Inspired by Sam, I thought I'd do a daily spending tally, to see what we spent over the past week. Disclaimer, I don't track any of the boys spending, unless I bought them something, as they have their own money for spending. I used to do this semi regularly, but stopped along the way. Who knows if this will be a regular recurrence. I'm actually looking for ways to automate my spending tracking (a retirement project for sure), as it's a time commitment to track every purchase & categorize it.
Friday: No money spent. I went to a workout class, but it was covered by a class pack I bought in December. I also walked in the neighborhood with a neighbor. - $0 spent
Saturday: I went to a workout class, although same as above on spending. I returned a pair of jeans to TJ Maxx & received a refund of $16. I went to Costco & spent $281.57, which was largely groceries, but also includes: Advil & cold medicine. Net spent = $265.57
Sunday: I met a friend for a hike (free) & picked up M from the airport. M just drives around until the traveler is ready, but I find that annoying, so I paid $4 to park & wait for him to come out. Net spent = $4.
Monday: I worked, worked out at home & didn't spend any money. - $0 spent.
Tuesday: Costco was out of a few things when I went on Saturday. M went back on Tuesday & picked up the missing stuff. Net spent = $92.45
Wednesday: this was an unexpected spend, but M's coworker offered him a $1k Southwest voucher for $850. Southwest flies almost all of the routes we travel (to visit my family, Nick's flights to/from Boulder, etc), so we should have no problem using this. And, we have money in our travel budget, but just wasn't planning on making the purchase right now. Regardless, a good deal. - Net spent = $850
Thursday: No spending for today, as I'm hoping to go to a workout class (included in a class pack paid for last year).
Total spent = $1212.02 - that's quite a banger of a way to kick off a week of tracking. I expected it to be much less, as the travel voucher spending was unplanned.
What was your last unexpected purchase?
Preparing fir future travel will be a bonus to yourself someday. I liked that feeling when my .emphus trip was $12 last year and I dont do the dealing you magically make happen. Next week will be pricey as I'll prepay doggie day care for 22 weeks, need a Sans club run, and ha e a coupke copayments. None will be frivolous.
ReplyDeleteIt's true - prepaying is fine, but a bit more noticeable when you weren't planning on it at that time. I know I'll appreciate it when I go to book the next flight!- HP
DeleteI tracked our spending for the 2 yrs before retirement and then compared it to what we would have in income. refigured it when Hubby decided he wanted to buy a farm instead of just a house.
ReplyDeleteThat's a smart idea! - HP
DeleteSam's post prodded me to do the same.
ReplyDeleteWe track our spending, but rarely do I look at a week or two & evaluate the spend independently. Our yearly tracker is helpful for some things, but a little less helpful in identifying the unexpected, as all spend just gets lumped together. - HP
DeleteTo your last question - after 15 years of being retired, I think we've identified any and all financial 'surprises' so we don't have them at this point in our lives. We do long term Accruals for pretty much everything that is likely to need replacing or repairing at some point.
ReplyDeleteI did zero tracking during my working years, which was not a good thing at all as it allowed me to avoid really knowing how much we spent, so I'm so very impressed at what you track already. In retirement however, I finally flexed that muscle and currently I do find I enjoy the process of detail entering.
I am curious if your airport has a Cell phone waiting lot, generally free I believe?
My airport does have a cell phone waiting lot, and it used to be very convenient. It's now moved out to the opposite end, and is not near the terminal where M was flying out. He just drives around & around & around when picking me up. I'm not quite that motivated ;) - HP
DeleteThis is a great idea for a blog post. I need to keep this in mind.
ReplyDelete