|
Track Your Spending
by Kimberly
Danger
Knowing exactly how and where you
spend your money will provide you with key
information about where your money goes. It
will also give you valuable insight into what
your spending weaknesses are and provide
information about what you can improve upon.
This information will be important to have when
you create a budget.
There are many ways to track your
spending. It’s important for you to pick the
method that is easiest for you, fits your
lifestyle, and one that you can stick to.
A spiral notebook that fits in
your purse is great for this. For every item
you buy, track the amount spent and to which
category it belongs, such as: groceries, gas,
entertainment, restaurants, clothing, and so
on.
This is a really simple way to
track spending because it doesn’t require much
time. Simply grab an envelope and make sure
that both you and your spouse account for all of
your purchases – whether cash or credit – by
placing the receipt in an envelope. If you make
any purchases where a receipt isn’t available
(vending machines, for example) write the amount
spent and the item on the envelope itself. This
works well for spouses who may be less than
cooperative. It isn’t too much to ask them to
simply hold onto their receipts.
This can be done in conjunction
with keeping a spending journal or a receipt
envelope and works well for those who plan on
using a computer program as a part of their
budgeting system. Don’t worry about
categorizing the purchases right now. Simply
gathering the information will be sufficient.
After the end of the three weeks, we will begin
to categorize your purchases so that you can
create a budget.
If you want to take electronic
budgeting one step further, consider an online
tracking site like
Mint.com. Not only does Mint use features
like Quicken and Money, it connects to your
banking/credit card information nightly to
automate the process even further. Best of all,
it’s completely free.
|
