How To Track Your Spending With a Spending Record
16. Mar, 2009 
15 Comments
How intimate are you with your spending? One of the first things that I did when I started getting interested in my personal finances was to develop a spending record. It took on a number of variations at first, starting as a few scribbled notes on a piece of paper, or a list in a text document. Eventually, it turned into a multi-paged spreadsheet, and someday I am sure it will evolve yet again. All of the different versions boiled down to the same basic principle – where was I spending my money?
I think a lot of us think we know where our money goes. We might not write it down or record it, but we don’t need to. We know approximately how much money is in the bank, and we know about how much we’ve bought. If we think hard, we might even be able to label prices with purchases. For example, a Subway sandwich costs three and a half dollars, and when we went to see the movie last week we spent $20. However, I think the reality of our spending is completely different from what we think it is.
For example, when I started recording where I was spending my money, I was shocked to see how much money I was spending at the grocery store. I knew I was eating a lot of food, and that I especially enjoyed ice cream and snacks, but I had no idea I was spending $300-350 a month on groceries. I thought I was spending $150, maybe $200, but certainly not twice that. It is downright shocking to add up how much money I was spending on certain categories. Not all the surprises were bad. I thought I was buying a lot of beer, but it averaged to about $20 a month, not including if I purchased something while I was out for dinner.
Tracking my money was the first step towards financial responsibility. Before I was keeping track of my spending I thought I was being responsible, because I wasn’t spending more money than I made, at least most of the time. Financial ignorance, however, is often irresponsible, and there are no excuses for it.
Now, keeping track of spending doesn’t have to be a difficult thing. You might think that you’ll have to start getting receipts for everything, or writing down all your purchases as you make them throughout the month. While this does work, and is highly recommended for some people, I think that we are of a generation that will not put up with that hassle. Instead, I use the benefit of technology to assist me. I make almost all of my purchases using a debit or a credit card. I very, very rarely pay cash. This allows me to go back over my bank and credit card statements, and everything that I’ve purchased is listed for me. I just copy the numbers down onto my spread sheet and into the appropriate category. The spreadsheet even does all the adding for me, so that the totals are easily viewable. This works for me because I very rarely use cash. If you do use a lot of cash, it is not traceable after the fact, so you might have to start collecting those receipts. This whole process only takes me about 20 minutes every month. Sometimes I’ll wait a couple of months and then go back over them all at once.
For me, I managed to bring down my average grocery bill to $190/month over the last three months. That’s a savings of about $110/month. I think that just the recognition of the overall monthly cost of silly snacks or food that went bad made me a little more hesitant in Safeway and at Costco. It’s a quick and easy way to save money, and at the same time, you’re informing yourself of your spending habits so you can plan for them in the future.
What about you? Where are you spending more money than you thought you were? Where are you spending less? Any place you think you can reduce costs without much effort? Put that savings into your high interest online savings account!
Potential savings: $30+ per month. Total savings this month: $43
Want a copy of that spreadsheet for your own, personal use? Comment below, or on the wall of The Great Blog Off and ask for one.
Related posts
- Keeping Track of Your Budget
- Eliminating your Debt Part 1
- Staying Out of Debt
- A New Era of Personal Finance
- Importantce of Outlining your Goals
- Calculating Your True Financial Health
- A Priority Shakedown
- Budgeting in Steps
- Recording Your Expenses ASAP
- Unusual Ways to Save Money at Costco
Matt Goulart
Done deal, email sent.
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Hey Alan… this is good stuff, could I get a copy of the spreadsheet?Alexalexander.toney@gmail.com
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Hi alan, discovered your blog just the other day. It’d be great if I could get a copy of your spreadsheet. Truly worthy for use of tracking my spending.
Thanks in advance,
Jo
StchnTime4@aol.com
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Using a spending record sounds like an idea I should try… can you send me your spreadheet, please?
BTW – budgets aren’t dead…. but they are a challenge for me to keep alive!!
Thanks muchly!great white north grrrrl
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I love your message! Knowing is half the battle. Before I got married I knew what my bank account was like by tracking it in my head, but then when it became 2 of us using the money it was a different story. We started with tracking our spending on a spreadsheet as well and wanted to plan ahead. Well that became complicated when we had to add in new rows with the growth of our family and change of spending habits (wanted a big family so foresaw lots of those changes coming). It was just too tedious. So my husband, being a web-developer, created this program CalendarBudget for us which made tracking and planning a breeze. We could then plan in minutes if we could afford a part time income (did part-time income for Daddy for the first bit when 5th child came along). Tracking our spending has helped our relationship too because we both know where our money is going and if we’re on track for our goals/dream purchases.I hope your budgeting is going well for you! I liked your blog as well about Christmas payments ahead of time to be ready for the lump sum. I was wondering… what tips do you have for planning ahead for unexpected big purchases like a car replacement/change in income?
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Thanks for the comment and encouragement Robin.
As for unexpected expenses, you can see any of my posts on emergency funds:http://www.savingforserenity.com/blog/tag/emergency-fund
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i discoverd your spreadshhet. i am looking for something like that for a long time cam i please have a copy? it would be useful since i am in maternity benefits.thx
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I just read your blog. Please send me a copy of your spreadsheet. I just retired and I am finding it difficult to budget my money on a once a month income.
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Hi Alan,Could I get copy of your spending plan spreadsheet?Thank you,Mark
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I have a suggestion for easy tracking: a new site launched at http://www.debtspark.com. It’s basically a step one for budgetary novices that lets user know where they stand financially. It’s like a spreadsheet where users plug in basic expenses, debts and incomes, but the site will store monthly information and allow tracking of the deficit (or hopefully!) surplus over time. Believe it or not, so many people aren’t aware of the basics of their financial situation, and this provides an easy, undaunting beginning.
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Very informative. Would like spreadsheet. Thanks much.
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would love a copy of your spreadsheet!need to get on top of spending!k
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Would love a copy of your spreadsheet. Needing something to help the kids balance rather than juggle their money.
jeffandjayma@msn.com
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Would appreciate a copy.
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Please may I have a copy of your spreadsheet. I work for the state and have the possibility of a RIF so need to begin a much better management of the money flow.
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