Compass suggests using a specific plan to help manage your spending wisely. Before you can do that, however, it’s helpful to record your income and spending for 30 days to better understand your current situation. The following articles contain helpful tips and tools from Compass (Source).

“The 30 Day Tracking Tool”

We recommend that you carry something with you to record your transactions. As an alternative, save your receipts and enter them into the 30 Day Tracking form daily. It’s designed with one column for income and 12 columns for spending categories. The tracking tool is also electronic so it can be filled out digitally and calculate your income and expenses for you.

Income: Every time you receive income, record the amount on the 30 Day Tracking form in the Income column under the date you receive it.

Spending: Each time you spend, record the amount under the appropriate spending category.

Spending Categories: The detailed list of spending categories are designed to assist you as you decide where to categorize your purchases.

Download the 30-Day Tacking Tool

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Next, consider taking advantage of Compass’s free spending plan.

“The Compass Budget”

Do you know how your great grandparents kept a budget before people used checks, credit and debit cards and online banking? Simple! They used the cash-in-the-envelope system. They labeled envelopes for various spending categories and at the beginning of the month put a budgeted amount of cash in each envelope. And, for example, when the “clothes” envelope was empty, they didn’t spend anymore on clothes that month. It was simple and effective. You’ll use a similar system with the Compass Spending Plan!

Download your free spending plan

Download the spending plan directions