I used to track every single purchase down to the penny for years

Last month I realized I was spending 2 hours a week categorizing $4 coffee runs and $12 takeout, and it was making me feel guilty about normal spending. The moment it clicked was when I added up my time spent tracking versus the actual money saved (roughly 10 hours a month for maybe $15 in savings). Has anyone else ditched the micro-tracking and just set a simple monthly cap instead?

2 comments

2 Comments

brooke7119d ago

Oh man, I had a friend who was exactly like this. She used to keep every receipt in a shoebox and log them into an app before bed, and one night she realized she spent 3 hours tracking a $4.50 gas station hot dog. She finally threw the shoebox away after she missed a friend's birthday dinner because she was too busy sorting grocery receipts. Does she just set a rough budget now and call it good?

sam_wood6019d ago

Man, that hits way too close to home. I used to do the same thing with a color coded spreadsheet for my coffee purchases. One month I actually calculated that I spent 47 minutes logging my $2.75 morning coffee over the course of the month. I could have just worked an extra 47 minutes and bought way more coffee. I finally deleted the whole spreadsheet after I spent a Saturday morning balancing my entertainment budget down to the penny and realized I had nothing to show for it. Now I just keep a rough number in my head and if I go over one week I just eat a little cheaper the next. Way less stressful and I actually have time to go to birthday dinners now.