Extend your prompt to show the status of your current git branch (e.g. whether changes need to be committed)

git_prompt.md

Add these lines to your startup bash file (e.g. ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc):

function parse_git_dirty {
    [[ $(git status 2> /dev/null | tail -n1) != "nothing to commit, working directory clean" ]] && echo "*"
}
function parse_git_branch {
    git branch --no-color 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e "s/* \(.*\)/[\1$(parse_git_dirty)]/"
}

export PS1='\u \[\033[1;33m\]\w\[\033[0m\]$(parse_git_branch)$ '

The shell prompt will then show the current branch you are on and the status of the branch.