While working on my taxes today, I discovered some issues I need to deal with.
I keep all of my finances in Quickbooks on my computer. I enter pretty much every penny I spend and categorize it, and have for years. Any groceries goes under food, any household supplies (soap, cleaning supplies, paper products, etc.) goes under supplies, mortgage payment goes under mortgage payment, interest under interest, etc.
In pulling up an annual income and expense report to enter items in my tax return, I ran across some numbers that blew me away. I spent how much last year on what? I realized that although I am keeping great track of what I spend and on what, I have not been paying attention to it. I am not looking at my overall number enough, or at all, actually.
I did put out a lot of cash last year on the garden. I bought a few pots that I didn’t really need to but I’m glad I did because I love them. So that was a big expense. I also spent more on additional plants and mulch and fertilizer. It’s not like I threw money away or wasted it, but I think I need to find a few cheaper avenues to acquire what I need, or think I need.
Although it is now two months into the new year, I have made a pact with myself that I will double, if not triple, think about a purchase I want to make and 1-see if I really need/want this and 2-see if there is a cheaper version or way to acquire it. Although I am pretty frugal and a great discount shopper, sometimes I will make a purchase for an item but get 2 because they are a great deal thinking I’ll put the second one to use somewhere but in reality I only needed the one. Again, it’s not that the second one will not get used eventually, but I didn’t need it then and it probably could have waited and maybe never been bought at all.
It’s all a mind game. You have to change your way of thinking about money. And in this day and age money isn’t really money. It’s a number on a digital platform. As convenient as digital money transferring is via Facebook, Cash App, Google Pay, etc, it is so strange to me. I think the kids of this era are going to have problems with money because they won’t ever touch it. Money isn’t money, it is just a number on an electronic device. I think it will be difficult to instill the concept of money in children when they can’t touch it and therefore really has no value. We’ll see how that works out.
By the way, Quickbooks or Quicken (or any bookkeeping software) are excellent ways to keep track of your spending habits as well as your finances in general. At a glance you can see where your money is going (if you look – lol). You can easily tell if you’ve blown your budget on any category or also where you might have room to cut back if you want to save for that special vacation you’ve been dreaming about. Additionally, this will make your tax time preparations so much easier. So maybe you won’t end up frustrated like the picture below.
In the very least, set yourself up some spreadsheets and write down your spending to keep track. Know where your money is going so you know where it should not be going so that you are not surprised at the end of the year (like me this year).
It’s easy to just keep going and acquiring the things we need or want for a project or our lifestyle. But sometimes we just need to take a step back and really look at the whole picture and determine if spending that amount of money on that particular thing is worth it or can it wait or can a substitute be found that is cheaper.
Check your spending and see where you can cut your expenses and still live the life you want or a better one because you are not paying off bills or you have a nest egg of savings because you put that $5 in the savings account instead of that cup of coffee that you really didn’t need anyway.
Who’s with me? Who wants to walk down the frugal path a little straighter this year so we can enjoy our hard earned money a bit longer?
Now back to my taxes. Ugh!