Now that you’ve identified EVERY bill you have, it’s time to see where your money is going (this assumes you have enough to cover the bills you have; if you don’t, that will be covered in a later post).
For a couple of weeks, or a month, KEEP TRACK OF EVERYTHING YOU SPEND. This can be written on a piece of paper, or tracked with an app. It’s so easy to underestimate, or lose track of things if you don’t. I mean everything.
The dollar you gave to the homeless man on the corner? It counts. The sixty-five cents you spent at the vending machine? Count it. Shared an Uber going out with your friends? Definitely counts. You get the idea. It’s hard, but eye-opening.
I did this in August, and O.M.G.
Do you SEE this total??? It was a few odd things that went on that month, but not so much that I would’ve guessed I spent five stacks. FIVE STACKS. You’d think I won the lottery!
Did I have it to spend? I surely did not. But that’s a story for another day.
In the meantime, get to tracking. Pull out those receipts, check your banking app, check your email for those PayPal receipts.
Track. It. All.