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There's something so appealing about the simple act of keeping track. The world is a big place, and life is long, and it's easy for a human to get lost in the fray. There are those who swear by journaling, but for some it's just too much. Elise Nussbaum writes for The Billfold about why she loves, in lieu of journaling, tracking her spending through an old, clunky version of Quicken. "I don’t necessarily need to filter and examine every aspect of my life, but I do want to look back and have some idea of what I’ve been up to," she writes, and "Quicken asks you to confront, or at least remember, where the money went."

Nussbaum explains how the resulting charts Quicken creates help her to see a snapshot of her life, what she values, what she needs vs. what she wants, what matters to her and how she lives. There are financial planning benefits, sure -- she shares how Quicken changed the way she saves, for example -- but it also creates a snapshot of a life. Remember that deserty treat shared with a friend? Quicken does. How much of your resources do you devote to groceries? Lunches? Shopping? Mysterious CVS purchases? (As Nussbaum puts it, " I like to be detailed, except when the charge is from CVS, because I can never remember what the hell I went in there for.")

In other words, your banking is telling a story. The question is, what kind?

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