Debate: Should you track every dollar or just set a spending limit?

I was at a local coffee shop last month, overheard two guys arguing about budgeting. One said he tracks every single expense down to the penny, even the 75 cent candy bars. The other guy just sets a monthly limit for fun money and doesn't sweat the small stuff. That got me thinking about my own system. I used to track everything with an app, but it got exhausting after a few months. Now I just have rough categories, like $200 for eating out and $100 for hobbies, and I stop when I hit the cap. But I wonder if I'm missing leaks in my spending by not being precise. Which side do you lean towards? Do you track every dollar or just set broad limits and trust yourself?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly_nelson9519d ago

Totally feel you on getting burned out from tracking everything.

rileynelson19d agoMost Upvoted

I mean @kelly_nelson95, did you ever figure out if there's a way to track just the important stuff and skip the rest? It feels like once you start tracking one thing, you end up tracking everything else too. Idk maybe I'm just overthinking it but it's hard to know where to draw the line.