First, I use mint.com to track spending, see all my account balances at once, and watch the trends of my investments.
I also use a very simple Excel spreadsheet to track my fixed and variable expenses. If you haven't done this before, I'd highly recommend it.
First, enter your total bring home income at the top of the spreadsheet.
Next, list out all your fixed expenses with the largest first (an example list is below). If you are making extra payments, include those in the variable expenses section.
Total your fixed expenses. This is how much money you need to make minimum payments.
Below this, list your variable expenses. This is how much you anticipate spending each month.
Subtract the fixed and variable expenses from your pay. This is how much is left for savings.
In the columns to the right, start tracking how much you actually spend per month. This will uncover discrepancies between how much you expected to spend and how much you actually spent. From this information, you can adjust your spending to match your goals.
Here is an example. (If you'd like this template I've made, leave a comment and I will email it to you.)
In tools like mint.com, you can link your checking account, credit card, and other accounts to the software, so it automatically tracks your spending. Below is a snapshot of how it works. You can see I haven't hit my budget for Gas & Fuel yet, but I've overspent on Bills & Utilities. When you click on the category, it lists the details of the transactions that make up the total. This makes it easy to see where you over or under spent.
If you find you are in the negative, please see my blog post about "Making Basic Financial Decisions".
As always, feel free to ask any questions you might have about personal finance.
