{"id":197,"date":"2021-01-25T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/how-to-get-a-grip-on-your-spending-habits\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T19:37:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T19:37:28","slug":"how-to-get-a-grip-on-your-spending-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/how-to-get-a-grip-on-your-spending-habits\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get a Grip on Your Spending"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\n

This is something that I recommend to everyone, and for some reason, the response is always the same: \u201cYeah, I need to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t plan to do it. Don\u2019t think about doing it. Don\u2019t consider trying it.<\/p>\n

Actually do it.<\/em><\/p>\n

For an entire month (start today!), write down every single thing you buy. Don\u2019t rely on your credit card statement; the act of writing down each decision will be more impactful. <\/p>\n

Take a piece of paper and fold it down the middle, hot dog-style. On one side, write \u201cWANTS\u201d and on the other, write \u201cNEEDS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Track every single penny you spend, so that after a full month, you can get a sense for how you\u2019re really<\/em> spending. <\/p>\n

There comes a point where this type of accountability and self-awareness is no longer optional, and nothing forces self-awareness like writing \u201cBlue Fish Sushi: $37.76\u201d on a Tuesday night in the \u201cWANTS\u201d column after complaining that you can\u2019t afford to invest.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re wondering where this hard-ass tactic came from, take joy in the fact that my mom used it against me when I was a freshman in college: I came home for my first long break after being given free rein with my debit card for the first few weeks of college to \u201cget acclimated.\u201d <\/p>\n

She had written down in tiny, precise lettering every charge from my debit card on a piece of printer paper. Three columns of charges spanned the front of the page, and I tried to defend myself: \u201cI was buying stuff for my dorm!\u201d \u201cI had to buy books!\u201d \u201cThere were parties, mom! I needed COSTUMES!\u201d (Can you hear my shrill, high-pitched panic?)<\/p>\n

\u201cKatie, this page is just restaurants.\u201d She replied flatly, referencing the three columns of what must\u2019ve been at least 200 line items. <\/p>\n

When it comes to financial screw-ups, trust me, I\u2019ve been there \u2013 and while I loved making every excuse available to me for why I had no other option but to spend $800 per month at restaurants, ultimately, the truth was that I was bored, lazy, and bad at prioritizing. <\/p>\n

Why this exercise might not actually be a kick in the nuts<\/h4>\n

If you\u2019re struggled with your spending habits (read: ever gotten to the end of the month and thought, I honestly don\u2019t know where all that money went)<\/em>, this exercise will be an eye-opening one \u2013 and not just for the reasons you might automatically assume.<\/p>\n

In my experience, there are usually two revelatory outcomes:<\/p>\n

In one instance, someone writes down everything they buy for a month and is utterly shocked at the way they blow through money. The amount of discretionary spending dwarfs their \u201cneeds,\u201d and they realize \u2013 starkly \u2013 how much they\u2019re wasting. This was my personal experience with tracking. There would be a point in the month where everything seemed to fall apart, and then the rest of the month would be a runaway freight train of late night food and Free People sales.<\/p>\n

The other scenario is one in which the person writes down everything they buy and realizes that most of their money is getting vacuumed up by a few big expenses, like rent or their car payment. The \u201cwants\u201d column is paltry, and it makes them realize they could be spending their money in a way that actually enables more fun and fewer bills. <\/p>\n

Why this works when other tracking softwares fall short<\/h4>\n

The short answer is, it\u2019s too in your face to fail. If you tape this to your bathroom mirror or kitchen counter, you\u2019ve got a daily reminder staring you down. It\u2019s too easy not<\/em> to open the Mint app or simply leave the spreadsheet unopened on your desktop. A piece of paper adhered to your kitchen table is a little harder to avoid \u2013 and if you still find yourself avoiding it, maybe it\u2019s time to ask yourself a different question: What am I afraid of finding out?<\/p>\n

The other reason this works is because it gives you a physical sense of control<\/strong>, and usually, control is the thing we\u2019re trying to buy with all our wanton expenses anyway. Putting pen to paper in this way creates more of a tangible relationship with your financial behavior. It makes it real. Because so many of us insert our chips to access the world of consumer bliss, writing down everything you spend is a little like paying for everything in cash and coins \u2013 you\u2019ll actually start to feel like you\u2019re spending money again.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a study that I think about from time to time wherein they measured someone\u2019s brain waves when buying something with a credit card as opposed to cash: Turns out, buying in cash triggered feelings of physical pain in the brain. The credit card registered nothing psychologically. <\/p>\n

Using a credit card is like spending under anesthesia, but I won\u2019t go so far as to recommend you carry around a wad of cash and cut up your credit cards (Dave Ramsey\u2019s got that school of thought covered). Credit cards can be an incredible tool, so my compromise is the physical recording. Keep your Sapphire card.<\/p>\n

What to do afterward<\/h4>\n

Once you\u2019ve got your page of transactions, get out the iPhone calculator and start totaling up categories. Do the big stuff first: Overall wants vs. needs. How did you net out? <\/p>\n

Then, start color-coding. Grab some highlighters or markers and start circling major categories. Shopping, restaurants, utility bills, etc. \u2013 see if any categories stand out. I know there\u2019s software that does this for you, but remember: The whole point is that you\u2019re literally <\/em>engaging physically with the spending behavior. <\/p>\n

Write your total take-home pay at the bottom of the page, and start riffing out some division.<\/p>\n

If you spent $450 on restaurants and your total take-home pay for the month was $2,800, does it feel right to you that 16% of your income went to dining out? That\u2019s a personal call \u2013 but if your total rent only accounts for 25% of your income, that food spending might be put into perspective \u2013 spending almost as much on apps & \u2018serts as you do on the roof over your head might indicate some shit\u2019s outta whack. <\/p>\n

Figuring out your next step<\/h4>\n

If you\u2019re unconvinced or feel like you didn\u2019t have any sort of revelatory moment in dissecting your spending for a month, repeat the process again. Resist the urge to explain away \u201cone-time,\u201d \u201crandom\u201d purchases. There will always be random purchases \u2013 I literally added a $100 \u201cMiscellaneous\u201d line item in my budget because I was so damn tired of constantly playing financial jujitsu with the \u201cone-off\u201d purchases I\u2019d make every month. <\/p>\n

Two months of spending data might paint a clearer picture, and from there, you can get real about your trouble spots.<\/p>\n

When I was trying to get my spending under control, one of the best things I did was limit exposure to temptation. I stopped going to the mall to \u201cwindow shop.\u201d I quit accepting invitations for happy hours and started inviting friends over instead. I literally limited the amount of time I spent in places where I felt tempted to spend money, and tried to introduce alternatives wherever possible.<\/p>\n

While I hate embodying the personal finance meme by referencing iced coffee, I used to spend $3.44 every day on a cold brew, making my coffee budget around $103 per month before tip. Finally, I caved and bought a $100 Nespresso (one-time cost) and bought sleeves of pods priced at $1\/each, effectively making my coffee cost every month $30. This was an easy area to trim, and notice that I didn\u2019t switch to a regular coffeemaker and $12 bags of coffee grinds. I\u2019m still a coffee snob who overpays for artisan crack milk \u2013 now I\u2019m just a coffee snob who makes her coffee at home. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is something that I recommend to everyone, and for some reason, the response is always the same: \u201cYeah, I need to do that.\u201d Don\u2019t plan to do it. Don\u2019t think about doing it. Don\u2019t consider trying it. Actually do it. For an entire month (start today!), write down every single thing you buy. Don\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178814,"featured_media":2239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"si-template-single-post-everyday-spending-and-budgeting.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spending-and-saving","tag-everyday-spending-and-budgeting"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Get a Grip on Your Spending - Money with Katie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/how-to-get-a-grip-on-your-spending-habits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Get a Grip on Your Spending - Money with Katie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This is something that I recommend to everyone, and for some reason, the response is always the same: \u201cYeah, I need to do that.\u201d Don\u2019t plan to do it. 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