After using kakeibo, a simple and popular Japanese budgeting system, my savings have grown at a faster rate than I ever imagined possible. It has also helped me make smarter decisions about how to spend and invest my money. //

The acts of mindful spending and saving are very much interlinked, and the small changes I've made using kakeibo have had a cumulative effect on my bank account. //

What sets kakeibo apart, however, is that it doesn't involve any budgeting software, apps or Excel sheets. Similar to bullet journaling, it emphasizes the importance of physically writing things down — as a meditative way to process and observe your spending habits.

Research has proven again and again the numerous benefits of writing by hand: It can help you make positive changes by encouraging you to be more present and aware, while also acknowledging the triggers behind your bad habits. //

According to the kakeibo method, you must ask yourself the following questions before purchasing any non-essential items — or the things you buy on impulse, but might not necessarily need:

1. Can I live without this item?
   Based on my financial situation, can I afford it?
2. Will I actually use it?
3. Do I have the space for it?
4. How did I come across it in the first place? (Did I see it in a magazine? Did I come across it after wandering into a gift shop out of boredom?)
5. What is my emotional state in general today? (Calm? Stressed? Celebratory? Feeling bad about myself?)
6. How do I feel about buying it? (Happy? Excited? Indifferent? And how long will this feeling last?)

While kakeibo was effective in helping me stay on top on my finances, what it really did — that other systems I've tried in the past didn't — was force me to think about my purchases and what motivated me to buy them. //

Rather than requiring you to do anything drastic, the goal is to change your bad habits through mindfulness and incremental changes.

Ledger is a powerful, double-entry accounting system that is accessed from the UNIX command-line. Ledger, begun in 2003, is written by John Wiegley and released under the BSD license. It has also inspired several ports to other languages.

To get started with Ledger, add transactions to a text file in Ledger’s own textual format. Here’s what a single transaction might look like:

2015/10/12 Exxon
Expenses:Auto:Gas $10.00
Liabilities:MasterCard $-10.00

You use the ledger command line program to see the balance of your accounts: