Are you ready to review your spending journal? You should have had some time to record your everyday purchases. If you haven’t started your spending journal yet, don’t worry. Just go back and read the earlier article, Creating A Spending Journal. Then you can come back and join us to review.
So let us take a look at your journal. Look for patterns. Do you spend more during the week or on weekends? Do you buy a lot of convenience items that a little planning could eliminate? Where are your biggest impulse purchases?
Trying to see the patterns of how, where and why you spend can help you build effective strategies to save. You can even have a friend review your spending journal, or post your spending here in the forums, and we can all review each other’s journals.
Would avoiding those places help your budget? Big box stores are a killer for me. I run in for one thing and come out with several other things. So I try to avoid those stores, shopping elsewhere or asking a friend to pick up my one item when they go to shop.
Are there alternative ways to get what you need without spending a lot? In my pre-husband, pre-kids, pre-frugal days, it wasn’t unusual for me to spend $300 a month on new books. I haven’t cut down too much on my reading habit, and yet, I don’t spend that much on books in a whole year, now. How do i do it? By finding other outlets for getting my books. I visit the library (free), get books from friends and freecycle (free), buy them at library sales, thrift stores and tag sales ($.10 to 2.00 a book) and participate in paperback swap ($2.13 to mail a book out, which gets me another book for free).
Do you buy more when you are tired or hungry? See if there is a way you can schedule your shopping trips for a different time of day.
Do you tend to buy a to-go breakfast on your way to work or errands? Maybe investing in a thermos and a coffee maker that you can set the night before will work. Muffins can be made or bought in bulk and frozen until needed.
These are just some quick ideas, what are yours?
Mary Ann Romans also writes for the Computing Blog here at Families.com where she shares everything from the latest news on technology to cool downloads and fun websites.
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