Does paying your credit card bill count as spending?

Why it gets counted twice

Say you put $1,240 of groceries, dinners and shopping on a credit card this month, then pay the card off from your checking account.

Your card statement shows $1,240 of purchases. Your checking account shows $1,240 going out to the card company. If you add up everything that left both accounts, you get $2,480, but you only bought $1,240 worth of things.

This is the most common reason a spreadsheet or budgeting app says you spent far more than you did.

The rule

Count each purchase once, when you make it. Money you move between your own accounts isn't spending. That covers:

• paying your credit card bill;
• moving money to savings;
• moving money between your checking accounts, or to an investment account you own.

What the card company charges you is spending, though. Interest and fees on the card are money you won't get back, so they count.

What if I only look at my checking account?

Then you count the bill and never see the purchases. That avoids double counting, but the timing is off: this month's bill mostly pays for last month's purchases. You also can't see where the money went, only that a lump went to the card.

To see this month's spending as it happens, count the card purchases and leave the bill out.

Refunds and paybacks

If a store refunds something you bought on the card, take it off your spending. If a friend pays you back for their half of dinner, you can take that off too, because the dinner only cost you your half.

Try it

Spent So Far does these steps for you from your bank and card accounts, and shows every line so you can check it. Try it with sample data, or read how it works.