![]() If you’re feeling fancy, you could make up a simple spreadsheet on your computer. You can literally pull out a blank piece of paper right now and get started. When you realize that you have to write down each dollar that you spend, you may stop yourself from making some purchases. Just the simple act of recording your spending even if you don’t have a budget at all may impact your spending in positive ways. ![]() You can start recording your spending today. Now, I mentioned that it’s best to use this in conjunction with a monthly budget, but don’t let that stop you. In reality, it’s simple, easy, and quick! Plus, absolutely anyone can do this, no matter your income or financial situation. I’ve realized that recording your spending is one of those tasks that you think is going to be much worse than it actually is. It really only takes one minute, by the way. We paid off $19,000 of debt in 10 months, 2-3 months earlier than we though was possible! We have since saved up a 6 month emergency fund and are about to turn our dream of moving across the country into a reality! I honestly credit our results to this tiny one-minute habit! I decided that if we could stick to our budget each month, it would make a huge difference! And to stick to the budget, I decided that the best thing I could possibly do was record our spending daily, so that we always knew exactly where we were at with our budget. When we set our goal to become debt free, I tried to think of a daily habit I could develop that would help us accomplish our goal. I would basically give up on the whole system until I could start fresh the next month, which meant we would go over budget in the current month because we had no idea where we were at with our budget! Inevitably, I’d put off writing down what we’d spent for a couple of days and then I would get overwhelmed by the thought of trying catch up. I had always created a monthly budget and tried my best to track our spending, but I wasn’t that great at keeping up with it. I started recording our spending daily about a year and a half ago. Get instructions on how to create your first budget here. You’ll be able to use your spending trackers to create a realistic budget for yourself once you’ve been at it for a while. ![]() Of course, I recommend setting up a budget for yourself at some point, but getting in the habit of recording your spending is the perfect starting point. You can see how each little purchase adds up. When you get in the habit of recording what you spend, you can no longer fool yourself into thinking that you spent less than you actually did. It’s easy to underestimate your spending. I’m not even talking about having a budget right now - simply writing down every time that you spend money. You can easily do this by taking one minute each day to record you spending. One of the essentials to improving your finances is having a clear view of where your money is going. So don’t brush this off as being too simple, too basic, too easy, or whatever else.ĭon’t miss the FREE spending tracker printable I’ve got for you! Keep reading to learn more □ Record Your Spending Every Day But the simple stuff, done consistently, is what leads to the dramatic transformations. We often want to do big drastic things to improve our lives and we ignore the simple stuff. What if you could vastly improve your financial situation by spending just one minute a day doing something super easy? You’d say “sign me up!” right? Well, I’ll tell you how to make this happen, but you have to promise to stay with me as I explain, and more importantly - do it!
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