Jadon Uses PocketSmith To Track His Side Hustle Finances

Read how Jadon uses PocketSmith to evaluate the cost-benefit of his hobbies and any services he pays for.

Tell us a little about yourself?

I’m a fast-approaching 50-year-old IT Manager originally from South Africa but now happily Australian living in Brisbane. No kids but plenty of hobbies to make up for it, including golf, laser cutting, CNC machining, 3D printing, home brewing and gourmet mushroom cultivation.

How would you describe your role in your household?

I am the primary income earner and bill payer given my full-time employment, however both my partner and I have side hobby businesses on Etsy that provide for some extra income to spend on fun things like dining out or a weekend away.

What drew you to PocketSmith?

Many years ago, I was discussing managing finances with my general manager, and he mentioned he had found PocketSmith and thought it was good. Since I have always been a person to try and stay on top of my finances and like to know how I am trending, PocketSmith was a good fit.

How long have you been with us?

Over eight years! Signed up way back in April 2014.

What do you primarily use PocketSmith for?

PocketSmith is a tool for me to track spending habits and summarize bill expenses to better assess the cost-benefit of any service I am paying for. It allows me to easily collate taxable/deductible transactions for my accountant and also allows me to pick up on any odd or fraudulent transactions as I will categorize them at the end of every two weeks.

How has PocketSmith changed the way you do money?

PocketSmith has given me the ability to easily see my financial position and anticipate expenses in the coming months. While all this is possible with spreadsheets and the like, PocketSmith makes the process easier and more visual. With the time invested in categorizing all my transactions, I can see how much my hobbies are costing me and how much my Etsy store is bringing in to cover those costs. This has given me greater control over where my money goes and when I should curb spending.

What are your favorite features?

Bank feeds and auto-categorization rules are great time-savers, along with the dashboard.

Got any tips?

It takes a little bit of time to get PocketSmith working the way you want. Invest some time in watching the how-to videos and setting up your categories. Don’t try to get it perfect first go, as you will find it’s an evolving and iterative process that does change over time as your focus or needs change. PocketSmith makes it easy to change categories if you need to, so all you need to do is start!

What’s the best money decision you made in the past 12 months?

After looking at our insurance expenses more closely, I decided to refine our private health cover and reduce our premium by about 40% while still maintaining the coverage we need.