My Spiral Bound Conscience by J. Richard Shanley

Written by Janine Bolon

Friday, 25 August 2006 10:48

Controlling your money instead of it controlling you

For a newbie tightwad like me, I wish it were discipline alone
that helped me curb my spending. I wish I had the ability to
say ''no'' to random coffees and lunches with friends all by
myself. But, I confess, I needed help. A lot of help. I had
tried everything from carrying only a limited amount of cash
on me to an envelope system of budgeting. But I always ran out
of money and I always ended up using (and sometimes over-
using) my check card.

Spending only came under control once I got serious about
logging every single purchase that I made. Enter my spending
log. My little green notebook. My spiral bound conscience sits
deep inside my bag at work or on my desk at home. When I carry
it with me, every time I make a purchase, I log how much I
spent in the notebook to the penny. Whether I have used my
ATM, a credit card or cash, it doesn't matter. It all goes
into my log.

I track my spending as vigorously as I can. However, there are
times when I am out with friends at night or during the
weekend and I don't have my notebook on me. I don't fret too
much because I am now in the practice of keeping my receipts
and sitting down with my notebook as soon as I step into my
apartment and logging each purchase. Again, if I have
misplaced a receipt, I log into my online bank account and jot
down any purchases that didn't initially make it into the
green memo book.

I thought this would be a terrifying activity. I thought I
would grow bored or disillusioned with tracking every penny
that fled my pocket. However, the exact opposite happened. For
the first time in years, I have become excited about saving
money. I have actually become excited by the thought of not
spending.

If you log your purchases and your expenses for any amount of
time, you will find that it turns into a fun yet
intellectually involved game: You vs. your money. Every time
you pull out that notebook to jot down a purchase, you
actually think and re-think whether you really need the latte,
the hamburger, or even the haircut. I have become that
fanatical with trying to save a dollar wherever I can.

At the end of the month, I open up an Excel spreadsheet and
group my purchases into the five general budgetary areas. I
deftly scrutinize my spending to see how much money was
frivolously spent on items that I should have scrimped on
(like how much money I spent on lunches out when I knew I had
food at home).

I recommend that everyone track spending, regardless of income
level. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I have
control over my money instead of my money having control over
me.
---------------------------------------------

J. Richard Shanley writes ''Molly's Brother On A Budget,'' an online journal devoted to helping him-and others-get their spending under control. You can visit him atmollysbrother.com