I’ve been twittering my every penny since the beginning of the year. Follow my spending at http://twitter.com/kablog.
So far, I’ve spent a lot of money on food — three lunches out this week, for example. Do what I say, not what I do…or something like that, right?
Maybe I should call my experiment “frittering” every penny I spend in 2009!
One benefit of tracking your spending is that it provides an in-your-face look at where your money is going. It’s hard to ignore the fact that I need to eat out less next week for lunch or not at all to neutralize my spending this week. It also made me more resourceful about what’s for dinner tonight (frozen ravioli and a thing of pasta sauce I found way in the back of the fridge). Before stopping for lunch today, I had entertained the thought of take-out for dinner.
Given that eating out so many times for lunch in one week is unusual for me, I think this also points out the importance of tracking spending for a longer period of time. Otherwise, you end up with a skewed view of your finances.
Finally, if you have been tracking my expenses on Twitter and wondering if my family ever buys groceries or toilet paper, two explanations. #1: We made a huge Costco run on Dec. 31st. And #2: I have a stash of gift cards– ones from Mendards, Cub Foods, Walgreens and CVS for the purchase of staples and ones for spots like the St. Paul Grill and Aveda for splurges — that I’ve been substituting for cash purchases when possible. They’ve been accumulated a number of ways– gifts, rebates and rewards for credit card points. The grocery gift card will be gone by month’s end so look for a clearer picture of my family’s grocery bill in Feb.If you think I should be including those in my Twitter feed, do tell.
