Well, that widget doesn't exactly tell the full story -- if I have 500 bucks in checking on Friday but rent is due on Monday, I cant realistically go out and bl

Well, that widget doesn't exactly tell the full story -- if I have 500 bucks in checking on Friday but rent is due on Monday, I cant realistically go out and blow cash on a weekend adventure even if the home screen widget suggests otherwise. Same logic goes for all your expenses. What you need is a forecast of future minimum balance, and current balance is a start, but you still have to do mental accounting for future required expenses banks dont typically mention. But what a charge card does for you is kind of nice though: it converts all the random unpredictable expenses into a single, deferred, interest free lump sum payment. Also: maybe I'm boring but at the monthly level those random expenses smooth out into something more predictable to where I can pencil in average payments every month and be pretty accurate. But when I'm wrong, I have 30 days to figure it out, instead of ... instant pain. The method you describe can work for people, and it did for me when I started grad school. But I've moved on to more complicated tracking. Now that I make 10x what I did back then, annual budget spreadsheets and double entry accounting is kind of required to optimize the tax bills I get these days. And of course, the cash back is nice =)