I also use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet which keeps a precise ledger of EVERY PENNY I spend. If I hand over a penny to a beggar on the street, it goes in the ledger. After doing that for a trimester, I look back at my spending patterns for each month to analyse where my money is going EXACTLY and where I need to improve. This had helped me drastically improve from one semester to another as I stop wasting money where I throw it away and try to save it instead. For sure, one month to another... there can be some excess here and some deficit there but over a three month period, you will have a pretty good idea where you are going and how you want to balance out better for the following months. (Last but not least: The best piece of advice I can give you is to write it all in every night. Don't skip. Don't cheat. Don't wait a week to tally it all up. Day by day. It will make you more sensible to where the money is going and how fast it is flowing...)