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Back to Basics: I’m Tracking My Spending
By Molly's Brother | January 17, 2007
We’re almost three weeks into the New Year and I haven’t yet reverted to my One Life to Live-watching, Dorito’s-eating ways. (I’ve come close a few times, but have held my focus. In short: I’ve gotten off my ass and gone to the gym.)
Financially speaking, my New Year’s goals are modest. Seventeen days in, I’ve decided to visit a habit from which I thought I had long-since moved on.
I have pulled out my spending log and started tracking my spending.
Lately, I am amazed at how quickly money has seemed to disappear from my pocket, from my wallet, from my bank account, and from my life. A dollar here tossed away for a coke. A dollar there tossed into a parking attendant’s hands. And those $12 cocktails at the bar might be a friend to my weekends, but they are sworn enemies of my bank account. (Yes. Twelve dollar drinks. The price I pay to live in L.A.) On top of that, this month has seen a rise in unforseen expenses (in the form of grad school application fees).
By following a tried-and-true finance tool, I’ll be returning to Ye Ol’ Spending Log and recording each and every purchase for the next few months. It’ll help me discover where the financial leak is in my budget.
Last year, when I was tracking my spending in April/May/June, I was amazed at how helpful an exercise it was. I am now amazed to see that it’s necessary to return to the spending log from time-to-time in order to get a complete picture of my spending habits.
Topics: Spending Log |
January 20th, 2007 at 2:41 am
Sooo, you’re one of those people who actually buy drinks for more than $10 each. I thought they were in the menu just for show.
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Sigh. The $10 drinks are the well drinks, too. These are the cheap ones where I live.
February 23rd, 2007 at 6:07 pm
I found your site (again) through a well written article you wrote for the Dollar Stretcher. I had visited your blog awhile ago and neglected to save it. Like yourself I too had stopped tracking after several months for no goodd reason and am now back to tracking again. Your article was a good reminder.
Good luck with Grad School.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Tracking my spending really is an amazing way to see where the $$$$ Go. When I first started tracking my spending I was going through about $50.00 a day without even realizing it. I would spend 7.00 in the morning on coffee, a muffin, newspaper or magazine. Then spend another 10.00 at lunch time, then go out to eat at dinner and spend 15.00 then have a few drinks which added on another 15.00 then the real killer is I would somehow end up at Wal-mart to buy ONE ITEM and I would end up buying something stupid like blank DVDs or a printer cartridge, or new batteries and a few frozen food items at wal-mart and before I knew it I had blown $50.00+.
It’s really hard to STOP SPENDING but I have finally done it. My goal is to go a WEEK without spending a dime.
January 23rd, 2008 at 4:23 am
Tom–
I swear: Wal*Mart is a financial vortex (and a time vortex, too). Congratulations on your steps to STOP SPENDING. Good luck on going one week without spending a dime.
Would love to hear how you do.
–Molly’s Brother