Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 22-28, 2010)

This is a weekly review of my spending habits for the week of Nov.22-28, 2010.

Date	Amount
Monday Nov. 22	$24.50
Tuesday Nov. 23	$24
Wednesday Nov. 24	$15
Thursday Nov. 25	$43
Friday Nov. 26	$37
Saturday Nov. 27	$0
Sunday Nov. 28	$0

TOTAL: $143.50

The last 2 weeks I’ve made similar posts:

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 8-14, 2010) 

Spending Habits: How much money I have spent this week (November 15-21, 2010)

This is week 3 of my expense tracking:

On Week 1 I spent $80.

On Week 2 I spent $189.

On Week 3 I spent $143.50.

 

Final Thoughts

I started this rigorous expense tracking 3 weeks ago to take a closer, introspective look at how I was spending my money. Very honestly and very openly. I’ve already had a couple of those “aha” or “Eureka” moments during  these weeks. I normally pay attention to what I spend, but when you’re living on around $537 a month after all fixed expenses are paid (not including phone bills, electricity, or food) , you not only have to pay attention…you  really have to control every single coin and bill that goes out of your wallet. Keeping a close eye on every cent you spend. So this expense tracking has really helped me get a clear and concrete overview (one that I realize I needed) of how much money I spend daily and weekly.

I realize that I spend on average $75 a week. However, this average is misleading as I was sick on the first week. So the average should be based more on the last 2 weeks, which should be $166.25.

So I realize I spend on average around $166.25 a week.

I realize that I should budget for $181 on average a week - to give myself a realistic buffer.

However, $181 a week would be $724 a month, and as mentioned above, I only have around $537 a month to spend. So no wonder I’m in the hole right now and having difficulty beginning my paybacks to my Dad. I really needed to see this black-on-white. I’ll have to take a good look at my paycheck next month, take a look at the bills I need to pay (because I know that there’s a $124 annual bill that’s coming up very soon), and then budget weekly. What I mean by that is make a budget for each week. And take an overview every fortnight, as well as weekly & monthly. Just to really keep a close eye -and close hold- on my spendings.

 

Well, that’s all for now. Bye, again.