Expense Tracking Enlightenment

Whew, I’ve been behind on posting due to some travel (stayed in a cabin and went fishing up north in Minnesota: so not me but really fun!) and some training at work (on influencing people and innovation). So far, just a headline that I’m participating in Poorer than You’s Know-Where-the-Money-Goes Challenge for the month of August. Barely halfway there, and I’ve been surprised at how enlightening and non-invasive the tracking process has been. As minor as it seems, it helped me to start on August 1. Psychologically, it’s been an issue for me when I’ve tried to track spending before – where to begin? The spending is a constantly flowing stream. I highly recommend trying it for a month, and if it helps you, starting on the first day of the month. It has kept me feeling a lot more aware and cognizant of how I’m spending.
It’s definitely been enlightening to some bad behaviors (Wow, two days in, I had spent two-weeks-worth of my eating-out allocation) and helped instill some good behaviors (Day 3, I declined a morning brunch with friends that I normally would have tagged along on unthinkingly spending another $20 on eggs and toast that I could have made for free at home). I’ve also been spending more deliberately, and prioritizing as I go. Hopefully this is the month that I WIN on my budget. And I need it to fund that travel budget – my trip is at the end of November!