Credit card spending can quickly get out of hand, so it’s good to keep track of how much you spend and when that credit card bill is due.
If your credit card or bank account is one of those supported for syncing in Toshl Medici (log in required), this can be done automatically and the expenses and balances will just fly in.
If you track you finances by adding your expenses to Toshl yourself, here’s how to best track your credit cards:
1. Add all your credit cards as separate financial accounts
More info on how to add accounts is available here.
2. Add your credit card spending during the month
Add expenses made with your credit cards on the day you pay for them. Just make sure that the credit card account is selected correctly.
3. As you spend, the credit card account balances will become negative
That’s how you’ll know how much the credit card bill will cost you when it comes. You can see these balances in the account list on the right.
In the mobile apps, swipe from the right to open the account list.
On the web app, click the accounts/filtering button on the top right of the screen.
4. When the credit card bill comes, make a transfer from your bank account
The transfer should be from the bank account from which you pay your credit card bill. The transfer destination account is the account of the credit card you’re paying off.
This transfer will cover the negative balance of the credit card account, so you can start the new month fresh.
If you don’t have any outstanding credit card debt and haven’t made purchases since the credit card billing period concluded, the account balance should be 0.
5. Set the transfer from your bank to your credit card to repeat automatically
Usually the transfer will repeat each month, on the day that you get the credit card bill.
For the transfer amount, you can set an approximate amount you expect for the credit card bill and then edit it to a more exact one when the bill comes.
Reminders will also be set by default when you make the transfer repeat automatically. One a day before the bill is due and one on the day. You can customize the reminder timing.
That way, you’ll be notified before and on the day when your credit card bill is due.
Once you have this set up, you can simply enter the exact amount on the transfer each month and the credit card balance will provide some much needed clarity.
To get warned about your spending tempo beforehand, consider setting up a budget. You can also set it to track just selected accounts, like your credit card.
Adding more than 2 financial accounts and automatically repeating entries require Toshl Pro. Automatic syncing with banks and credit cards is available with Toshl Medici.
Toshl monsters can be a bit old school. They still prefer cash briefcases to credit cards.