I’ve always been a bit of a nerd. Ok…a lot of a nerd. Especially when it comes to math and money. I come by it honestly. My mom’s uncle, Uncle Bill, could do ridiculous math in his head. My dad can remember a number you told him five years ago. My Grandma Corinne had me counting back change to customers at her store by the time I was six. It’s in my blood.

As a child, I had a hidey-whole in my room, albeit not a very good one, for the money I saved. I counted it obsessively, mainly so I would know if my sister tried to sneak any. (Like I said, I’m better at counting money than hiding it.) Ever since I opened my first checking account at 15 years old, I’ve habitually kept my checkbook balanced. And when I started my career, thanks to the advice of my supervisor, I immediately started putting enough of each paycheck in the retirement plan to get the company match.

Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of personal finance and financial independence podcasts. Over and over, their number one tip for people is to track your expenses. Know where your money goes. One podcaster even told her audience, when you estimate your expenses, you almost always under-estimate. In my mind I thought, I know where my money goes…but do I really?

My selective OCD lead me to actually track our expenses, to see if my estimates were accurate. Most podcasts and blogs I consume recommend either Mint or Personal Capital. (The best part – they’re both FREE!) Both of these websites link to your bank accounts, credit cards, and bills.  Don’t worry, it’s safe!

We just closed out our second full month of tracking our expenses, and I’ll swallow my pride and admit…my estimates were not accurate. Based on my estimates, our savings rate should be much higher than it actually is. After two months of detailed tracking, I know why we aren’t at the potential savings rate. My goal is to track our expenses for 3-6 months, then do a detailed overview to determine our averages in each category. Then, I can better determine what our monthly budget should be, and identify places we can increase our savings.

My actionable tip for you today: track your expenses for the next month. You can use pen and notebook, a spreadsheet, or venture online to Mint or Personal Capital. See where your money is actually going. For fun, jot down your estimates for each category today, so you can compare at the end of the month and see if you underestimated too. Let me know what surprises you had!