I always assumed I was being reasonable with money, bills were covered, no crazy splurges. But the truth is, I never realized how much the small stuff was eating away at me.
A couple months ago I decided to track literally every expense. Not just rent and groceries, but also the $5 snacks, random Amazon buys, late-night takeout. It felt silly at first, like nitpicking.
Then the numbers smacked me in the face: what I thought was maybe $200 a month eating out was actually closer to $450.
Once I saw it in black and white, it didn’t feel like deprivation, more like plugging leaks in a sinking boat. Brew coffee at home, cook a few more meals, stop the little impulse buys… and suddenly I had way more left over at the end of the month.
Now I just do a quick weekly check-in, and it’s wild how freeing it feels to actually be in control.
Tracking every dollar showed me how much I was wasting without realizing
byu/Distinct-Attempt3691 inFrugal
Posted by Distinct-Attempt3691
8 Comments
Do you track with pen and paper?
I use YNAB and pay for everything with cards not cash. Helps me know where every penny goes.
Next step, zero based budgeting. 😀
I’ve been tracking every penny since college. It makes all the difference! My husband grumbled about it at first but now he gets excited because he loves the data too.
Yep, the numbers can be scary. I use Quicken Simplfi and use their watchlist feature to keep an eye on all the extras by category. It’s much easier to make better choices when you truly see how it adds up.
Tracking those number is part of discipline. You cannot spend (or save) what you do not have.
Everything on a card. (paying off the card in full each month so no interest).
Export card history to Excel once a month and manually sort/ review each purchase.
Tracks every dollar without too much effort writing everything down all the time.
These apps could show you how much money you’ve spent this month or this year. But they don’t.
Even when they offer you the subscription for free/reduced delivery, they show you how much you could have saved in fees, but not how much you spent total.
None of this is an accident.