How to track your expenses: simple methods and a free spreadsheet template

Why track your spending

Most people know their income to the hryvnia but their spending only roughly. That "roughly" is where the money hides that later is missing for an emergency fund, a holiday or a down payment. Tracking gives you four things:

• Facts instead of feelings. Cafes seem to take "a little", and then the statement shows an amount close to your utility bills.
• Money for goals without a lower standard of living. Money usually leaks through 2 or 3 categories, and fixing just those is enough.
• Numbers for planning. The 50/30/20 rule, an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months, a financial plan: all of them start from your real spending.
• Peace of mind. When you know the essentials are covered and there is a set amount for wants, each purchase causes less anxiety.

According to the financial literacy survey the NBU and USAID ran in 2021, 68% of Ukrainians plan their household income and spending, yet only 41% have long-term financial goals. Tracking bridges the two: without it a plan stays a wish.

Three ways to track

A combination works best: the banking app as the data source and a spreadsheet for totals. Once a week you open the statement and move the last 7 days into the spreadsheet, grouping small purchases of one category into a single row. It takes 10 to 15 minutes.

First step: the last 3 months

You can start from the history you already have. Download statements for the last 2 or 3 months from all your cards: most banking apps offer PDF, Excel or CSV in the statements section. Then, in one evening:

1. Cross out transfers between your own cards and cash top-ups.
2. Sort the remaining spending into 12 to 20 categories (add up small items within a category).
3. Work out the monthly average for each category and in total.
4. Compare it with your average income over the same months.

This snapshot almost always surprises: groceries, food delivery, taxis and small online purchases are the usual underestimates. Cash will not show up in the statement, so put withdrawals in a separate "Cash" row, and from next week note what the cash goes on.

The free WM² template

We made a spreadsheet template that does the maths for you: you only enter the date, amount and category. The Excel file opens in Excel, Google Sheets (via Drive or File → Import), LibreOffice and Numbers, with no macros and no ads.

Download the expense tracker template (.xlsx)

What is inside:

• Expenses: a log for 1,000 entries with date, amount, category from a dropdown and a note. The type and month fill in automatically.
• Income: a log of salary, side work and benefits.
• Summary: spending per category by month, the yearly total and monthly average, income, the unallocated balance and a separate 50/30/20 table showing what share of income goes on needs, wants and savings, highlighted when needs exceed the target.
• Settings: the tracking year, target shares (50%, 30% and 20% by default) and 18 categories you can rename.

Yellow cells are for your data; the rest hold formulas. Delete the grey example rows when you start your own tracking.

How to use the template in Google Sheets on your phone

1. Download the file and save it to Google Drive.
2. On a computer, open the file in Drive and choose File → Save as Google Sheets so it works as a regular spreadsheet.
3. Install the Google Sheets app on your phone: an expense now takes half a minute to enter, and the category dropdown works on the phone too.
4. For a shared budget, tap Share and add your partner as an editor.

Which categories to set up

You need enough categories to see where money leaks, but not so many that each purchase needs thought. 12 to 20 is about right. In the template they are split into three types, as in the 50/30/20 rule:

A few rules that make categories work:

• Keep cafes and delivery separate from groceries. This split most often shows the biggest reserve.
• Record savings too. A transfer to your emergency fund account is an "expense" in the Emergency fund category. That way you see how much you really put aside.
• Loan payments get their own category. The minimum payment is a need; anything above it goes to Extra debt repayment.
• "Other" should stay under 5 to 10%. If it grows, create a new category for whatever lands there most.

How to set your own shares and what to do if needs take more than half your income is explained in "The 50/30/20 rule".

A weekly 15-minute routine

1. Pick a fixed day, for example Sunday evening. Regularity matters more than precision.
2. Open the statements for all your cards for the week and move the spending into the spreadsheet. Ten supermarket purchases can be one "Groceries" row with the total.
3. Add cash. If you pay cash often, keep a note on your phone and move it over once a week. If rarely, record the withdrawn amount as one expense in the most likely category.
4. Record the income that arrived during the week.
5. Glance at the month's summary: is the wants budget still intact, have you put money aside for goals.

What not to record and how to handle tricky cases

• Transfers between your own cards: do not record them at all. They are neither spending nor income.
• Refunds and cashback: record a refund as a negative expense in the same category and cashback as income. The category total stays correct.
• Buying something for someone who pays you back: record the expense and the repayment in the same category, so the total nets to zero.
• Large annual payments such as insurance, a car inspection or tuition: record them in the month you pay. In the budget, though, plan for them by putting aside 1/12 of the yearly amount each month.
• Shared family spending: one spreadsheet for two works well, with a note on who paid.

Irregular expenses: why a budget "breaks" once a quarter

The most common reason people quit tracking is a month when insurance, a car repair and children's activities all fall due at once. It feels as if the budget does not work, although these costs were known in advance. The fix is a list of yearly payments and putting aside 1/12 of each every month.

In this illustrative example irregular costs add over UAH 6,000 to the monthly budget, although no single month "shows" them. Keep this money apart from your emergency fund: the fund is for the unpredictable, while insurance and holidays are entirely predictable. A separate savings account or a "jar" in your banking app works well.

In the template, record such payments in the month you actually pay, in the matching category. The Monthly average column on the Summary sheet then shows what they cost per month.

Category limits: from tracking to budgeting

Tracking shows the past; limits steer the future. Once you have 2 or 3 months of averages, set a limit for each wants category. Needs are usually not capped; they are reduced through decisions such as a different tariff or different housing.

Keep the limit realistic: 20 to 30% below the average. A limit at half the average rarely holds. If cafes and delivery average UAH 3,800, a UAH 2,500 limit is noticeable but achievable. For day-to-day control, turn it into a weekly figure: 2,500 × 12 / 52 ≈ UAH 577 a week. Then the weekly review shows whether you are on track before the month ends.

Another approach that works is a separate card for wants. On payday the monthly limit for cafes, entertainment and shopping goes to that card, while needs and savings are paid from the main card. When the card runs out, the limit is used up, and there is nothing else to count.

What to do with the numbers after one month and after three

The first month of tracking is almost always inaccurate: something is forgotten, something lands in the wrong category. Do not draw conclusions straight away. After 2 or 3 months the picture settles, and you can ask four questions:

1. What share of income goes on needs, wants and savings? The template shows this automatically.
2. Which 2 or 3 wants categories are biggest? That is where to look for a reserve.
3. Are there costs you forgot about? Subscriptions you do not use, card maintenance fees, auto-renewing services.
4. Does your spending match your priorities? Keep spending on what truly matters to you. A leak is what brings no joy and what you did not notice.

Needs at 65% in this example are a signal that the big reserve lies in bigger decisions: housing costs, transport, loans. Cafes will only give part of it. How to cut costs without feeling poor is covered in "How to save money".

How not to give up after two weeks

• Do not log every coffee. Group small purchases by category once a week. Tracking that takes 15 minutes a week lasts for years, while logging after every purchase is usually abandoned within a month.
• Do not punish yourself for overspending. The goal of tracking is to see the picture; guilt adds nothing. An overspend in one month is information for the next.
• Start with one goal. "Find UAH 3,000 a month for an emergency fund" motivates better than a vague "control spending".
• Attach tracking to something you already do, such as a Sunday email check or planning the week.
• Automate what you can. An automatic transfer to savings on payday and one main card for daily spending mean fewer sources and less work.
• If you miss a few weeks, do not try to rebuild everything to the hryvnia. Enter totals from the statement as one amount per category and carry on.

Tracking as a couple or family

With a shared budget, tracking removes most money arguments: instead of "you spent it all again" there are numbers both of you can see. First agree on how you split costs. The three most common models:

For joint tracking, upload the template to Google Sheets and give your partner edit access: you can both add expenses from your phones and see one total. Use the Note column to say who paid. Fifteen minutes together over the monthly summary does more than any argument about single purchases.

If you have teenagers, show them the month's summary: what housing, groceries and their activities cost. It is one of the clearest money lessons there is.

Credit cards and instalments in your tracking

With credit cards it is easy to count spending twice: first the purchase, then the repayment. The rule is simple: record the purchase in its category on the day you buy, and do not record the card repayment as spending, because it is a transfer between your own accounts. Interest and fees, if you missed the grace period, go separately into Minimum loan payments.

With instalment plans it is the other way round: recording monthly payments is more convenient, because then tracking shows the real load on each month's budget. The key is to pick one method and stick with it. Before taking a new instalment plan, check how many monthly payments you already have: if together with a mortgage or loans they exceed 30 to 40% of income, new debt is a risk.

Tracking with irregular income

Sole proprietors, freelancers and anyone whose income varies month to month need tracking even more, but it works a little differently:

• Separate business and personal money. Client payments go to the business account, and a fixed "salary" to yourself goes to your personal card. In personal tracking, income is that salary.
• Keep taxes apart. Set aside the single tax and social contribution right after each payment so they never enter your personal budget.
• Use the yearly average. One month says nothing about irregular income; the Monthly average column in the template's summary calculates exactly that.
• Compare needs with your weakest month. If a weak month does not cover them, you need a bigger emergency fund.

From tracking to a plan

Tracking answers "where does the money go". The next step is deciding where it should go: which goals, by when, how much to put aside each month and in what. After 3 months of tracking you have all the numbers for this: average spending, the real surplus, an emergency fund target of 3 to 6 months. How to turn that into a one-page plan is explained step by step in "A personal financial plan".

Common mistakes

• Too many categories. Forty categories look thorough, but every purchase becomes a choice, and tracking is soon dropped.
• Tracking only one card. If cash or a second card stays outside, the picture is distorted exactly where spending is least controlled.
• Recording transfers between your own accounts as spending. The total doubles.
• Conclusions after the first week. One week with a big purchase says nothing about habits.
• Tracking without action. The numbers matter only if after three months you change at least one thing: cancel a subscription, set up an automatic transfer, review a tariff.

In short

• Expense tracking shows where your money really goes and finds money for goals without lowering your standard of living.
• The most sustainable method is moving spending from statements into a spreadsheet once a week, grouping small purchases.
• 12 to 20 categories split into needs, wants and savings work best; keep cafes and delivery apart from groceries.
• Do not record transfers between your own cards; record savings as their own category.
• Plan irregular costs as 1/12 of the yearly amount each month and set realistic limits on wants.
• Draw conclusions after 2 or 3 months: 50/30/20 shares, the biggest wants categories, forgotten subscriptions.
• The free WM² template works in Excel and Google Sheets and calculates totals automatically.

Figures in this article

• Personal income tax18%
  from January 1, 2016
• Military levy on salaries and interest5%
  from December 1, 2024
• Average rate on 12-month hryvnia deposits14.29%
  UIRD index, 30 Oct 2026

Checked against official sources on October 29, 2026. If a figure changes, we update the article and the «Updated» date changes automatically.

Sources

1. National Bank of Ukraine, USAID Financial Sector Transformation Project - financial literacy, financial inclusion and financial well-being in Ukraine: survey of 2,040 adults, August 2021 (in Ukrainian)

The template is free for personal use. The amounts in the examples are illustrative.