Deduct Credit Card Charges As You Go

Personal finance writer J.D. Roth keeps on top of his credit card spending by deducting his card balance from his checking account register as soon as he makes a purchase.

One reason I got into [debt] trouble before was the lack of immediate feedback about how much had been charged to my credit cards. The spending was invisible and painless. Now when I plug numbers into Quicken at the end of the day, I make two entries for each credit card transaction: one to the credit card account, and one to a "dummy entry" in the checking account.

Whether you use Quicken, a spreadsheet or a dead tree account register, this sounds like a good way to make yourself feel the impact of a credit card purchase as you make each one, instead of getting slapped silly with an aggregate "oh crap" payment at the end of the month.