Frugal Intuition

A lot of people will tell you about how to write a budget all in one big long post.  I’m going to break it down because writing a budget–a realistic, good budget, takes some homework and effort.  If you’re one of those people who doesn’t write any of your purchases down, you’re really probably going to struggle with this.  But I promise you, the effort is going to pay off in lots of ways when you’re finished.

Your homework:

For the next 30 days (yep, that’s what I said, a full month–they say you need to repeat something for 3 weeks before it starts to become a habit), I want you to do these things:

1. Keep a small notebook with you at all times.  Any time you spend anything, be it cash, credit, debit, or check, I want you to write it down.  Write down how much you spent, on what, and make a notation of how you paid for it (cash, credit, etc.).
2. Keep all your receipts, no matter how small.  Have an envelope in your purse or wherever is convenient for you.   When you get a receipt for something, stuff it in therefor the 30 days.
3. Keep all your bills.  A lot of people habitually pay a bill, then toss the statement.  This is a bad habit.  We want to break that.  So save all of your bills for those 30 days.

At the end of the 30 days, I want you to come back here, and I’m going to tell you what to do with all this paperwork.  We’re going to analyze your spending habits and talk about where you can make some adjustments.

I guarantee you, you’re going to be surprised where a lot of your money goes. Writing everything down is one of the things that separate savers from spenders.  Savers are much more aware of where ever penny they spend goes.  The goal of this exercise is to turn you from a spender into a saver!

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