Kakeibo is a physical notebook savers write their spending patterns in to in an effort to save money.

Pronounced kah-keh-boh, its literal translation is household financial ledger, and it is common in Japan.

First introduced in 1904 by journalist Motoko Hani, the notebook is filled with inspirational messages to encourage savers to keep pushing towards their goals.

Alongside these are spreadsheets which are used to keep track of money coming in and money going out.

A new book, Kakeibo: The Japanese Art of Saving Money, has translated this for Western audiences so they can try saving money the Japanese way.

How does Kakeibo work?

Each month, savers sit down the the book and plan out the next four week’s finances.

Spending is divided into four categories which are survival, optional, culture and extra.

Survival covers food, transport and health related spending, while optional refers to shopping, restaurants and takeaways.

Culture is for books, films, and music, while extra means gifts or home repairs.

At the end of each week, a reflection box encourages savers to check whether they are on track to meet their target.

This forces savers to be aware of where their cash is going, and enables them to make changes. It also highlights any spending that may have got out of control without being noticed, such as takeaways or cabs.

The kakeibo book also asks savers to answer four key questions to help them reconsider their fiscal habits:

How much money do you have?  

How much would you like to put away?

How much are you actually spending?

How can you improve on that?