A Spending Diary

As the new year began, I was thinking about and by logical extension talking more about my on-going efforts at becoming more balanced in my spending habits.  If you've been reading the blog for a while, you know that I occasionally talk about wanting to curb my spending.  Over the years I have tried a number of methods to rein in my shopping, and have had success in all spending areas but one--dresses.  In the end, I find that I really do love dresses and it really has been a lifelong dream of mine to have a massive dress collection.  I've also learned that I don't make connections with people easily or often and tend to use my dress collection to fill that void, so starting to form more and better relationships has been a co-goal this year.   The year is slipping by me and I can't say I've had many triumphs socially, but I continue to try. 

I know it may seem hard to believe, but I can stay on a strict budget when it comes to anything but dresses. My home has always been quite moderate, my office has always been orderly and clutter free, but when it comes to my collection of dresses...well, it's safe to say it can be overwhelming.  Since most of my efforts to stop spending have had mixed results at best, I thought I would try a different approach by instigating a Tracking year.  Instead of setting a budget, I decided to just spend 2024 writing everything down.  You can't change habits if you don't acknowledge them.

When it comes to health coaching, the most common place to begin is with a food diary.  Coaches often require their clients to write down every bite they eat for two weeks or more and then go over the data together.  Many people with health issues aren't really aware of what they're eating and have this general idea that they "eat healthy."  If they're very conscientious and honest about writing down every bite, they often find not just the culprits (i.e. lots of sugar or caffeine) but also the patterns (i.e. cravings occur at certain times of day or around certain events/stressors).  

The first step to really being honest about a problem is to focus up and examine it.  Once these patterns emerge, it's much easier to get a strategy in place to address them.  So just like the food diary, I decided this year once again to keep track of every penny.  Not only am I tracking my spending, I have been tracking the days, times of day, and the feelings surrounding each purchase in order to identify my patterns and come up with strategies for success that help me cope with stress and don't involve spending money.

Wow, has it been eye-opening.  And incredibly helpful.  For years I had a really terrible habit of not looking at how much I was spending.  I didn't want to know because I knew it was too much and if I didn't look at it, I could pretend it wasn't that bad or at least plead ignorance.  But, deep down the guilt was always there because while I didn't have a number to acknowledge, I did know it was too much.  Writing it down really has helped me to be aware of my patterns and keep me accountable.  

Again, I haven't stopped spending, because trying to do a No-Buy Year or even a Low-Buy Year when I haven't built a foundation of good habits and self-control in this area would be like deciding to take up jogging by starting with a marathon on day one; in other words it would be a recipe for certain failure.  But being on a Tracking Year felt like a good step in the right direction. As proof of this progress, I just completed a 40 day No-Buy challenge.  That's something I don't think I could have done just a few years ago.  The secret to reaching any goal is to just keep moving toward it.

Now that I have put in the time to build that foundation, a Low-Buy year feels more doable, and a No-Buy year may be on the horizon.  I may not be perfect at it, but as long as I am continuing to improve, I will eventually reach my goals.

Outfit Info:  Caterina Blackwatch Check Swing Dress