After a few years managing my finance after learning that I should do it (review of my first year of full time work), what I retain is two things: Envelope budgeting, Every dollar is used, and don’t sweat the small stuff. I have an envelope for each category of spending, each goal and one for saving. My income is split between these everytime I get it. I don’t bother tracking small expenses (less than 10$) if it’s not done automatically (credit card). I used Ynab first, then banktivity, now I use Ledger.

My goal is only to track If I’m not spending more than necessary and my runway if I have no income.