--- title: How to Start Tracking Your Spending in 7 Minutes Flat description: If you want to save more or get out of debt, knowing where your money goes now is an essential first step. authors: - name: Ismat Sarah Mangla url: https://money.com/author/ismat-sarah-mangla/ at_money_since: 2010 articles: 10 covers: - Personal Finance - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Insurance - Lifestyle social: - https://x.com/ismat former_staff: true published: '2015-02-21T12:00:39.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T05:18:04.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - 7-minute workout - Budget - Budgeting - financial fitness - Financial Planning - how to budget - how to create a budget - how to save more - mint.com - Saving - Savings - Spending - total financial fitness word_count: 387 canonical: https://money.com/track-spending-budget/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![stopwatch with money/dollar on it](https://img.money.com/2015/02/150221_ff_fitness_trackspending.jpg) *As part of our 10-day series on [Total Financial Fitness](https://money.com/financial-fitness/), we've developed six quick workouts, inspired by the popular exercise plan that takes just seven minutes a day. Each will help kick your finances into shape in no time at all. Today: The 7-Minute Spending Tracker* Seven minutes is a little tight to create a budget, but it's enough to tackle the first step: pulling together all your spending info using a budgeting tool such as Mint. You'll need your credit and debit cards to get started. **0:00** Surf to [Mint.com](https://www.mint.com) and register for a free account. **0:42** Mint asks for your credit card providers and bank. As you type in each one, a list of possible matches will pop up. Select the right one and enter the online login and password you use for that account. (Mint is a secure site and cannot get to your money.) **3:02** Mint will need a minute to pull in all of your transactions, which it automatically slots into categories like "Cellphone" and "Groceries." Problem is, the app doesn't always get it right. To fix that, click the "Transactions" tab. **3:34** See those "uncategorized" charges? You can select them to choose a correct label. This is pretty tedious, so tick the box that says "always re-categorize X as Y." That way, Mint will put all future transactions from that retailer in the right place. **5:02** When you did that, you probably also noticed some charges Mint tried to identify but placed into the wrong bucket. Scroll through those and correct them the same way. **6:30** Grab your phone and download the Mint app. Having the program handy will help you keep on top of charges. **7:00** Now you're ready to click the "Budgets" tab and create a spending plan. For more help with that, check out our Money 101 stories on creating a budget you can stick to and setting financial priorities. **Previous:** - [***10 Days to Total Financial Fitness***](https://money.com/financial-fitness/ "10 Days to Total Financial Fitness") - ***[4 Ways to Hit Your Money Goals](https://money.com/reach-financial-goals/)*** - ***The Easiest Way to Check Your Credit—Fast*** - ***[5 Ways to Invest Smarter at Any Age](https://money.com/how-to-invest-smarter/)*** **Next:** - ***Day 6: Cut the Fat From Your Budget*** - ***Day 7: Find Ways to Save More*** - ***Day 8: Boost Your Earning Power*** - ***Day 9: Learn How Better Health Can Help Your Finances*** - ***Day 10: Shore Up Your Safety Net*** ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/track-spending-budget/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Budgeting", "item": "https://money.com/budgeting/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "How to Start Tracking Your Spending in 7 Minutes Flat" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/track-spending-budget/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/track-spending-budget/", "name": "How to Start Tracking Your Spending in 7 Minutes Flat", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2015-02-21T12:00:39.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/track-spending-budget/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/track-spending-budget/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-16T05:18:04.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "How to Start Tracking Your Spending in 7 Minutes Flat", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2015/02/150221_ff_fitness_trackspending.jpg", "width": 5120, "height": 3413, "caption": "150221_FF_Fitness_Trackspending" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ismat Sarah Mangla", "url": "https://money.com/author/ismat-sarah-mangla/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/ismat-sarah-mangla/#author", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/ismat" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2015-02-21T12:00:39.000Z", "description": "If you want to save more or get out of debt, knowing where your money goes now is an essential first step.", "abstract": "If you want to save more or get out of debt, knowing where your money goes now is an essential first step.", "@id": "https://money.com/track-spending-budget/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-16T05:18:04.000Z", "wordCount": 387, "keywords": [ "7-minute workout", "Budget", "Budgeting", "financial fitness", "Financial Planning", "how to budget", "how to create a budget", "how to save more", "mint.com", "Saving", "Savings", "Spending", "total financial fitness" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Personal finance", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_finance" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Budget", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget" ] } ] } ] } ```