Why you should track every dollar you spend?
A lot of people don’t track their expenses. Once they receive their paycheck, they just spend their money without keeping a record of it. They buy this, they subscribe to that and in the end they are shocked for nothing’s left in their pocket. They wonder where the money goes.
If they’d just keep a record of their expenses, then everything might just fall well. It’s not really hard to track your expenses. Start by carrying a small notebook and record all your spending, however small or big it is. You can also use a 3 x 5 card, a computer text file, or a spreadsheet. Any of these will do.
You can use this as a guide for your budgeting. Here are some advantages of having a record of your expenses:
- You will be able to identify the areas where you spend a lot, then find ways on how you could trim the expenses.
- You will find all the unnecessary spending you’ve made and try to eliminate this as well.
- It will help you budget your money by spending just the right amount, not exceeding your monthly net income.
It would be easier for you to track your expenses if you will save your receipts and record all withdrawals you’ve made. Make a habit of putting all your receipts in one place so that you know where to find them
You can do this tracking every week, or every month. It really depends on how you want it. What’s important is to make it a habit. In the end, you will be amazed how this thing could improve your financial activity.
By tracking every penny you have, you will be able to control your money, not the other way around.
6 Cheap family activity ideas
Is staying home with your family watching television making you bored out of your mind? Why not spend your time wisely with these cheap family activities? Here are some possibilities:
- Visit the nearest mall. Malls are often decorated festively – especially during holidays. You can take this as a chance for your family to hang-out and enjoy your time together. Going to mall doesn’t mean buying stuff, etc. You can simply visit the exhibit or the show and eat hotdogs or ice cream.
- Visit the park. This is also a nice way to spend family activities. Enjoy the swing, see-saw, and slides with your children. Prepare a home-made snack as well for the little “picnic” in the park. You may even want to bring a camera to capture every smile, yell and laughter of every family member.
- Visit relatives. Well this is a great idea especially if you only got to see them once in a while. This will keep family-ties together. Visit them, have light conversations with the grandparents, cook with your aunts, play in the playground with cousins, etc.
- Camping in the backyard. This is also one of the cheapest ways to have a family activity. Just bring out the tent; you could also do some grilling outside (barbeque, hotdogs). Make some games like hide and seek.
- Watch shooting stars. On a nice evening, you can go outside, bring a blanket and lay – down comfortably. You could trace constellations as well. Ghost stories could also spice up the evening.
- Just take a walk. You could bring your pet with you and just take a walk with your children.
Family activities don’t require much effort, time, and money. You just have to be creative and think of new ways you could spend great time with your family.
