Easy Ways to Track Transactions and Save Money

“I’ve got sooooo much money, I don’t ever have to worry about overdrafts or fees.” Said no person ever!

For regular humans, with average size accounts, unexpected fees can be a big bite out of our budgets. They’re definitely on the avoid list, so we’re here to help with easy ways to keep track of account transactions and help you avoid those dreaded overdraft fees.

Make friends with digital banking.

Whether your preferred device is mobile or on a desktop, digital banking is like Mission Control for tracking your transactions. So, if you’re not already enrolled in Online Banking, now’s the time to get that done and also download our Mobile App so you can always have access to your accounts.

Since things like ATM cash withdrawals and debit card transactions may clear your account immediately, waiting until you receive a monthly statement (or, worse yet, notification that you’ve incurred an overdraft fee – yikes!) is not going to be timely enough. You need the immediacy of digital banking for up-to-the-minute tracking.

It all starts with income.

True financial freedom isn’t about earning a ginormous paycheck. It’s about learning to live on less on less than you earn, so you’re not haunted by fears about being able to pay your bills. That points to the need to begin your transaction tracking with the income side of the equation. It’s important to note how much cash you’ll deposit, and when, so you’re able to cover debits to your account, avoid overdraft fees and prevent overspending in general.

Keep your receipts.

We know, paper’s old school, so we’re totally onboard with declining the printed receipt, but for sure have it texted or emailed to you. It’s the only sure way to know exact transaction amounts and be able to check those against the amounts actually debited from your account.

Pro Tip: Keep that same habit for returns, especially since some returns will deduct restocking fees and some returned online purchases won’t refund the original shipping charge.

Don’t forget monthly direct debits.

Have subscriptions or other accounts set up to automatically debit funds from your account? Be sure to include those in your planning and tracking. Also take note that some of those items, like streaming services where you pay extra for individual movie rentals, can vary from month to month.

What’s the line between transaction tracking and transaction obsessing?

We’re what you’d call tracking “maximalists” – we think you can never know too much about your financial situation – so if you want to check your transactions every day, you do you. If not, we still recommend logging in and comparing your receipts to your account debits at least once or twice a week. Remember, some transactions may clear your account immediately, so there’s not much room for error in judging your available balance.

And speaking of available balance…

Remember the difference between “available” balance and “current” balance.

A lot of people get into overdraft trouble because they don’t know the difference between the available balance and the current balance on their account, so here’s the deal.

The available balance is how much money is actually available, right now, for transactions. For example, if you deposit a particularly large check, it’s likely only a portion of those funds will be available immediately since it will usually take a financial institution some number of days to verify the funds. The current balance, on the other hand, reflects any pending transactions that haven’t yet cleared your account.

So, remember to always look at the available balance if you’re even a tiny bit concerned you might not have the funds to cover a transaction.

Want to learn more?

Careful tracking of your transactions is just one of the ways you can reach your financial goals faster by keeping more of your money and avoiding unexpected fees. For more financial tips, visit our Financial Education & Counseling page.

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