Clinton Budgets for an Investment Property With PocketSmith

We asked some of our wonderful users to share how they use PocketSmith to be productive with their money and plan for the future. Their stories are filled with ideas, suggestions and inspiration on how you can start crafting a meaningful relationship with your finances.

Read how Clinton is using PocketSmith’s categories to allocate expenses into discretionary and essential spending, making it easier to spot opportunities for cutting costs.

Tell us a little about yourself?

I live and work in Melbourne. My wife and I are full-time professionals in demanding roles. We have two primary-school-aged girls.

How would you describe your role in your household?

I’m a qualified chartered accountant, so no guesses as to who manages the household bills and finances.

What drew you to PocketSmith?

I’m a digital product manager, and I’m always on the lookout for life hacks or software that can make my life easier and more efficient. Having worked in AccountingTech for many years and with my background in accounting, it’s no surprise I have a strong appreciation for personal finance software.

I was using and enjoying Pocketbook for a few years, but then it shut and I came across PocketSmith. After running through the trial and demo data in PocketSmith, I quickly realized that it was a far superior product, and even though PocketSmith wasn’t free, I felt it to be really good value for money.

How long have you been with us?

A quick search on the Transactions page of PocketSmith tells me I’ve been using it for two years.

What do you primarily use PocketSmith for?

Helping us to minimize our spending.

How has PocketSmith changed the way you do money?

We’re gearing up to purchase an investment property and it’s helped us to establish and track an actual and scenario-based budget to ultimately understand what property we can afford.

What are your favorite features?

Oh man, where do I start? I love so many features… flexible category hierarchy, the speed of categorizing, powerful reporting (Income and Expense, Trends), and budgeting (I can keep it simple or go super sophisticated).

Got any tips?

  • Ctrl+Enter to save a transaction category.
  • Categorizing between discretionary and essential spending (our top-level categories) has helped us to identify easy opportunities to reduce spending.
  • If you want to take your budgeting seriously, you need to use PocketSmith’s budget rollover feature.
  • Next time you’re on the couch watching an average show on Netflix, whip out the PocketSmith mobile app and categorize a few transactions.

What’s the best money decision you made in the past 12 months?

Reviewing and reducing our excess life insurance.

Interviews 4 minute read

Written by PocketSmith November 19, 2024

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