How to clear your credit cards

Keeping a record of what you spend each day may not sound particularly cool, but it allows you to spot problems and trends. Plenty of people delude themselves about how they spend money. If you write it down you have to confront the truth.

What to do

• Keep the diary online or use a small notebook to carry with you. But whichever method you choose, you have to write everything down.
• You must also write any price down in pounds and pence for accuracy.
• Keep the diary well-organised and clear
• Keep it for a week and then review it, take a calculator and add up the total. Then add up the spend for a month
• Read through your diary and look for patterns, unnecessary waste and avoidable spending at the end of the month.
• Re-evaluate the way you spend

Read this article for more information on keeping a spending diary.