For the simple lifestyle I had at the time, it was an effective means of keeping myself honest with my income, but it didn't translate well to online business transactions, long-term utility contracts, investments, and so on.Īs I continue to refine the way I track my finances, I've learned that personal accounting is always an evolving process. It only took one day of missing out on lunch to learn that I had to take my goals seriously, and I adjusted my spending behavior accordingly. Once the cash was gone from my wallet, I had to wait until the next payday to spend anything. I used to take a simple and direct approach: My paycheck was deposited into an account, and I'd withdraw some percentage in cash. Money managementĪs with anything else in life, we all have our own ways of keeping track of our money. But it's still important, and Linux has several tools that can help make the task manageable. The bottom line is that making a budget is hard, and not meeting your financial goals is discouraging. To make matters worse, we're often told to "make a budget" as if declaring the amount of money you can spend each month will somehow manifest the money you need.
It can be frustrating and even scary when you don't have enough money to get by without financial assistance, and it can be surprisingly overwhelming when you do have the money you need but no clear notion of where it all goes each month.
Personal finances can be difficult to manage. This article is about personal financial management. In this series, I'll share 21 different reasons to use Linux.
In 2021, there are more reasons why people love Linux than ever before.