nancy3•7d ago

My sister told me to track every single dollar for a month and I thought she was nuts

She said to write down every coffee, snack, and random Amazon buy, no matter how small. I did it in April and was shocked to see I spent over $200 on stuff I barely remembered. Cutting that out basically paid my electric bill. Has anyone else tried this kind of super detailed tracking, and did it show you something weird you were spending on?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade6187d ago

Honestly, I think that kind of tracking is a total waste of mental energy. Life is too short to stress over every single coffee. That $200 you "found" probably bought you a lot of little joys and conveniences that made your month better. Constantly watching every penny just makes you feel guilty for normal spending. I'd rather have a general idea of my budget and enjoy my life than turn into a money detective. The stress of tracking isn't worth the small savings.

barbara_moore737d ago

That $200 number is wild but I totally believe it. I did the same thing last year and my weird leak was those convenience store energy drinks, like three bucks a pop. Did you find it was mostly one category bleeding you dry, or was it just death by a thousand small cuts across everything?

lilyt906d ago

But that mental energy is the whole point, it makes you actually aware of where your money goes. You can't fix a leak you don't know about.