Keep a record of all my spending for 2 weeks

All I ended up with was a quicken file of every penny spent – I did it for over a year and it did not change anything about the way I spent money, unfortunately.

Saturday ($20) – Last minute birthday party stuff!

Sunday ($15) – Mothers’ Day

Monday ($1.30) – Bus fare, one way

Tuesday ($9.24) – Groceries! I resisted to urge to buy nacho-style comfort food out at uni and went to the supermarket instead – a brilliant effort considering I’d just found out I have to start my assignment again, because it’s completely wrong

Today – so far I’ve filled up my car with petrol because Wednesdays are usually the cheapest days and paid my rent

When stuff is marked down to ridiculously low prices, I find it very hard to say no.

I only spent $1 on myself…. $1 on the bf… $4 on the cat (cat food)... and the rest ($11) on other people’s babies. Children grow – they need clothes.

Who can go past a bargain??

Not me, and some of this stuff is really cute. Baby clothes make me clucky! :)

This IS going to be the last spending i’ll do in a loooooooong time.

Yesterday i bought – Lunch, curry – $5. Tennis balls – $2.50. Canon 400D and accessories – $2550.

So, i spent a HELL of a lot yesterday, and it wasn’t really necessary, but i have been thinking about it for a long time! And hopefully this latest purchase will actually lead me to making some money, by selling my photographs, or doing photographic work for people.

So, i spent $7.50 in frivolous spending yesterday, which really isn’t that bad. Lunch for $5 is ok, and the tennis balls are for my back – you roll them around your back up against a wall, and it is a great massage!

Today I paid my rent – that is completely necessary!

Bus fare – also necessary :)

Frivolous spending included $16 worth of food and bev. Not that I’m not allowed to eat or anything, just should probably think about taking food with me sometimes…

$6.40 on a custard apple, some mushrooms, and a bunch of basil. Not bad, considering i had been planning to buy a whole bunch of other things that i didn’t end up buying, but which i will probably buy today.

Yesterday was good. Today could be a doozie!

for similar reasons. My spending is way out of control and I need to curb it.

I’ve spent $28 today on stuff I really didn’t need to buy – however – it is my boyfriend’s birthday so I paid for our morning tea / lunch.

And I think I already know where most of it goes – eating out. It starts with a coffee… then cake… then another coffee. Before you know it you’ve spent $25+ between two people!!!

I will try to keep a record of every cent i spend, for two weeks.

I need to see my spending patterns, because i am not doing very well on the budgeting front. I don’t allow myself enough for day to day purchases. To be able to do this, i need to know exactly what i am spending.

I might increase this goal to 4 weeks, after i have successfully completed 2 weeks, writing down everything i spend. But there is no reason for me to make it 4 weeks if i can’t manage to record my habits for 2 weeks, so i will start off small.

Ideally i would like to record my spending for several months, or, all the time, but i have to start somewhere, and fast!

So the plan is to record my spending for at least 2 weeks, and then take an average for my budget, and also to look at places where i can stop spending money i don’t need to.

I’ll keep a note of it all in my wallet, and transcribe the details here, for analysis.