Track Your Spending Challenge

Track your spending challenge

Ever wonder where all your money goes? You get paid one day and it’s gone a few days later. You paid some bills and grab something to eat and ran to Target…. where did it go??

Does this sound familiar to you? It sounds familiar to me and my family. We get paid one day and then poof it’s gone but you don’t know where it all went. What I failed to realize that those cups of Dunkin coffee and donuts or stops at Burger King all add up! Do you know what you spend your money on?

Yes, it is easy to say oh this is only a $1 or $2 so what’s the big deal. Well after 5 of those its only $1 adds up to $5 which enough to buy milk and bread for the week in my house. The coffee I love to grab with a bagel and donut on Saturday mornings… $8! If I bought coffee, bagels and cream cheese at the grocery store and brought them with me the break down would be about $2 for my breakfast. (I totally don’t need the donut and its an impulse buy every single week lol) I could use that other $6 towards groceries, gas or savings.

For one month, I am taking a little notebook that I bought a while ago (yes we have a collection of those that I wasted money on) and tracking where my spending goes every day. This will help me see, on paper, where the money goes and where I can cut back on spending.

I am breaking it down into 5 categories:

Household/Groceries (g)

House Bills (b)

Transportation/Gas (t)

Misc Spending (m)

Saving (s)

In my notebook, I will record day by day what I spend money on and use my codes to keep the categories straight. This way at the end of the week and month, I can easily track where the money is spent. At the end of the money, I will be putting this into a spreadsheet on my computer so that I can lay out my budget plans for next month. My goal is to add more into our savings for incidentals and vacations.

money

Check out my facebook page which will be updated on Sundays with my tracking numbers and watch where I am spening my money: Kaella Facebook Page

Are you ready to start tracking your spending and see where your money goes?

Kid’s Nickel Weekly Savings with Printable Chart

Kids Weekly NickelSavings Challenge

Having a recent birthday, Danyella has wanted to spend every penny that she was given on anything and everything. She is the same way with any allowance we give her for doing her chores. Watching Danyella react to money this way to money was concerning because she needs to learn to save money along with spending her money in a smart way.

I am all for kids spending their money on something special that they want. Like, Danyella wants a bow of her own for archery plus new dance leotards. I am willing to help pay for things that she needs but when she wants something then she needs to learn to either earn the item or earn the money to purchase the item.

For years, I have seen the money challenges for adults. Usually saving $1 or $5 at week 1 and doubling that amount every week. That is too much for Danyella and she would get frustrated and give up. She has a new fascination with coins and would rather be given coins than bills.

This is why I came up with a Nickel challenge for Kids. A nickel increase a week is reasonable for a kid. Plus, a coin is so much more fun for a kid especially when they hear the clink of the coin going into the jar. The fun things is that you can start this anytime of the year. I did break it down for 52 weeks but left spaces to keep going. By the end of 52, a child will save $68.90! To Danyella, that is like a million dollars!

Photo Mar 04, 12 58 53 PM

I purchased a $3 clear jar with a lid from Target (LOVE LOVE LOVE Target’s dollar section!) so that Danyella can see her savings grow. The jar will be kept on our Dining Room hutch so that she won’t be touching and taking any of the money out without our permission and knowledge. My goal is to let her save this money to use for spending money on our next vacation because then she can buy what she wants within her budget.

 

To print the downloadable PDF click this link:  Kid’s Nickel Weekly Savings PDF