Read how Shay uses PocketSmith to track his expenses, savings and net worth for accurate and reliable insights to make smarter financial decisions!
Tell us a little about yourself?
Growing up I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be a street racer, computer hacker, or paramedic. I landed as an IT Project Manager working in the healthcare sector who gets the occasional speeding fine. Nailed it.
As an only child, I am used to keeping myself entertained but I get bored quickly. Outside of my day job my interests include building my property portfolio, consulting through my own small company, investing in IPOs, and operating a dog grooming salon with my mum.
How would you describe your role in your household?
Being single as a Pringle with no kids or pets, my primary role in the household is to organize, feed, and dress myself on a daily basis. Some say it’s the hardest job in the world, but I find it both fulfilling and rewarding.
What drew you to PocketSmith?
A few years ago, I noticed that I had little savings and no appreciating assets despite my comparably high income. I was renting at the time and blowing my cash on eating out, travel, and eBay purchases.
I grew frustrated with the inability to see where my money was going on a single platform. My bank offered a simple Income/Expenses donut chart, but it didn’t capture my AMEX activity, shares, or my assets and liabilities. There was no cash flow reporting either, so I began looking for a personal finance tool.
I needed a holistic view of what I was spending and what I was worth, and there was no way I wanted to manually update spreadsheets for the rest of my life. I knew there had to be a tool out there that did this automatically with bank feeds.
Enter PocketSmith.
And sure, there are other personal finance tools out there that offer similar features, but PocketSmith hits different. Every time I think “I wonder if it will let me do X”, sure enough, it already has that feature. Plus, the PocketSmith UI and mobile app are killer, and I appreciate the attention to detail and friendly language — I am no accountant.
How long have you been with us?
I signed up in 2018 and haven’t looked back.
What do you primarily use PocketSmith for?
- Tracking net worth on a daily basis
- Expense tracking on a monthly basis
- Tracking savings rates on an annual basis
How has PocketSmith changed the way you do money?
PocketSmith changed everything for me. Once I had accurate and reliable insights into my own finances, I began to make smarter financial decisions.
PocketSmith helps me provide my mortgage broker with data so I can assess my borrowing capacity and build realistic budgets.
What are your favorite features?
My favorite feature is the ability to categorize transactions into my own custom categories then have PocketSmith remember the vendor for next time.
The new and improved dashboard is a close second.
Got any tips?
If you close a credit card, don’t just delete the associated PocketSmith account. It is best to keep it as an offline account, so you don’t lose all that historical data and time spent categorizing.
What’s the best money decision you made in the past 12 months?
Buying an investment property and shares prior to the recent boom. My timing was lucky. However, having all my personal financial systems in place was a result of the right mindset.
