Do you track your spendings?

2bearsmom · **Do you track your spendings?**

I know every financial expert in the world has suggested it at one time or another, but do you do it? Do you write down everything you purchase? I always say I'm going to, but then I wind up slacking by day 3.

I tried it last week and actually followed through. I wrote down everything DH and I purchased in just 1 week. It was a REAL eye opener! And made me think that if I am totally serious about committingto my budget I need to get a better handle on things ;I thought I was okay but some of those #'s shocked me!

maggie · 12-17-2007, 06:53 AM

I do. I don't keep track of dh's but I have a page in the back of my calendar and I write down what I spend - I round it off but it gives me a good idea. I have a budget of $1500 a month for household expenses and if I didn't write it down I would go way over. About one or two months out of the year I take a break from keeping track of it (I get tired of it) and I always go over. I am a list kind of girl so this system really helps me. I also write down what I eat every day to keep myself from gaining weight.

The area that always blows my mind every month is my grocery store bills. I easily spend $800 a month on groceries for my family of 4. We eat mostly organic and very healthy food and it is so expensive. It doesn't seem that awful once a week when I spend a couple hundred at the store, but at the end of the month when I think about half my budget going towards food, it makes me very annoyed. I wish I could do it more cheaply, but I want us to have nutritious, healthy food. It is more important to me than having extra money for other things. Sorry to go off on a tangent! My dh doesn't care how I spend my money as long as I do my best to stay close to my budget, but he is also amazed when I tell him how much I spend on groceries. Of course he hasn't darkened the door of a grocery store since we got married so he really has no clue how much things cost.

Doozer · 12-17-2007, 06:53 AM

This is a good reminder. Dh and I used to do this...and I mean, we TRACKED EVERY DIME spent and it IS amazing to SEE where the money goes. This is why we now brew our own coffee and take it with us.....and why we take our portable coffee cups on the road when we travel and get "refills" instead of full coffee purchases!!!

I think with the new year coming up, I will try it again. January is always a good starting place.

Do you use exel or do you use word or how do you track your's?

brensmom · 12-17-2007, 07:00 AM

we are on a strict budget so we know where every last dime goes because if we didn't that could mean disaster for us.

lms · 12-17-2007, 07:09 AM

I just started doing this. I save every receipt. If I don't have a receipt I right it down. It is a real eye opener. I track my food spending form November 3rd to November 25th and I spent $346.36. If I would of just guess how much I spend during this time period, I would of Guess about $250.00.

I join this site midway throught saving my receipt. Since joining has help me greatly when it comes to saving money when food shopping. I calculated my receipts for November 26 to December 17th and I spend $234.99. That is a savings of $111.27

Thanks to this site and saving my receipts, keeping track of what I spend. I'm more conscience of how I spend my money.

momof2boys · 12-17-2007, 07:16 AM

It is it an eye opener when you follow through with it. It is in the goals for 2008 along with a little Dave Ramsey

3boysmommy · 12-17-2007, 08:18 AM

Yep....we do Dave Ramsey and we track EVERYTHING! It is the ONLY thing thay keeps ud on track.

AyeOhKay · 12-17-2007, 08:34 AM

We do this every six months of so for a month. It helps me keep my budget in check. It is also an eye-opener for DH who doesn't have a lot to do with the daily finances. He was shocked last week when I had him stop for a gallon of milk and it was $5!

I find it easier just to keep a notebook or ledger and write the numbers in. Then I'm not running to the computer all the time.

2bearsmom · 12-17-2007, 10:31 AM

I wrote it all down on a piece of paper (I'm old fashioned I prefer a pen and paper budget), and just tallied daily receipts.
I know some of it couldn't be helped, but wow... now that the car issue is done and the holidays are over (shopping wise). I'm buckling down!

smiles1978 · 12-17-2007, 11:54 AM

We budget all our money. I purchased a plain Compostion book. I budget out all the bills, groceries, gas, daycare, I even budget in for misc. Since we started this budget a acctually saw money staying in my checking account, instead of ending the week with under $50.00.

I like the composition book, because I do the whole month in advance, and no having to wait to go on the computer to actually book my expenses. It stays in the kitchen, once I post tuff to the checking account it gets posted to the book.