Below is my first attempt at a monthly budget tracker, which I'm experimenting with to reduce wasteful spending and practice "conscious spending," which is a concept introduced to me by Ramit of I Will Teach You To Be Rich (link).
My read of conscious spending is that it is about planning -- you create a plan for your money which allows you to make progress on your financial goals while still spending extravagantly on the things that truly add value to your life (guilt-free). Of course to spend extravagantly on the things that truly add value to your life you must: (1) determine what uses of your money truly add value to your life, and (2) learn to cut costs on everything else.
I thought the best way to find my own answers to question #1 would be to record my discretionary expenses so that I can easily revisit them days, weeks, or months later to ask myself the question, Marie Kondo-style, "Does this purchase (still) spark joy?"
Monthly Budget Tracker.
Restaurants/Bars
- Dinner and wine at Nancy's - $0
- Izakaya Hachi (Denny's 37th birthday) - $103.79
- Succulent Cafe (Wedding - brunch in Solvang) - $30.09
- Splash Cafe (Wedding - SLO famous clam chowder) - $20.23
- La Michoacana (Wedding - SFV Mexican ice cream and paleta) - $5
- Wurstkuche (Networking event) - $8.00
- ACC event - $0
- Mercado (Heaven and Catherine) - $0 (expensed to Heaven's firm - $140)
- Revolutionario (USC meetup) - $0 (paid by Denny - $20)
- Kang Hodong Baekjong - $34.19 (Nancy and Aaron)
- Tanos Kitchen - $59.00 (Dinner with Sarah)
- La Michocana - $7.75 (Dessert with Sarah)
- Marie Calendars - $13.99 (Apple pie for Father's Day)
- Saigon Dish - $0 (Denny paid $15)
- Al Noor - $13.12 (To-go)
- Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens - $16.35 (quesadilla, salad, mrytle berry lemonade, pie with Bessie, Elis and Johnna)
- Tofu Village - $0 (Denny paid $25)
- Maple Block - $24.22 (with Melissa)
- Gyu Kaku - $60.69 (Dinner with Denny before he left town)
- Total: $396.42
- Target Budget: $350/mo
- Remaining in Budget: -$46.42
- Notes: Somewhat unusual month in that there were 5 weekends (instead of the usual 4) this month. Nevertheless, increasing budget to $400/mo next month.
- Ralphs - $44.96
- Prince Katsu Wasabi Butter Almonds (12 pack box) - $22.99
- Isopure Protein Powder (to add to morning smoothies) - $11.84
- Acai powder (to add to morning smoothies) - $10.87
- Asian market groceries - $0 (Denny purchased, around $50)
- Ralphs - $53.85
- Chevron - $5.09 (2 iced coffees with Sarah)
- Starbucks - $3.75 (coffee on road trip)
- McDonalds - $1.08 (diet coke on road trip)
- Amazon Prime Now - $55.66
- Chevron - $9.97 (2 waters, 2 coffees on way to hike with Melissa)
- Trader Joe's - $81.23
- Total: $301.29
- Target Budget: $275/mo
- Remaining in Budget: -$26.29
- Notes: Increasing budget to $300/mo next month.
- Total: $131.43
- Target Budget: $120/mo (there are 21 work lunches this month)
- Remaining in Budget: -$11.43
- Notes: 21 lunches = $6.26 per workday. Next month has 21 lunches too, so increasing budget to $130.
- No show socks (4 pairs) for work - $9.99
- Underwear (3 pack) to try - $12.99
- Peppermint pen - $35.00
- Gems of Pala - $12.50 (Gem mining with Bessie, Elis and Johnna)
- Myrtle Creek Botanical Gardens - $3.50 (goat feeding with Bessie, Elis and Johnna)
- Deodorant from Sony health fair (no aluminum etc.) - $10
- Audio to lightening cable converter - $13.44 (due to new iPhone 8 plus)
- Office Depot - $12.03 (notebooks and markers)
- Total: $102.95
- Target Budget: $225/mo
- Remaining in Budget: $122.05
- Notes: Significantly under budget, but shopping is an irregular activity for me, so expect this will eventually shake out (i.e., will spend over $225/mo some months). Nevertheless, reducing to $200/mo. Also reworked budget so that it's split into "Regular" and "Irregular" spending categories.
- Enzyme toothpaste (beef flavor) - $8.91
- No-Hide Beef Chews - $10.57 (Snowy loved these)
- No-Hide Chicken Stix - $10.80 (Snowy didn't care for these)
- Premium lucky treats - $38.35
- Dog Training Collar - $39.83
- Royal Canin Hydropetide Food - $57.57 (Snowy loves this)
- Grooming at Pink Pucci - $65 (including tip)
- Total: $231.03
- Target Budget: $50/mo
- Remaining in Budget: -$181.03
- Notes: Way over budget, but this is also an irregular expense for me, so retooling budget to increase monthly to $75/mo and moved this to the "Irregular" spending category. Need to return Dog Training Collar.
- Gas - $35.58
- Parking (Santa Monica - Heaven and Catherine) - $3.10
- Valet parking - $3.00
- Gas - $28.49 (Antelope valley day trip)
- Gas - $32.23
- Gas - $35.37
- Parking - $1 (Meter parking at Maple Block with Melissa)
- Total: $138.77
- Target Budget: $130/mo
- Remaining in Budget: -$8.77
- Notes: Feel like gas efficiency may be impacted by either car's performance or excessive use of A/C. Need to check odometer to calculate dollars per mile this month. I recall my gas used to be only $75/mo this winter.
- CAPE Leaders Fellowship Application - $25
- UCLA Extension Program Application - $200
- Total: $225.00
- Target Budget: $250/mo ($3,000/year)
- Remaining in Budget: $2,775
- Spend $0 (discretionary expenses only of course) on Snowy to off-set heavy spending month.
- Return the training collar.
- Buy iced coffees and diet coke from the market (instead of buying at gas station)
- Use re-usable water bottle instead of buying waters.
- Plan more budget check-ins with Nancy
- Research selling tourmaline from Gems of Pala
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