How do I find out where my money goes each month?

Collect one full month of statements from every account and card, set aside fixed costs, sort the rest into six to eight groups and add them up. The top two flexible groups usually explain where the money went.

How many spending categories should I use?

Start with six to eight. Fewer than that hides useful detail, and many more makes sorting tedious. You can always split a category later once you know it matters.

Do I need to connect my bank to track spending?

No. You can use the statements your bank lets you download. Balance works the same way: it imports statement files (Excel or CSV), logs Apple Pay and card SMS through iPhone Shortcuts and accepts quick manual entries, without ever asking for a bank password.

How often should I review my spending?

A short look once a week and a slightly longer review once a month is enough for most people. The weekly look catches surprises early; the monthly one is where you decide what to change.

Where does my money go? Find out in 10 min

Where does my money go?

Your salary lands, a few weeks pass, and it is gone. Here is a 10-minute way to see exactly where it went, and a simple way to keep seeing it.

Show me the steps 50/30/20 calculator

The problem

Why money seems to disappear

It is rarely one big purchase. Money usually leaks through dozens of small, forgettable payments: a coffee, a delivery, an app that renewed, a taxi on a rainy evening. Each one is too small to notice, and together they can be a large share of the month.

The second reason is that your spending is scattered. Part of it is on a debit card, part on one or two credit cards, part in Apple Pay, part in cash. Your bank app shows one slice at a time, so you never see the whole month in one place.

The third reason is timing. Credit card charges can land weeks after you spent the money, so the month you feel in your account is not the month you actually lived. That gap makes it hard to connect a habit with its cost.

None of this means you are bad with money. It means you are missing a single, honest picture. The steps below build that picture with nothing more than your statements and ten minutes.

What you can do today

A 10-minute spending check you can do today

You need last month’s statements for every account and card you use. A spreadsheet or a sheet of paper is enough.

1
Collect one full month
Download or open last month’s statement for each account and card. Include Apple Pay and Google Pay payments; they appear on the card they were charged to.
2
Take out the fixed costs first
Write down rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, loan payments and phone. These are the costs you cannot change this month, so set them aside.
3
Sort the rest into 6–8 groups
Groceries, eating out and delivery, transport, shopping, subscriptions, health, fun, other. Do not aim for perfection. A rough group is better than none.
4
Add up each group and rank them
The top two flexible groups are almost always where the “missing” money went. Most people are surprised by one of them.
5
Pick one change, not ten
Choose one group and one small limit for next month, for example “delivery at most twice a week”. One change you keep beats a strict plan you abandon.

If you want to go further, split your total with the 50/30/20 rule to see whether needs, wants or savings is out of shape, or try the 50/30/20 calculator.

With Balance

How Balance keeps the picture up to date

The check above works, but it is a lot of copying to repeat every month. Balance keeps it current with far less copying, without asking for your bank login.

Import bank and card statements

Excel or CSV, with major Israeli banks and card companies recognised automatically. The file is read in your browser and duplicates are skipped, so you can import every month without cleanup.

Apple Pay logs itself

Once set up, an iPhone Shortcut sends each Apple Pay payment to Balance within seconds of paying.

Sorted for you

Hundreds of well-known merchants are recognised with their logo and category, and your own rules sort the rest.

Insights in plain words

Charts by category and merchant, month-over-month trends and a short monthly story of where your money went.

Ask your own questions

“How much did I spend on dining last month?” Answers come from your data and are worked out on your device, unless you turn on Smart mode, part of Balance Plus (14 days free).