Terrible at tracking finances and budgeting? CA shares a simple money system to stop Rs 10,000-Rs 20,000 from quietly disappearing every month

Many of us often face challenges with budgeting our money and keeping track of our expenses. At the end of the month, we struggle to remember where every penny went. Now, budgeting many sound complicated since it would include your EMIs, digital payments, investments, subscriptions and everyday expenses. But as per Delhi-based CA, Nitin Kaushik, you do not have to be naturally great to be able to manage your finances properly. All you need is a simple system to help you keep track of income, expenditure and investments. His approach focuses on four spending categories, clearly defined financial goals, monthly SIPs or other investments and net worth, making it easier to track each penny.

Start by knowing exactly how much money you have

CA shared that “you don’t need to be good at money to manage it well.” According to him, what matters is having a system that shows where your money came from, where it went, what you are saving for and whether your finances are improving. Many people do not always have a budgeting problem, but an “I don’t know where my money went” problem.

Salary arrives, EMIs are paid, digital payments happen throughout the month for every big and small purchase, subscriptions get renewed. By month-end, we end up losing track of a huge chunk of money with no idea where it was spent. Kaushik suggests starting with the money that actually comes into your account.


For salaried individuals, this means tracking take-home salary rather than CTC. For freelancers or people with side incomes, every payment should be recorded separately.

For example:

Salary: Rs 75,000

Freelance income: Rs 15,000

Other income: Rs 5,000

That gives you Rs 95,000 to plan with. His advice is simple: “Don’t budget money you haven’t actually received.”

Forget 25 complicated spending categories

Once income is clear, the next step is understanding where it goes. But Kaushik does not recommend creating dozens of categories. Instead, he suggests beginning with four:

Needs: Rent or EMI, groceries, electricity and transport

Family: Parents and household support

Wants: Eating out, shopping, OTT subscriptions and travel

Future: SIPs, emergency fund, insurance and loan prepayments

The objective is to identify the categories that are quietly consuming your salary.

Try the 50-30-20 framework

Kaushik suggests a simple starting framework, which can help you keep track of money-

- 50% - Needs

- 30% - Wants

- 20% - Savings and debt repayment

For someone taking home Rs 1 lakh a month, that could mean:

- Rs 50,000 → Essentials

- Rs 30,000 → Lifestyle

- Rs 20,000 → Future

However, Kaushik stresses that 50/30/20 is not a rule. Someone with a bigger family or bigger EMI, will have different expenditure and living expenses and cost of living in every city will also differ. The important thing is that “the framework should fit your life, not the other way around.”

Don’t just say you saved Rs 20,000

Saving money is only one part of the equation. Kaushik suggests assigning a specific purpose to your savings instead of putting everything under one broad “investments” category. For example, Rs 20,000 could be divided into:

- Rs 8,000 - Emergency fund

- Rs 7,000 - Equity mutual funds

- Rs 3,000 - PPF/NPS

- Rs 2,000 - Short-term goal

His approach is to “give every rupee a job.” He also makes an important distinction about emergency savings. An emergency fund “is not an investment”. Its purpose is to ensure an unexpected expense does not force you to sell investments at an unfavourable time.

Turn money into actual financial goals

Instead of simply telling yourself to “save more”, Kaushik recommends creating individual goals. These could include:

- Emergency fund

- Home down payment

- Child’s education

- Parents’ healthcare

- Retirement

- Travel

- A major purchase

Each goal should have three things attached to it: a target amount, a deadline and a monthly contribution. For instance, “Rs 6 lakh emergency fund by March 2027” is a measurable financial goal. “Save more” is not.

Check investments once a month, not every day

CA recommends tracking investments, but without constantly checking market movements. A monthly tracker could include:

• EPF/PPF
• NPS
• Mutual funds
• Stocks
• FDs
• Gold
• Other assets

For each investment, track the amount invested, current value, goal and time horizon. He advices against judging every investment purely by its returns. Rs 5 lakh kept as an emergency fund and Rs 5 lakh invested for retirement will serve different purposes.

Calculate your net worth every month

The final piece of Kaushik’s system is understanding your overall financial position through net worth. The calculation is straightforward: Assets − Liabilities = Net worth

What does assets and liabilities include?
Assets include bank balance, investments, gold and property. Meanwhile, liabilities include credit card debt, personal loans, car loans, home loans. Tracking these monthly helps you judge your finances.

The goal is not to obsess over money

For Kaushik, budgeting is not about scrutinising every transaction or becoming consumed by finances. It is about creating enough visibility to make better decisions. He concluded, "The goal of budgeting isn’t to become obsessed with money." It is to make sure your money is moving in the direction you want your life to go.