Yes, very true. It might be useful to start with overtracking to see where the money actually goes.

I didn't track anything until about 5 years ago as my mental model was "track all purchases", and I wasn't willing to do that. Someone had to point out that higher level tracking can be quite useful too, and this is what I found to work well for me. That's why I bring this up in related topics: it's not an all-or-nothing choice.

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astura 4 hours ago | parent [-]

I don't track purchases at all, I track savings. I find that much more sustainable. I have a savings rate goal (50%), and automatic withdrawals to make that goal. If I can't pay my bills without dipping into the savings then I'll have to reevaluate my spending only then. As long as my savings rate is what it needs to be I don't worry about spending money.

	▲	distances 41 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		This sounds like a good way to do it. I'm a freelancer with variable income so I can't do a fixed investment rate. For me it's useful to see what was the actual rate vs. what I'd like it to be, and the high level view is quite enough to track that.