How I Track My Finances in My Bullet Journal (Without Overwhelm)

by The Productive Pixie - May 30, 2026

Do you ever find yourself accidentally spending more money than you earn? Do you feel a little guilty swiping your credit card because you don't know if you can afford it? Managing money can feel difficult because there are so many unexpected things you have to pay for! Today, I'm going to simplify your finances by showing you the low-stress bullet journal finance tracking layouts I use.

How I Keep Track of My Finances in My Bullet Journal (Without Overwhelm)

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Side Note - I am not a financial advisor, and this is not financial advice. This is simply the method that I use to track my finances. Follow this finance tracking system at your own risk.

Learning to manage finances is crucial because we all have to learn how to manage money. The best time to learn to track your finances is as a young adult because the older you get the more money you have to manage.

I've been using these bullet journal finance tracking layouts for over a year, and I feel in control of my finances. With a few tweaks, this same system can work for you too!

Managing money as a young adult can be hard, but it can also be as simple as writing everything down and reviewing your accounts regularly, which is what I do.

By making your system as simple and low-stress as possible, tracking your finances does not have to be overwhelming.

If you are just getting started with bullet journaling, you can check out my simple guide for starting a bullet journal. This method can also be done in any notebook or even a spreadsheet, if you prefer digital planning.

Let's get right into it!

How I Track My Finances in My Bullet Journal (Without Overwhelm)

I don't have a strict budget because I always try to spend as little as possible (within reason 🤣). This is the system I use to make sure I'm not spending too much.

For example, I try to spend around the same amount each week on food, but it's ok if I spend more than that set amount one week because I know other weeks I spend under my set amount. I just try to have my weekly food bill average out to my set amount.

I know this method won't work for everyone, but right now it works for me. You just need to figure out what works best for you. And maybe that is having strict numbers for each area of your finances.

Mainly, I track how much I earn and how much I spend. You may recognize this as a cash flow statement if you are a business major! The goal is to earn more every month than I spend.

You should have a goal for your finances too!

My Finance Tracking Routine

1. Finance Tracking Frequency

The first step is easy. You just need to decide how often you want to look at your finances. I always review my finances weekly, and it only takes a few minutes most weeks.

You may be able to do this finance review every other week, if you are on top of things! I do every week, so if I accidently miss paying a bill one week, I'll catch it the next week before the bill is actually due.

2. Pay Bills

Yay! Our favorite thing. Ok, paying bills is probably everyone's least favorite thing, but it has to be done.

Even if I know I don't have to pay a bill one week, I still log in to my account, just to make sure that everything looks correct. When it comes to money, and your banking and credit card accounts, it is always better to be on the safe side.

I also have emails and notifications set up for every purchase.

3. Move Money to Savings

I try to save as much money as possible because I never know when I might need some extra money. At the end of the month, I always move a percentage of the money I made that month into my long-term savings.

If you aren't saving money, then you are not paying yourself.

4. Record

Now, it's time to get into the bullet journal pages I use to track my finances!

And remember, you can easily set up this system in a spreadsheet, if that works better for you.

My Bullet Journal Finance Tracking Layouts

I use two layouts for my bullet journal finance tracking system for the entire year, and that's it!

1. Earning and Spending Bullet Journal Layout

This is the main page I use to track my finances. I write down everything I earned and spent for that week when I look at all of my accounts. It's good to have all of your finances in one spot!

The photo above shows my finance tracker from 2025, when I was tracking my finances in a slightly different way, but you can see my 2026 layouts at the top of this post.

I have my earning and spending broken down by month with four columns under each month.

The name of the purchase or earning

This will be the store, product, or company name depending on if I bought multiple items
If I go to this store often, I will label it with a number too, so I can see how much I go there (Walmart #1, Trader Joe's #5)
If it is an earning, I underline the name, so I can see at a glance where those lines are

The date of the purchase
CR if the purchase was made with a credit card
How much was spent or earned

I designate this with a + or - sign

After the month is over, I create three columns at the bottom of that section. I draw each monthly section as the month progresses because I don't know how many lines, I'm going to have for each month until the month is over.

Total amount spent this month (designated with a - )
Total amount earned this month (designated with a +)
Total amount put into savings this month (designated with an arrow)

Now, I can see at a glance how much I made and earned for that month. I can also see how much I am paying myself!

Next, it's time to transfer these numbers over to my other bullet journal finance tracking layout.

2. Year-Over-Year Monthly Change Bullet Journal Layout

This is a numbers heavy page! It looks like a spreadsheet! You can see an example in the photo below. It's not the prettiest bullet journal finance tracking layout, but it's effective.

On this page, I simply write down how much I made and how much I spent for that month. I set this page up for multiple years of earning and spending, and then at the bottom of the page, I total up my earning and spending for the entire year.

This way, I can see year-over-year how much I'm spending and earning so I can be totally honest with myself about my finances.

I personally don't write down how much money I have in my accounts. I just keep track of changes because my goal is to earn more than I spend, but you may also choose to keep track of the total amount of money you have.

How I Track My Finances in My Bullet Journal (Without Overwhelm)

And these are the simple bullet journal finance tracking layouts I actually stick to! This is how I've been staying in control of my finances during my time in college.

Below are a few quick takeaways from this post.

Check your finances regularly
Keep track of how much you make and how much you spend so you know you are spending less than you earn
Always pay yourself by putting money into savings

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I hope you enjoyed learning how I keep track of my finances in my bullet journal as a young adult. Let me know if you'd use these bullet journal finance tracking layouts as inspiration for your own by sharing this post! Thanks!

Tags : bullet journaling, life systems

How I Track My Finances in My Bullet Journal (Without Overwhelm)