Online Tracking Tools for the Disorganized

I am a relatively disorganized person.  This tends to surprise most of my friends since my educational background is in economics and my jobs have required a high degree of organization and structure.  But, the truth of the matter is that I tend to procrastinate, misplace keys, and go to the store for 2 items and leave with 6 which omitted 1 of the original 2.  I’ve found that for trying to live a healthy and frugal life, it often pays to be organized and to understand where things stand.  There are two online tools that I have enjoyed exploring. For finances, last year, I would make a budget and diligently track each expenditure and review the categories monthly. This year, I have not been so diligent about it, but I feel that I have a good handle on expenses and categories (still like restaurants too much).  With my recent venture into low-carb eating, I have been tracking my daily food consumption. More than anything, I’m surprised at my eating habits prior.

Mint — financial tracking software — Mint helps you to structure a budget, maintain it online, then track the expenses daily. You can interface with financial accounts if you choose. There are also suggestions for ways to save in certain categories. Most people who’ve never budgeted or tracked their finances find the exercise illuminating (I spent how much on lunches each day?).  Mint can also assist in setting longer term goals like retirement and college savings with suggestions for help in specific areas. The software is available for free

Fitday — Fitday is a daily journal that allows you to track your weight, food consumption, and physical activity and display how well (or poorly) you did that day. The food choices are loaded with nutritional information so you can easily see the breakdown of your consumption for the day per macronutrient (fat, carbs, and protein) or how well you did based on vitamin and mineral consumption versus Recommended Daily Allowances.  I am sure tracking food daily will become annoying after a while, but for now I am learning a lot about different foods and finding some surprises (like how hard it is to get sufficient potassium without consuming potatoes, bananas, or dried fruit).  Basic Fitday is free with subscriptions available for premium features.

There are lots of other online tools that help with tracking, such as business tracking, social networking, and others. Hopefully, these can make me seem less scatterbrained and more organized.

shared at Works for Me Wednesday