I am suffering from a tremendous attack of short-term amnesia or as I prefer to call it, terminal blondness (I can say this because I am a blond). I truly mean to write down what I'm spending. Seriously I have really good intentions. I just sort of . . . umm . . . forget. So this week I have switched to using my debit card only. This way I can view my account online and have a basic idea of where the money is going. This also means that I must start depositing my tips in the bank to keep track of where that money is going. Working part-time as a server means that I tend to generally have cash on hand. I'm finding it way too easy for that cash to just simply disappear. Milk from the store? No problem. Quick stop for ice cream? Sure. Drinks for the ball games? Of course. All of a sudden . . . hmmm . . . where did that cash from my last shift go?
My terminal blondness is getting in the way of accurately tracking what I'm spending. So we'll see how the debit card route goes.
Breakdown of expenses for last week (7/7/08-7/13/08):
Gas $95.48
Housing inspection (my share) $100
Electric/water/sewer $150
Groceries/household $240.81
Eating out: $100
Car insurance: $60
The car insurance and electric bill are constants, the housing inspection was planned for. Unexpected eating out occurred in delivering and picking up the kids from their dad. I do know that we've been eating out way too much lately. Things have been so busy and I have not planned properly to have quick meals ready to go before we leave. Definitely an area that needs revamping.
The gas expenses are quite high but that should drop some once we move. I have to go to the city at least once a week for moving/housing related things (not to mention seeing Mr. Irony). Now I also have the additional miles added on by meeting the kid's dad halfway twice a week for drop-off/pick-up. After we move we'll be within a few miles of each other so that will help a lot!
There will be a city-wide rummage sale where we currently live the weekend before we move. I'm debating whether or not to participate. I have a truckload of items that were earmarked for Goodwill. If I started now I could get them all marked for a sale and possibly make a little extra and cut down on the amount that I have to haul into Goodwill.
I'm trying to be more observant about my spending this week. Anyone know any cures for terminal blondness? :)
Thursday, July 17, 2008
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2 comments:
Create a system that compensates for any personal shortcomings.
Hence the switch to debit card only. Since there are a few things where I can't use the debit card I'm also going to keep a receipt envelope with my wallet to put any and all receipts in.
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