Used to track everything in a notebook, now I'm all about a simple spreadsheet

For my first year freelancing, I wrote every client payment and expense in a paper notebook... it was a mess come tax time. Last month, I made a free Google Sheet with columns for date, client, amount, and category. Just adding numbers for April, I saw I made $2,800 but spent $620 on software and ads. The difference was instant clarity... I could actually see where my money was going each week. Has anyone else switched from manual to digital tracking and found it easier to spot spending patterns?

3 comments

3 Comments

alice_allen54d ago

Honestly my notebook looked like a toddler's grocery list.

bailey.jennifer4d ago

I switched to a bullet journal style and it helped a lot. I just write the date and then a list of what I actually did or need to do, no fancy drawings. It's messy but I can actually read it later, which is the main thing.

troyknight4d ago

Haha, "looked like a toddler's grocery list" is pretty much my notebook's vibe too. I scribbled so fast half the entries were unreadable, like some kind of secret code I was supposed to crack at tax time. Going digital saved me from my own awful handwriting.