Impulse Shopping

I admit it. I am an impulse shopper and I always have been. As I have been more accountable to myself about my spending b using a checkbook register and YNAB I have seen where the money has been going and HOW much of it is going. For Example, I budgeted about 450.00 per month for groceries and to date I have spent 627.00.

Lord have mercy,,, I am out of control! Now part of that amount is for the family dinner at thanksgiving ( more impulse buying) and the rest is just stuff. So I have to decide is it where I shop that I am spending the money or is it what I buy? Probably both. We are five adults and one child, so I do have to spend a little money. But this month I have really spent too much. I have to make changes for next month.

Also by keeping track of my money I discovered that I was going to make a tithe payment to the church that would have been in excess of 300 dollars of what I budgeted for the month. ( I tithe approximately 14% of my gross). So, that is a good thing about keeping a written ledger, I "found" 300 dollars that I was going to spend that I did not need to.

Another task that keeping a budget presents is that I have to remember all the expenses I will incur during the year so I can catorogize and plan ahead for the expected doctor or dental appointment. Oh yeah, I had to remember the newspaper subscription, the hair cuts and occasional pedicure, the professional dues, the catagory for entertainment, just to name a few. The budget is definitely a work in progress and adjustments are going to continue.