Why I Still Write Things Down
How a simple Google Sheet changed how I think about money and why writing things down still matters in 2025.
Every few months, a new app promises to solve personal finance once and for all. They’ll sync your bank accounts, categorize your spending, and show you colorful charts that tell you where your money goes.
For a while, I thought that complete automation was the end goal. I tried a few apps and some didn’t have all my banks, others broke but most just made me feel disconnected from my money. Then I remembered something simple.
Back in 2020, my grandpa had this old Excel spreadsheet where he tracked every expense by hand. Nothing fancy, just rows of numbers and short descriptions. I took that sheet, moved it to Google Sheets so it would sync to Drive, and started using it myself. At first, it felt a bit outdated. Why type things manually when apps can do it for you? But a few weeks in, I noticed how differently I felt about my spending.
When you write things down, you can’t ignore them. You see every transaction, every decision and you stop scrolling past your money and start noticing it again.
Now my wife and I do this together. Once a week we sit down, go through the transactions, and write them down one by one in a simple Google Sheet. Sometimes I type, sometimes she does. While we do it, we talk about the week and what we spent too much on, what felt worth it, what we could do differently next month.
It only takes about ten to twenty minutes per week, but that conversation alone is worth it. It’s not just tracking, it’s reflecting. And at the end of each year, we take a longer look together and discuss what changed, how much we saved, and where we could adjust for the next year.
It’s a small habit, but it has this compounding effect. You become more aware of your choices, and over time that awareness quietly shapes how you spend. You don’t need to set hard budgets or punish yourself for every coffee. Just writing it down is enough to keep you conscious of what’s happening with your money each week, month and year.
And the nice thing about doing it in a spreadsheet is that it’s flexible. You can make it fit your own life: solo, as a couple, or for a household. You can add little notes, play with formulas, or make your own charts if you want to see trends. There’s something satisfying about building a small system that truly reflects how you live.
So that’s why I still write it down. It’s not about being old-school or avoiding technology. It’s about staying connected to my money and to the decisions behind it. Because when you know exactly where your money goes, you start feeling more in control, not because an app tells you so, but because you can see it yourself.
Ready to try it for yourself? Write It Down is the simple spreadsheet that helps you build this habit without any apps or integrations.