By the end of the day, imagine the amount of money you have spent. Just think for a second. Some of you may not have spent much at all, if anything. The rest of us generally spend more than we need to; or at least, we spend more than we realize. This all adds up, sometimes to financial heights that incrementally sap our wallets. While it may not seem significant, this price analogy should quell potential disinterest: people find it unsavory to purchase a thirty-dollar item each day, yet they easily spend thirty dollars incrementally, perhaps because they are not as aware. They are not aware, for example, of their fixed spending (insurance, payments, bills…).
Simple everyday accounting helps to raise awareness.
Save money by logging day-to-day expenses, especially expendable purchases. Either log purchases into a pocket notepad, or simply remember them inside your head. Accounting simply entails adding up purchases, either in print or no print. Do this for one routine day and, depending on your habits, you may be surprised. The psychology behind our purchases lay in how cheap we perceive things to be. So while we may feel guilt in buying a single...