It’s a new year! It really should be a time of new habits but I’m still struggling a little bit to spend less money. This month was my biggest in terms of money spent since i started doing these reports…but… it was also my 2nd largest debt payoff in one month as well. 

 I’m proud to see i actually paid more on my debt then i did in rent this month. That’s huge! 28% of my pay went to debt! I had a goal to pay $600 and i paid over $1600! 

 This month was the first time i paid my new reduced rent which went down from $350 to $300. As far as shopping goes i bought a new laptop and i also started spending too much money on planner goodies as i starting using a planner this year. My auto & transport category is higher because I had to pay my 6 month car registration and I was also lazy and drove to work and paid for parking a few times. I’m trying to change this for February. 

 I was also on annual leave for the first 2 weeks of January and i don’t know if it’s just me but i found i spent more money because i was at home a lot and therefore getting bored and going shopping. 

 This month i started using cash for my food spending and i actually found it harder to keep track of my spending because i didn’t have an electronic record of it. The amount below in the groceries etc category is an estimate based on how much cash i got out but i have to confess i did sometimes spend that food cash on non food items. I’m debating putting my food money on the same card as my spending money so that that way i can track it better. 

 What do you do to track spending? 

 Spending Breakdown

 Below is the breakdown by category for my January spending. 

 Comparison to December

•  Debt Repayments: ⬇ $54
• Groceries, Dining, Bars & Cafes: ⬆ $117
• Auto & Transport: ⬆ $379 *due to 6 month registration
• Health: ⬇ $140
• Shopping: ⬆ $600 *I have no excuses… oopsie
• Personal Care: ⬇ $33
• Hobbies & Entertainment: ⬆ $666 *due to new laptop purchase

Total Spending: ⬆ $627