Knowing where you are really helps...especially in terms of one's money.

I see. You're wise to not use credit cards to pay for your expenses. It is always best to not incur debt for an expense. But have you ever considered being able to expand the limit of your budget? Especially now when expenses rise quite quickly.

I would love to have something to expand the limit of my budget. But it would have to be just a certain amount or all my SS would be gone.

By certain amount, you mean, how much? Have you tried some means to expand your budget over a period of time? By the way, what kind of budget do you have now? Is it deficit or surplus? I wonder what kind of debt you can get into your credit cards that would result into making you more money instead of losing money. There's a good debt and bad debt after all. You're aware of this, right? Sorry, I'm asking a lot of questions, I just want to know more about other people and how they handle money. I want to understand quite a lot about our behavior regarding money and why most people hate the concept of becoming rich while at the same time wanting to be rich. I want to go beyond the limit of my budget. But of course, I need to formulate a plan to make it so. My knowledge is limited by all accounts considering that I have so much more to learn of the world of money still.

I too make use of online bankings. But I also use a software to keep track of my income and expenses. I don't believe on relying on one reference only. I agree very much. It's very easy to spend money more than earning it. It takes a lot of discipline and commitment to make more. It takes one's time and intelligence to search for ways to make money work for them. But I am willing to pay the price if it means I can escape the rat race within a certain period of time.

Having an emergency saving is good and well. It is especially handy for times like these when we don't know what will happen next. Anyway, I am not over spending. Let's just say that I have a certain limit to spending considering that my actual and original funds were limited. You see, here's my story. I am still a depended student. I paused school because I had to recover my health. I was very sick before that if I risk going back to school I might die before I could ever graduate. My father was against me pausing but I had to because I really can't handle school stress that time. So he gave me a certain amount of money for my tuition. Little did he know that the money he gives me for tuition ever since I started college were never enough to cover my necessary expenses in school. It's one of the reasons why I got so sick. Anyways, right now I have no salary or allowance. That means I have no source of income aside for my online activities. What I am spending now are those that I had earned online. In order to cover the remaining expenses that I will be spending later, I am making a budget surplus. I am spending to expand the limit of my tuition's budget. It's an expense, yeah. But if I want to succeed, I must be willing to pay the price. Which, I am.

Thank you very much for sharing this info. But, in my case, I have no problem in keeping track of my historical transactions. That's why it only took me a whole night to see the actual money I have left in different accounts I have from my cash on hand to my cash on bank. I have no credit cards yet. I make it a point not to get credit cards unless if I am willing to use the bank's money to purchase myself an asset that can cover the credit. I stick to the rule of making good debts only. Anyways, compared to my cash on bank, cash on hand are very difficult to keep track of for me. I have no documentation and forms about my expenses unless if I immediately take note of them. It is because cash on hand are the easiest to spend. Anyways, I hope for others who reads this discussion, they'll see that it is best to not incur any unnecessary debt by using credit cards on expenses like shopping and paying for liabilities. Yeah, it may feel good using those credit cards to pay for expenses now. But when the bills will come, it's not a very good feeling anymore.

According to books and studies, people who are successful all have plans. They are successful in terms of setting goals and achieving them. But of course, in order for them to set a plan, they must have known where they were. That's why I thought of seeing where I really am in my financial statements. Nothing beats data on papers--well, that's for me. As for buying things I want, I can't think of not actually buying them. You see, for as long as I can remember, I had been holding myself back from acquiring the things that I want AND need because my father says words like, "we can't afford it" and "I don't have money for that" and "you're not a professional to even need it". That's why I made it a purpose to make ways that would allow me to buy the things that I want without asking it from other people. I can't allow myself to be limited by this kind of perception. If I want something, I can make ways to allow me to buy that. Limited budget won't hold me back. That doesn't mean I would incur debts. That's the challenge here: "How to acquire that object I want without incurring debts or hurting my finances?" And my answer to that is buy assets first. Then use the assets to buy my expenses. Of course, someone else might have a different answer. But it's the best that I found so far.

Is not buying assets and selling them at a profit called trading. Economising at the same time also helps and keeping your trading separate from living costs.