I spent how much this month!?!?

A Shocking Situation

Have you ever looked at your credit card or bank statement and thought, "I spent how much this month?!?!"

Join the club.

I like surprises, not shocks. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that most banks and credit cards offer a spending meter. A spending meter is a notification from your bank or credit card that notifies you of your balance once you hit a pre-defined amount. You can choose to receive the message via SMS or email, and it's only sent when you hit the pre-defined amount. It's a great tool to keep track of your balance and performance against budget.

What you need

• Mobile or online access to your bank and/or credit card
• Smartphone

How to get started

• American Express
• Log into your American Express online account
• Click on “Profile & Preferences” in the top menu bar
• Click on “Spending Alerts” (under the “Account Alerts” section)
• Set the slider for “Spend Tracking” to “On”
• Set the amount to $200
• Note: you may be required to verify your email address and/or mobile phone number, depending on your selection.
• Capital One
• Log into your Capital One online account
• Hover over “Messages & Alerts” from top menu bar
• Click on “Set Alerts” from drop-down menu
• Click on the “Enable” checkbox for “Balance above $”
• Set the amount to $200
• Chase
• Log into your Chase online account
• Click on “Manage Account Alerts” from the right hand navigation
• Click on the relevant checkbox for the row labeled “My balance reaches ($ USD)” under “Daily Alerts”
• Set the amount to $200
• Click on the “Update Alerts” button
• Discover
• Log into your Discover online account
• Click on “Account Profile” in the top menu bar
• Scroll down to "Track Your Spending" under the "E-mail and Mobile Reminders" heading
• Click the “Sign Up” button to the right of "Balance Exceeds Amount"
• Under the "E-mail and Text Reminders" heading, click the + button to expand the "Track Your Spending" options
• Check to select email and/or text notifications for "Account Balance
• Exceeds a Specified Amount" and enter $500 in the box ($500 minimum for notifications) 

How to use

• That's it! Your bank or credit card will automatically send a notification to your email or mobile phone when you reach the pre-defined amount.

Conclusion

Never get caught off guard by your balance or statement. The spending meter is a nifty service offered by most bank and credit card accounts and best of all, it's free!