Planning on doing this to keep track how much money I spend via cash and stuff.
Need some help with it though.
If you are married, then do you also keep track of your wife's income/expenses?
If you need some help with a basic personal finance system, this is what I started out with:
1. Create a Gmail account (if you don't already have one)
2. Create a new Spreadsheet file: In Google Drive called "Finances"
3. Create the following Sheets: (+ sign on the bottom to add new Sheets)
a. Expense Tracker
b. Fixed Expenses
c. Variable Expenses
d. Accounts
4. In Expense Tracker, add the following columns: (horizontally)
a. Date
b. Amount
c. Description
5. In Fixed Expenses, add the following columns:
a. Due
b. Amount
c. Bill Name
d. Type
e. Paid?
6. In Variable Expenses, add the following columns:
a. Monthly Average
b. Expense Name
7. In Accounts, add the following columns:
a. Website Link
b. Phone Number
c. Account Number
d. Username
e. Password
f. Notes
Because you store this in your Google Drive, you can access this anywhere. You can also share the file with your wife. So basically, the first step is to create an account and setup your spreadsheet per the instructions above. This is a very basic, easy-to-use system that doesn't require any special software or math skills. Don't get overwhelmed by it - it's only 4 Sheets inside a single Spreadsheet.
The first Sheet is the Expense Tracker, which is a very simple way to track what you spend every day. Every evening before bed, sit down with your wife for a minute or two and punch in what you spent for the day. If you want to get fancy, you can create an Expense Tracker for cash, bank, and credit cards. This gives you a real-time balance, unlike say your online bank account, which sometimes doesn't display a charge for a few days. You can also get more complex if you want to create a new spreadsheet for yearly Expense tracking - one Sheet per month - and then have a complete history of everything you've spent. This is not as powerful as say Quicken or Mint.com where it can auto-categorize your spending into food, entertainment, gas, etc., but it's simple, it's easy, and it gets the job done. Just sit down for 60 seconds a day and type in what you spent - done.
The second sheet is for Fixed Expenses, which are bills that come out every month. So your car insurance, Netflix subscription, etc. Basically just fill in what the due date is, the amount, the name of the bill, what type it is (for your own records, such as "Entertainment" or "Car"), and whether or not you paid it for the month. So it could say "$8.99, 15th, Netflix, Entertainent, Yes". That way you know what is due & whether or not you've paid it. So every time you pay a bill, type in "Yes" in the "Paid?" field. I'd also recommend doing an auto-sum down the Amount column, which calculates out the total, so you can see what your total fixed monthly expenses are. So if you have a mortgage, services, cars, etc. you can see if you need $1500 a month or whatever just for fixed expenses. Easy, at-a-glance system.
The third sheet is for Variable Expenses. This is where guesswork comes in. How much do you spend on gas per month? If you fill up once a week and your car costs $45 to fill up, then your monthly average would be $180. Tracking your expenses for a few months in your Expense Tracker Sheet will help you figure out how much you spend on average and in what areas - food, gas, clothing, cleaning supplies, etc. I'd also recommend doing the auto-sum calculation feature to see what your average monthly variable expenses are. Combine that with your Fixed Expense total and you have a rough idea of how much you spend per month.
The fourth sheet is Accounts, which is just a quick reference for all of your accounts. So for Netflix, you can put in the website link, your username, password, and any notes (such as - "Setup Netflix on auto-pay via Bank Card"). This gives you quick access to the websites & phone numbers so you can call on your accounts if needed. Ultimately, your workflow will look like this:
1. One-time: Setup spreadsheet
2. Daily: Type in what you've spent into the Expense Tracker with your wife
3. Monthly: Review your spending in Expense Tracker and update your Variable Expense sheet
4. As Needed: Whenever you add a new bill (say you add a Cable TV service), update your Fixed Expense sheet
Very simple and gives you a clear picture on how much money you actually have available, what accounts you have (with easy-access information), how much your monthly budget is, and when everything is due. And because it's a spreadsheet, you can make it as complex as you'd like and add automatic category calculation, add sheets for different investments, payoff plans for loans & other debt, etc.
If you are struggling with debt, Dave Ramsey is usually the go-to guy for financial help. His system is basically: Put $1,000 in Savings first, then pay off each debt starting with the smallest first so that it snowballs until you've got everything paid off.
Other than that, there are a million tools available -
Quicken,
Mint.com,
Microsoft Money,
GnuCash, etc., hundreds of them available. Depends on how complex you want to get. If you just have basic needs, then the spreadsheet system above is pretty simple - a minute a day to punch in what you've spent, then add bills & review your variable expenses to calculate monthly spending averages as needed. Done.