To save money you need to know how you spend your money. Creating a budget does give you a rough idea of what you spend at the end of each week or month but it doesn't include impulse purchases and other expenses. The best way to keep track of your spending therefore is to have a spending diary. You record every purchase you make and at the end of the month find out how you wasted your money and hopefully try to avoid it the next month. It might save you some money.
I used to do this when I first got married. Money was tight so we lived on a very strict budget. I kept all my receipts and would total them at the end of the month to make sure I didn't overspend. Once we both got more established in our careers and started making more money I stopped doing this. I really liked doing it as you could see where the money was going each month and cut back in certain areas if needed.
Yes, making a budget diary or an expense diary is quite useful so that you will know how much money you have spent and saved. Using Microsoft Word or Excel is ideal too, although as for me I would just be content to keep the receipts.
I do this but only if I know I'll be spending a lot and actually buying man multiple items. I like knowing ahead of time how I can budget my money better so buying everything at the same time allows me to compare and more easily balance the budget a little better. After that everything is mostly just kept in mental notes but I make sure the smaller details are written out so I don't eventually slip and buy more than I intended.
That would be a great thing for me to do! I am sure all my money would be going into buying beauty supplies, as well as clothes. Always is nice to know what I earned, as well as where it went. I am not very good at saving, so this would help that for sure. I need to get a thing to write it all in now. I think it sounds fun to do!
I have never thought about having a spending diary. That is such a good idea. I would think that would help to keep me on track to see where all of my money is going throughout the week.
I totally agree, keeping an expense diary is a very handy tool. Like you say @sidney, an Excel spreadsheet is one way of doing it and in fact, that's what we do. My husband is one of the most organised people out there, and insists on recording everything. So I let him create the spreadsheet and then we record all our expenses on there and stay on top of it that way. It really keeps us on the straight and narrow.
I keep a list of what I need to spend money on and how much I should have after the spending so I know that I am staying on budget. One of the things that makes it hard to stick to the amount I plan to spend is an increase in the price of the item I plan to purchase. If I plan to spend $40 for shoes and can not find a pair for less than $80 it may take a few weeks for me to make that purchase.
@Lushlala, As for me I can't be bothered to use Excel, I just write it down in paper or my phone's drafts, lol. The graphs can be stifling if you have a lot to type or say about a particular purchase.
My husband and I kept track of all expenditures last month on an expenditures diary that we kept on the refrigerator. Even though we can easily check our bank account online or by phone anytime, I found that we were both more in tune as to where our money was going. We really thought about each purchase ahead of time, instead of just throwing items in the cart at the grocery store. It was a lot tougher having to write each expenditure down on paper than simply checking a bank statement. It held us more accountable. We used last month's diary to budget for this month. So far we have kept on track pretty well!
Hehe @Sidney, that's why I leave it all up to my husband LOL! He truly is a dab hand at that sort of thing, and he's just so organised he couldn't live with himself if he didn't record it all. He has to know where everything is, and has to have some sort of 'paper trail'. All I have to do is hand over the numbers and all the details
@Lushlala, If that's the case then he is such an accountant! Maybe he is very thrifty and careful with money that's why it's a must to record everything.
Hehe @sidney, I'd say he's more anally organised than thrifty. He's also far from being an accountant as working with numbers is not his forte. He likes to know where everything is and always likes to have a paper trail of some sort. I leave all the filing to him. Each time I want to locate stuff like receipts and other important documentation, he's my go to man I'm rubbish at that sort of thing, sadly.
It's a good thing that you posted this tip. I'm having problems in my spending habits right now, and at the worst possible time at that. I suddenly became bad at something I used to be good at. I could finally have an idea of the money that I'm spending on unnecessary stuff during this month, and hopefully cut them from my life so that I could return to saving.
@Lushlala, But he does throw away the bills and receipts after a year or so right? My dad files the utility bills for water, cable and electricity then throws them away eventually.
