My dad's old checkbook register is now my budgeting bible

Found it in a drawer while cleaning out his stuff last spring. He tracked every single purchase for 30 years, down to the quarter for a parking meter. Meanwhile my bank app does all that for me and I still overspend by $200 a month on takeout. Tried copying his system for 6 weeks, writing everything down by hand. Turns out the physical act of writing it makes me actually think before buying. The app just shows me a number after the damage is done. We give kids calculators and apps but somehow losing the pain of writing it down made us worse with money. Anyone else go back to paper methods for things that should be easier digitally? My brother thinks I'm nuts.

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1 Comment

kai_burns7314d ago

The real trick is that writing slows down your spending enough to let regret catch up first.