January Money Diaries

So, I thought I would start this month talking about the one thing you're not supposed to... money. One of my goals for this year was to be more conscious of my spending and what better way to stay on track than to list out everything I spent this month!? I grabbed a notebook and marked down every time I swiped my debit card this month and boy was that not fun.

Did I need this $12 boozy milkshake? My wallet said no but my heart said yes.

I chose to not take into account cash and gift card transactions as nothing was leaving my account then and if I had cash it was either a gift, someone paying me back, or I got cash back at CVS when I was picking up popcorn. I don't live or work by a branch of my bank and I hate fees so it is very rare that I will use an ATM. I also didn't account for necessities like rent, electric, WiFi, and my MetroCard as I can't really change those at this moment. Living with a roommate makes it difficult to truly control the electric bill and now an unlimited metro card is a non-negotiable as I no longer live within walking distance of my job (throwback to when I was walking distance from my school and work and probably spent $20 a month on the MTA). I knew before going into this that a majority of my budget would be spent on food. But I had no idea how often I was stopping for a slice of pizza on the way home or grabbing a coffee because I was walking by a cafe. Like it's honestly tragic how this has just been accepted as my mind as okay.

So let me give you some highlights.

In January 2020 I spent a total of $1,146.69 casually. It really hurts to look at that number, but hopefully this will be the wake up call I need to put the card down.

Broken down I spent: $649.53 on food, $117.39 on clothing, and $379.77 on miscellaneous (Spotify, movies, toilet paper. etc.).

I also had 8 days where I did not spend any money.

I did have some irregularities in my spending as I was home for medical issues for a few days and did not spend much money and I had yearly fees associated with my website that I had to pay.

Next month, I would like to obviously see the total go down, as if I keep spending that way I will be decreasing my overall net worth. As right now I bring it about $1,100. a month after paying the necessities. I did recently join a gym were I got the first month free, so I will have those extra fees coming and I have no trips home planned where I could take advantage of my mom's cooking or her willingness to buy me some deodorant and make up remover since we're at Target anyway.

Small changes I want to make this month to bring the total down are increase my no spend days and eat more meals at home. I'm pretty good with making breakfast at home if I have the morning free, and if I'm keeping up with grocery shopping, dinner isn't that hard. I've started to bring a granola bar or a container of celery to work instead of stopping for a croissant (and an unnecessary 4:30 pm coffee), so hopefully both my stomach and my soul can adjust to that.

Thanks so much for listening to me ramble about how I've inherited my family's spending habits, and if you are also someone who is too willing to swipe your debit card, just know you are not alone!