Everyday expense tracking
Build a repeatable record of money in and out. Simple methods, concrete examples, and the details to check before confirming a record.
Guides in this topic · 24
Buy now, pay later: the real cost and the rules in 2026
What buy now, pay later really costs, how late fees and stacking catch people out, and the rules in 2026: FCA regulation in the UK, the CFPB’s U-turn in the US.
Updated 25 Sept 2026
Cancelling subscriptions and contracts: your rights and a yearly review
Where click-to-cancel stands in the US and UK in 2026, your rights on phone and broadband contracts, and a one-hour yearly review of every recurring charge.
Updated 25 Sept 2026
Christmas budget: set a limit and stick to it
How to set a Christmas budget you can keep: pick one total, save it monthly from the fall, list every gift with a price, and track spending as a couple or family.
Updated 25 Sept 2026
How to track Orange Money, Wave, M-Pesa and MTN MoMo spending
Track mobile money spending on M-Pesa, MTN MoMo, Wave and Orange Money: where to find statements and fees, reading SMS receipts, and a monthly reconciliation.
Updated 25 Sept 2026
Impulse buying: the 48-hour rule and what research says
Why we impulse buy (mood, hunger, cards), what the biggest meta-analysis found, how to use the 48-hour rule step by step, and your return rights in the US and UK.
Updated 25 Sept 2026
Keeping a household account book: the simple method
How to keep a household account book: the five columns, a running balance, one page per account, a monthly check against your statement. Template and worked example.
Updated 25 Sept 2026
Mint alternatives: 7 options for budgeting after Mint (2026)
Mint closed in March 2024. What Intuit pointed users to, what Credit Karma does and doesn't do, and 7 Mint replacements with prices checked in September 2026.
Updated 25 Sept 2026
Rocket Money alternatives: 7 options for tracking subscriptions (2026)
Leaving Rocket Money or Monarch? Seven ways to track and cancel subscriptions, with or without bank sync, prices checked on 25 September 2026.
Updated 25 Sept 2026
Sending money home: fees, exchange rates and keeping track
Sending money home: work out the true cost of a transfer (fee plus exchange-rate margin), 2025 World Bank benchmarks, your US rights, and a simple way to track transfers.
Updated 25 Sept 2026
Struggling to make it to payday: 12 things to do now
Can’t pay every bill before payday? Which bills come first, what to say to creditors, and free help lines in the US and UK, checked against official sources.
Updated 25 Sept 2026
Student budget: a plan that lasts the whole year
A student budget that lasts: 2026/27 UK maintenance loans, US college cost data, turning lump-sum payments into a weekly amount, and a worked example.
Updated 25 Sept 2026
The complete personal budget guide: from tracking to saving
Track spending, work out what’s left after bills, pick a method, plan for irregular costs, get out of the red and start saving: budgeting, step by step.
Updated 25 Sept 2026
YNAB alternatives: 6 options for zero-based and envelope budgets (2026)
Six YNAB alternatives for zero-based or envelope budgeting, grouped by need, with prices checked in September 2026 and the steps to export your YNAB plan.
Updated 26 Sept 2026
Disposable income after bills: how to calculate what you really have left
Work out what's left after bills with one formula, three worked examples in dollars and pounds, and the residual income rules VA and UK mortgage lenders use.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
Budget binder: how to set one up (with printable pages)
How to set up a budget binder: the tabs you need, six printable pages (budget, expenses, bills, sinking funds, debt, savings) and a 15-minute weekly routine.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
The cash envelope system: how it works and how to start
How the cash envelope system works: categories, a worked example to the dollar, what to do when an envelope runs dry, digital envelopes and irregular income.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
Living paycheck to paycheck: how to break the cycle
Living paycheck to paycheck? What the data really says, why timing matters as much as income, a week-by-week cash plan, overdraft rules and free help.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
Free monthly budget template (Google Sheets, Excel or printable)
A free monthly budget template to copy: columns, categories, SUM and SUMIF formulas, conditional formatting, a filled-in month and a one-page printable version.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
Debt snowball vs debt avalanche: which payoff method works?
Debt snowball or avalanche? One worked example month by month, what the research says, when consolidation helps, and where to get free debt advice.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
Zero-based budgeting: give every dollar a job
Where zero-based budgeting comes from, the six steps, a full month worked out to the dollar, irregular income, envelopes and the mistakes to avoid.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
The 50/30/20 rule explained, with real examples
Where the 50/30/20 rule comes from, why it uses after-tax income, what counts as needs, worked examples from $2,800 to $7,500, high rent, debt and variants.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
Budgeting apps: how to choose the right one (an honest comparison)
Bank sync or manual entry, cash, currencies, sharing, privacy and real yearly cost: the criteria for choosing a budgeting app, plus 7 apps compared.
Updated 26 Sept 2026
How to budget: a step-by-step monthly budget that actually lasts
Income, fixed costs, variable spending, savings: a practical step-by-step method to build a monthly budget, with worked examples and three methods to choose from.
Updated 23 Sept 2026
How to track cash spending: a simple expense tracker routine
How to track cash spending without a spreadsheet habit: log it in one sentence, try cash envelopes, and run a 10-minute weekly count. With checked data.
Updated 24 Sept 2026
Say it once. Binome360 keeps the record.
A sentence, a voice note or a receipt photo: the assistant prepares the record in the right space, you confirm. 7 days free.