How do I track my income and expenses?

Tracking income and expenses sounds like accounting, but at its core it's just keeping an honest list. Here's a setup that works whether you earn a salary, run a business, or both.

What to record for each entry

• The date
• The amount
• Whether it's money in or money out
• A short note (who paid you, or what you bought)
• For expenses, a category like stock, transport, or data

Pick a method you'll actually keep up

• A notebook: simple, but easy to lose, and adding up totals takes effort.
• A spreadsheet: flexible, but slow to edit on a phone. See whether you need a spreadsheet at all.
• An app: fastest for daily use, and it adds up totals for you.

Log it the same day

The biggest reason tracking fails is delay. Cash payments and small expenses are forgotten within a day or two (here's how to track cash sales). Recording each one immediately takes seconds and keeps your numbers true. Here's how often you should record income and expenses.

Review your totals

If you earn from more than one place, keep each source separate too. See how to track multiple streams of income.

Once a week, check what came in, what went out, and what's left. Once a month, look at which expense categories grew. This is where tracking pays off: it shows you exactly where your money goes.

Doing this in Gripd

Gripd is built for exactly this. Tap the plus button, enter the amount, and it's logged against the right hustle. Your dashboard shows today, this week, and this month at a glance, plus what's left after expenses. Expense categories and spending limits are on the Basic and Pro plans.