Time to try something different with spending. Now that I’ve moved to mostly debit and cash for my daily spending on lunch, gas and whatnots, I’m having a hard time tracking spending again. I am going to have to write stuff down once more.
I can tell that most of what I’m buying is lunches out. But I’m not disciplining myself on it. Usually I can eat lunch for less than $6.00, but lately I’ve been lax in my oversight. I’ve had lunch for $9 one day and $7 another.
Part of the problem is dining out with other people and getting what they want to eat. The plethora of options out there is making sort of crazy. I thought I’d have nothing to eat around the industrial park I’m in, but slowly I’ve realized that there are lots of options, but many of them are much more expensive than I’d like. I can’t eat a $6 club sandwich or reuben every day from the delis around the office. Sometimes it’s so little that I end up with a bag of chips, which ends up being a dollar or more extra.
If you haven’t tried writing down what you’re spending, give it a try. I go through this exercise periodically when I’m wondering where the money’s going. It’s worth doing, even if it’s only a week.
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I use wesabe.com to track and tag my spending. It’s nifty. And it’s pretty much the only way I can be consistent about it.
I also can’t use cash, though — it vanishes like smoke, leaving me with no clue what I spent it on. :/ Snack food at work, usually.
I habitually keep track of my money in my check register and to me, it’s the same as tracking spending.
Sistah Ant, that’s very disciplined. My mom used to do that, but I never got the hang of it. It’s enough for me to record checks! :-/