A friend of mine tweeted:
@mapgirlsfc I’d love 2 know how much more U spend on months when U have No Spend Days vs months w/out. I fear that 4 me, I would hoard.
***
I would love to know the answer to this question too. But I have a problem. I don’t account for my spending down to the penny. Currently Quicken has $9K in my cash account for ATM withdrawls over the last 5 years. I have no idea where it all went. I know. That’s really bad. I could move almost all of it to my dining budget at the end of every month, and that would probably be a reasonable action to take to balance the account. I’ve tried in the past to enter in all the receipts I have from my various lunches here and there, but it doesn’t seem to add up after my purse is cleaned out.
I could revert back to the notebook method of writing everything down again. I’ve been flip-flopping about putting daily expenses back onto plastic (ATM or charge plate), but when I do, I have a stronger sense of where it all goes after downloading to Quicken. It’s those little things for which you pay in cash that leave me with question mark bubbles above my head. I’ve done this before and I’ve found all it really tells me is that I eat out a lot.
I would not be able to say definitively if I spent more in a month that had a No Spend Day or not. I sure hope not. But I do have a small tendency to hoard. I won’t have to buy shampoo till long after the new year. Same goes for soap, conditioner, and a few girly products.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I just did calculated my expense for last two year ago a few days ago at http://www.mewithoutdebt.com/2009/10/how-i-got-myself-in-debt.html
I found online statements very helpful to calculate. Now with tool like Mint.com (+smart phone tools), it’s a breeze.
I just started using a budget and I’m find that making it all balance out is my biggest issue. Sometimes I don’t remember every expense. And I’m not playing by true accounting methods: I don’t count any “charges” I make an expense until I’ve payed off the credit card.
I would use something like Mint.com, but I’m worried about security issues. One place that has access to you all of your accounts. All it takes is a person to hack into that account and you could lose your entire net worth.
Or maybe I’m just a worry wart…
@Rachelle: I agree that if the person knows your password then they can know balance information on your account. However, that person cannot do anything more with Mint.com info unlike bank account info (i.e on your check) can be used to transfer funds.
Jotting down everytime you spent a penny is always a good habit. But of course, you have to really “use” the data you’ve gathered in order to balance your expenses, else, there’s no difference than just putting it in the head and just forget about it.
It might be worth it to track this just for a couple months as it would be really interesting data to look at.