This week is all about building awareness around our spending. We want to focus on becoming more aware of our spending because that helps us be more thoughtful and successful as budgeters. So over the course of this course (hehe) — but this week in particular — we want to move from noticing “Oh, I spent money!” to “Look, I’m spending now” to “Hm, I am going to spend.”
When these habits and self-awareness are developed, we’ll learn to record our grocery spending before we even leave the store, rather than remembering we spent money weeks later when we look at our monthly bank statement.
Our friend Wayne told us that he often struggles to add his transactions as they happen in real time. And, we get it! It’s tough. But he also said,
“I’m much happier when I record purchases right when I make them… It’s frustrating when I’m recording an expense using only the information my bank provides, which is usually only the merchant name, amount and date. Purchases from big-box stores like Target and Walmart are the worst because I buy so many different things from those stores.”
We agree, that does sound like a pain. So let’s dive in and start working!
Today’s Assignment
- Today, your mini-mission is to track your spending in Goodbudget while you’re at the store. Or right away when you buy something online. Oftentimes we swipe our cards at the gas pump without even realizing we’re spending. So logging those transactions as soon as they happen helps you notice when you spend, rather than remembering a few days later.
- Comment below and let us know how you’re feeling. What happened when you paid attention while you were spending instead of after you already spent?
Happy budgeting,
-The Goodbudget Team
37 thoughts on “Awareness is Key”
Tracking as I go makes me realise how all the little things add up. A 7$ train ticket here or a $2 doughnut from the corner store there aren’t terribly expensive, but lots of those little things has just as much impact as one or two “significant” purchases.
The combination of having the GB on my phone and establishing the habit of recording expenses immediately (I prefer to record them using receipts as soon as I get in my car) has been life changing. We are newly retired and it’s more important than ever to be aware of spending unnecessarily, and knowing where exactly our money is going. Thanks for this course. I’m married to an Accountant and it’s still been really helpful! 🙂
For sure I need to track when I spend, otherwise I get behind and won’t necessarily get caught up. And I have to be sure that I schedule all of my automatic fixed payments, and for unfixed ones coming out of my checking I have to monitor account and record them.
I use the mint app which automatically records my spending, but I never record what I spend in cash.. and then i fail to check my mint app regularly. So im going to make a habit to record manually as well starting today
Happy new year
I have been recording manually for a long time. But I want to migrate this to my phone. … I feel technologically intimidated. I know it’s silly and childish but it does afflict baby boomers a lot
This is a very good exercise, I think regular practice will just make me a better budgeter.
I think this is the best thing about Goodbudget but I will be honest, after having used the app for years, I find there’s a psychological thing that happens if I’m ever in a situation where I am going to overdraw an envelope. (I know, it happens sometimes!) I don’t want to put it in, unless I’m leaving the envelope in green. But if I overdraw, I tend not to want to think about it so much and I’ll postpone it for later. But then I’ll cheat on other envelopes as well.
In short, the most challenging part of the budgeting process is making a commitment to yourself to only rarely overdraw an envelope, and even then only if you’ve got money somewhere else to take care of it that can be reallocated. And then having the courage to *not* spend if there isn’t the money there.
I always take the receipt. If I for some reason cannot record the purchase immediately I just do it later on, the same day.
I make sure to always keep in mind what I can spend on myself and just random things I sometimes buy, like a Sobe at the gas station or a pair of earrings at Walmart. Also within my account I keep up with the bigger expenses that I would like to purchase for myself, like more expensive jewelry or things like that, but I save through my fun spending money that’s allotted to me so I can buy both little things and big things. So I always keep in mind a good view of what I want to spend just for fun and what I really want.
I try to record as soon as I pay; it feels good, and actually I have a reward on habitica if I do it. However it’s sometimes hard to do them and when I try to balance my money I got such headache because I know that I bought this stuff but don´t remember when, where I bought it and how much did it cost.
What I’ve found that is that evernote can be really helpfull
It’s hard to do this during Covid but I still want to.
Its help me to limit my spending because I would see what I have remaining and what I had just spend
I noticed that the little amounts that I thought didn’t really mean a lot actually add up quickly and substantially.
It feels so good to have real-time budget amounts, because the I can make better decisions about spending in the moment.
I like knowing how much I have to work with.
I noticed how much the little things add up to. Spending $5 here $8 there adds up to a big number at the end of the day. I can see the actual number that is left in my account once I have added the transaction and it helps me to curb my spending. I want the number to stay higher so I won’t spend unnecessarily.
Started my budget on the 1st and havent spent any money yet. Yeh me! lol. But i do need to get the app on my phone so im ready for payday. Until then i should be good unless i need groceries. Now that i do my general grocery shopping online for delivery it will make a certain amount of the smaller stuff easy to record.
The little things really add up when I add them all up I’m spending almost $20 a day at work
If you not tracking how much you spend ,you can fall deep in a hole.
So true! It’s easy to go on autopilot when we’re not tracking. I feel much more in control of my financial situation when I’m tracking everyday, and I know I won’t be caught by surprise.
My guilty pleasure is crushed ice from sonic and tracking spending I see how fast and how much a dollar here two there adds up
Wow when u notice what you spend here and there it adds up.
I look for how much a have and the right price
After completing yesterdays assignment, we went shopping, got groceries, fuel and other things. I entered in the spending out of curiosity of what it looked like.
I initially thought “ouch”.
I’m enjoying this course.
I have never done budgeting this way. My habit has always been the next morning to record as my bank lays it out. I will try and see if this will work, it will be very hard to get my husband on board but even if he does not do it, his purchases are easy to record the next day (or weeks down the road!) coffee, gas and the LCBO!!!
I do not often have my data turned on on the phone to save on those charges so I am going to see if that matters or not and then see what I can work around. Otherwise, I have learned to save the receipts and go through them as I record spending events, painful but necessary.
This is a really life-changing trick. Very helpful..
This recording immediately habit really helps me to be aware of my spending, where I spent and feel comfortable to plan necessary or want/happy spending
The new effort to be more aware makes me feel empowered and proactive rather than reactive about my spending and overall financial situation.
I’ve spent the last 9 months just recording my spending. This past month, I uploaded the GoodBudget app on my phone and I am blown away with how all of the little amounts add up so quickly. I totally get what Wayne is saying about shopping at the big box stores. Now, I track as soon as I get home and separate household items, beautification items, presents & clothing in their separate envelopes. It’s really helping. I still need to stop and think about what I’m going to need to spend in the week ahead (eg groceries and gas) & plan accordingly.
Looking at my app before each purchase helps me curb spending on the things I don’t need or don’t have the budget for presently. But I am still working on the self-discipline…half-way through the month and I’ve already spent about 75% of my food envelope! My “food” envelope includes groceries and coffee runs/restaurants/etc all in one envelope, so maybe I need to separate these.
This would be great if the app worked on my phone (Android) but it doesn’t. I save receipts and record expenses when I get home, and this is working.
Still trying to get started in a way that isn’t so overwhelming and depressing that I want to say the heck with it!
Loving the suggestions and encouragement above: “very good exercise, I think regular practice will just make me a better budgeter.”
I know this works its the discipline I am working on cause this works for my bf.
Also would keep me in reality if I checked my balance every transaction as humbug as may sound I need to try new stuff cause I need to improve and pay off this house before I retire.
Using the app as I spend really makes me think…. Pause then either buy or not, depending on if it’s a want or need.
I set aside Friday mornings to catch up on my budget. By tracking in real time, my Friday time required was cut in half!
Just the thought of knowing I’m gonna have to do the work of opening the app and recording that transaction makes me Reconsider the purchase. That just makes me sound lazy
Probably because I’m anal, I have a question. When we submit a transaction to our budget, do we want to submit it the day you spent it or the day it shows as clearing the bank?
That’s really up to you, but “by-the-book procedure” would be to enter it the moment you make it, then mark it as Cleared in Goodbudget once it clears in the bank.