Hello everyone, Rei here.
Suddenly, how do you all manage your money?
I used to be quite lazy and had a bad habit of overspending, but I've finally managed to improve recently. So this time, I'd like to share the method I used toconsistently save money, and introduce5 recommended apps that are useful for saving.
Since not many people introduce these kinds of apps, I'd like to explain them in detail 🔥
Understand your income and expenses with Notion.
First, to save money, you need to understand how muchmoney is coming inand how muchmoney is going out.
A household budget book would work, but this time I'll explain how to do it with "Notion".
Notion is a note-taking app, but it's also known as a spreadsheet app.
So, I tried creating a household budget book like this:
For each expense category, create a page and write down thecost, whether it's anexpense or income, thegenre, whichaccount or card it's paid with, thedeposit date, and any other notes.
The checkbox on the far left is used to determine whether the amount has been finalized or if it needs to be reviewed. If you want to review it, unchecking this box will make it easier to identify.
Also, it's recommended to writeincome as a + amount and expenses as a - amount.
This way, Notion calculates how much is left in total. Theremaining amount is the amount you can save.
Visualize the flow of money with Miro.
Once you have the actual amounts, the next step is to decide on the "accounts to allocate money to."
Here, we'll use "Miro," a recommended whiteboard app for organizing things visually.
What's really important here is to createone account for each major expense category. Having only two accounts, such as a savings account and a living expenses account, is a no-go.
If you want to live on 30,000 yen for food expenses per month, thentransfer 30,000 yen into the food expense account every month. That way, when that account is running low, you'll think, "Oh, I'm running low on food expenses for this month. I need to be more frugal."
As someone who's a bit lazy, I know all too well that even if you set a monthly budget, when it comes to actually spending, you don't really know if you're managing your money well or not.
In the end, by the end of the month, you'll just think, "I overspent this month... I'll try harder next month," and the cycle repeats itself.
The accounts I separated are as follows. This division is a matter of personal preference, I think.
- Fixed Expenses Account
- Savings Account
- Entertainment Account
- Food Expenses Account
- Side Business/Expenses Account
Once you've separated them, set a budget for how much to transfer to each account every month. It's helpful to write down the amounts in Miro.
From here, I'll explain how to actually allocate funds and which banks to use for managing them.
Automate with Rakuten Bank.
You might be wondering if you have to manually deposit money even after opening bank accounts, but this can be automated.
Here are some banks that offer low transfer fees for automatic transfers. These areRakuten Bank and SBI Bank.
I personally use Rakuten Bank because I often shop on Rakuten. Without going into too much detail, if youset it as your salary account, you get5 free transfers.
Once you've set up automatic deposits to each of the accounts you've decided on, all you have to do is leave it alone, so it's only troublesome at the beginning and then becomes easy.
Use wisely with B/43.
While the previous steps can help you save money, now I'd like to introduce another highly recommended app called "B/43."
B/43 is a recommended app for those who are constantly exchanging money with others. Its good points include:
- You can create a joint account.
- You can issue two separate cards linked to the joint account.
- While it's possible with other banks, the application process is genuinely easy here.
- You can register it as a payment card for PayPay.
By using this, I no longer have to settle accounts at the end of the month or send money via LINEPay. Among the accounts mentioned above, I recommend using B/43 for entertainment and living expenses.
Boost your motivation with Minna no Ginko.
Finally, I'd like to introduce a recommended account for creating a savings account.
That is "Minna no Ginko". The good points of Minna no Ginko are the following three:
- You can create boxes within the account to sort money.
- You can check the balances of other accounts.
- The debit card can be used for Amazon payments (many debit cards cannot).
In my case, I use Minna no Ginko as a savings account, and since it also functions asone of the few debit cards that can be used on Amazon, I also use it as an account for side business expenses.
Summary
Here's a summary. To reliably save money, it was crucial tocreate multiple bank accounts for each expense category and live within the balance transferred to each one.
Recommended apps are as follows:
・Notion: Understand income and expenses
・Miro: Visualize cash flow
・Rakuten Bank: Automate
・B/43: Use wisely
・Minna no Ginko: Boost motivation
What do you think? At this point, some of you might be thinking, "Money Forward is good enough." If you can control yourself, then that's fine.
But if you've ever regretted not being able to control yourself, please try this method. I really wish I had known about this method when I was a first-year working professional...!
Here's the ultimate task management template, "Todotion," that can be achieved with Notion!
The complete 2-hour video course "Notion Master Class" to learn Notion from scratch is now available!
The book "Notion Lifehacks," which introduces 36 ways to use Notion, is also now on sale!
