5 Tips for Tracking Expenditure

Just like tracking your food consumption can help you lose weight, tracking expenditure can help you cut your costs.

Alexandria Blaelock, author of Holistic Personal Finance: How to pay for the life you want says “Let’s be honest, tracking expenditure can be a pain, but knowing where you leak money can help you plug the gaps.”

Here are Blaelock’s tips for tracking expenditure:

Find a product that works for you and use it: It doesn’t matter how good your intentions are if you don’t do it. You don’t need an app, or a special book – the back of an envelope works fine (if you don’t spend much money). The important thing is to pick a method and use it.
Note EVERYTHING: If you don’t record everything, it’s like an action movie without the climax – you’ll never know what happened.
Assess value: As you record each purchase, assess it’s value. Was it worth the price you paid? Would the experience have been better with something else? Could you have spent more or less to get a better experience?
Consider price variations: Do you think your overall spending on this item is reasonable. Has the price increased? Can you buy in bulk? Is it something you can stock up on for the next season, or should you
Ask what can you cut: Your random mid-afternoon Kit Kat pick me up can become a mindless daily habit if you don’t keep on top of it. And so can some of your other purchases. Check your tracking, and consider if you have any spending habits you need to end.

Alexandria’s tips on tracking expenditure will help you control your spending.

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