I am writing this post to show the benefit of keeping a money spending diary.
A while back I kept a diary of all my spending over a 1 month period. I had a reasonable salary going in to my bank each month and didn't consider myself to be a wasteful spender, yet my earnings seemed to be going nowhere.
I wrote down every expenditure, trying to be as accurate as possible. I noted all my regular bill payments, along with all my day to day spending. I also made a list of one off payments such as car tax and worked out the monthly cost.
I was able to see on paper exactly where my money was going.
My food shopping spend was scary. It wasn't the weekly grocery bill that was the problem, it was the continuous trips to the supermarket or local shop between weekly shops. Among other things, I was also spending far too much on snacks and drinks, a couple of quid here and there was amounting to quite a large expense over the month. There were also catalogue repayments with interest, credit card repayments, insurances I didn't need, bills that were far too high, and the list went on.
Changing my spending habits and learning to discipline myself wasn't easy. I now do a weekly food shop and rarely need to buy anything between these weekly shops. I make sure I've brought enough snacks and drinks for the week, carrying them around in my bag and my car, and make my lunch at home rather than buying pre-packed sandwiches on the go. I have changed the way I buy on credit, cancelled what I don't need and changed some suppliers to get a cheaper deal.
All in all a positive experience.
A while back I kept a diary of all my spending over a 1 month period. I had a reasonable salary going in to my bank each month and didn't consider myself to be a wasteful spender, yet my earnings seemed to be going nowhere.
I wrote down every expenditure, trying to be as accurate as possible. I noted all my regular bill payments, along with all my day to day spending. I also made a list of one off payments such as car tax and worked out the monthly cost.
I was able to see on paper exactly where my money was going.
My food shopping spend was scary. It wasn't the weekly grocery bill that was the problem, it was the continuous trips to the supermarket or local shop between weekly shops. Among other things, I was also spending far too much on snacks and drinks, a couple of quid here and there was amounting to quite a large expense over the month. There were also catalogue repayments with interest, credit card repayments, insurances I didn't need, bills that were far too high, and the list went on.
Changing my spending habits and learning to discipline myself wasn't easy. I now do a weekly food shop and rarely need to buy anything between these weekly shops. I make sure I've brought enough snacks and drinks for the week, carrying them around in my bag and my car, and make my lunch at home rather than buying pre-packed sandwiches on the go. I have changed the way I buy on credit, cancelled what I don't need and changed some suppliers to get a cheaper deal.
All in all a positive experience.
