend starting with these three categories: spending habits, daily expenses and monthly expenses. By keeping track of each category separately (and even yearly if necessary), you'll be able to see how much money is coming in versus going out--and how much is saved or spent on special occasions like birthdays or holidays!
How do I track my expenses?
When it comes to tracking your expenses, there are a number of different options. You can use a spreadsheet, an app or even pen and paper. The best option will depend on your needs and preferences.
Spreadsheets: For those who prefer the simplicity of an Excel doc or Google Sheets file, this is probably their best bet. They're easy to create and share with others who have access to them as well - whether that be through emailing or storing them in Dropbox/Google Drive/iCloud Drive (or whatever other cloud storage service you use).
Apps: There are so many different apps out there boasting themselves as "the best" expense tracker for digital nomads - but which one actually is? We've tried many ourselves and found FreeeUp by far has been the most useful tool for us both when working remotely from our home base in Bali as well as travelling around Southeast Asia without WiFi connection available 24 hours per day!
The reason why we like FreeeUp so much? Firstly it's free...and secondly because unlike some other apps out there which only allow users access based upon their subscription fee ($10-$20 per month), FreeeUp gives everyone access regardless if they pay any fees at all!! So basically anyone can download this app onto their phone right now without having spent anything yet whatsoever :)
Where can I track my expenses?
When it comes to tracking your expenses, there are a lot of options. You can use an app, a service and even a spreadsheet. Each has its benefits and drawbacks:
Apps are great because they're easy to use and often have nice design but they may not be free.
Services offer more flexibility than apps but sometimes require payment or subscription fees (for example: Expensify costs $5/month). They also tend to be less user-friendly than apps so if you're new to this area then it might take some time before you get comfortable using them properly!
Spreadsheets are free but often require manual entry of data into each cell which makes things slow going when adding up totals for multiple items at once (if this sounds familiar then read our article on how we built our own expense tracking spreadsheet with Google Sheets).
Track your expenses, and the rest will fall into place!
You've probably heard this before: tracking your expenses is a great way to get a handle on your finances. But why? Well, when you track where all of your money is going, it becomes much easier to make adjustments in order to save more and spend less. You'll also be able to see how much money you have left over at the end of each month.
If this sounds like something that could benefit you--and who wouldn't want more control over their finances?--then keep reading! I'm going to walk you through exactly how I track my expenses as a digital nomad working remotely full-time with an online business (and almost zero overhead).
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped you to understand the importance of expense tracking and some of the best ways to do it. If you're not sure where to start, we recommend using one of the apps we listed above!
