Dear Financial Diary...

"Where did all my money go?" Tell me you have NEVER said this, and I will call you a big LIAR!!!!!! Not that I don't like you or anything, but we all need to be honest with ourselves. Have you ever felt like you were financially lost way before payday because you had no idea where all of your money went? I have felt that way many a time and here is what I did about it. I kept a financial diary for a week. As painstakingly annoying as it was, I wrote down every last cent I spent and what I spent it on. It was an eye opening experience, to say the least.

Here is what you do. Get a notebook and pen that you can put in your pocket, purse, backpack, or whatever you happen to carry your stuff around in and know where they are when you need them. Then, every time you spend any money, whether it be cash, check, check card, or credit card, write it down. Write down how much you spent, when you spent it, where you spent it, and what it was for. At the end of the week, review your entries. Review your entries for any patterns or trends to show yourself where/how/when you are spending all of your money. This is a very easy exercise and one that everyone should do when they start to feel like they are spiraling out of control financially.

Here are a few of the observations I made about myself.

1. I eat out WAY to much because I am too lazy to cook when I get home from work.
   
2. I spend a lot of money on junk food and sodas at work. I guess the scale in my bathroom could have told me the same thing. Ugh!
   
3. I spend a lot of time in the same stores and have discovered that I frequent those stores because I am bored and think spending money will cure my boredom. WRONG!
   
4. I am too easily influenced by friends when it comes to happy hour.
5. I should take my lunch to work more often and not eat out so much with my coworkers.
6. I need to learn how to say no to my family when they constantly want money here and there and it is not a necessity.
   

After my little exercise, I made conscience efforts to recognize when I started to fall into my old habits. I am not saying I never eat out, go to happy hour, give my family money, or have a soda at work, but I try to watch my money a little closer so that I can still have fun, but not at the expense of getting caught up in my little drama entitled "Where Did All My Money Go?"

I bet you will be surprised at how much money you could save by just doing a one week self-evaluation of your spending habits. Try it and see if you don't find some financial corners you can cut. Good luck!