I’m definitely liking my bank’s tracking tool – it’s so easy just to go through and categorise transactions a couple of times a week, and it’s in colour! (Yes, I am stuck somewhere in prepubescence, with an attraction to bright colours, shiny things and sugary treats.) At a quick glance, I think our fixed expenses are in good shape, but a couple of other areas look out of whack, namely:
Dining and bars – ridiculously high this month. It did include around $80 worth of (reimbursable) mystery shops, brunch with the girls, graduation drinks/dinner and a couple of meals T bought while travelling back from Christchurch for work. Still, all those small purchases and weekend breakfasts and the bakery are obviously adding up. At the same time, we tend to spend fun money on food and eating, hence our fairly small entertainment category.
Clothes and grooming included my haircut, boring things like socks and sunblock, a cardigan for me and a new shirt and board shorts for T (both sorely needed). Plus a reimbursable $50 or so on beauty products (I’m starting to think I should just exclude these from categorisation!)
Utilities, almost half of that being T’s new phone (my present to him). Other than that, it’s not too bad considering this covers phone, internet, power and cellphone charges.
Which brings me to my January resolution: Be more aware of food spending! If we’re going to spend that much on food, it might as well be on excellent food rather than Chinese from the takeaway. I’ve been wanting to try out an Italian restaurant, for example (apart from Gina‘s). I also haven’t been to yum cha in a very long time, and I miss it!
That’s a great resolution. I SO need to be more aware of my food spending too. Mmmm. Dim sum. I haven’t had it in a few months too.