Economy Talk

I tried 4 free budgeting methods so you don't have to (ranked)

Researcher brain + broke brain = I spent a month trying out ways to track money. Results:

4th: the envelope method. Great until you realise you never use cash anymore and you're stuffing a debit card into an envelope like a lunatic.
3rd: my bank's built-in categories. Decided my rent was "entertainment". Bold choice.
2nd: a free budgeting app. Good, but it nags me like my mom.
1st: a spreadsheet with exactly three columns: date, thing, amount. Ugly. Works. Nobody nags.

The secret is it doesn't matter which one, it matters whether you look at it every week. Ok that's my TED talk.