Discover The Best Way To Control Your Expenses

Since I started the blog, I decided to use new ways to control what I spend. Just to make sure I keep an eye on them and see if there is something is getting out of hand.

Instead of trying to control the number of things that I accumulate… With this technique, I try to maintain an eye on the money that I spend and the way I do it.

It wasn’t until last week that I realised “my way” could be really useful for other people.

Some time ago, I used to write the money I spend every day. It’s not something unique, it’s just something many people do to see how much money they spend each month. After some of the last sale seasons, I realised that the only reason I was sending more money than usual was just that I was buying too many clothes “on sale”. That’s the moment I decided I would just highlight each of my expenses by categories, each of them with a different colour.
To give an example, I will show 3 different months.

I am aware of the quality of the picture, but this is just an example to explain the point of the subject. If I control how much money I spend, and If I am spending too much on something that I can control or avoid, I will have a look at that.

The pink colour is the transport. I don’t pay too much attention to this amount, because I can’t really change it. This is because I have a commute every day to go to work and that’s going to stay that way. I don’t keep the rent in this because it’s something that I can’t change and also it’s the same amount every month.
However, if you have a look at the August one (this month), you can see the orange colour quite a few times. I use the orange colour to highlight the times that I eat out and the amount he=at I spend.

I consider eating out both eating at a restaurant or ordering some food from “Just eat” or “Deliveroo”, as both mean that I will pay some extra money that I would spend if I just prepare it at home.

If I have done this last February, the month would be full of blue (blue is for clothes), why? Because it was the sale season and I allowed myself to spend more than should have with clothes that apparently were on sale (even though I didn’t need some of them).

I think this is the perfect way to know where I am overspending. Maybe the just eat orders are getting out of hand just because of laziness. Maybe I am getting more clothes than I should, or maybe I am just having too many coffees from the fancy coffee place.

These are the reasons why I think a simple list with different colours is the best way to control your expenses and change your habits.

Let me know in the comments what is your favourite way to control your expenses and how you do it.