Creating and finding new habits

Welcome back. As the first week draws to a close it’s time I report on my efforts and share my thoughts. As you may recall this month I am recording and tracking my spending and earnings to gain a better understanding of where my money goes to help me plan a budget.  

So each night for the past week before I started getting ready for bed, I sat down and collected all the invoices and receipts from the day, I would then check them against the records from my banking apps and write down the details in my notepad with a brief description describing the purchase, usually one or two words like groceries or dining out. I wanted this to be a short painless experience that can be done in a matter of minutes, that way it didn’t become a chore that I would have to force myself to do.

For the most part, my spending has followed the course I thought it would, but there are some habits and patterns I’ve noticed that I intend to deal with. A great example is that I make a lot of trips to the stores for small items, especially on the way home from work. Things like extra vegetables or spices for dinner, milk a nice loaf of bread that sort of thing. While this isn’t so bad, I have noticed that on warm days after work as I swing by the store on my way home, I will more often than not pick up a bottle of juice or can of pop to drink while I walk the rest of the way home. What should be a treat and a rare occurrence has become a habit, so it will need to be dealt with.

Ways I can look at fixing this would be to remove the need to make daily trips to the stores by doing a larger weekly shop. This removes the whole reason for going to the store in the first place making it less likely I will grab a drink. Another idea I could try is to have a drink at home waiting for me, not necessarily a juice or pop but something different that I wouldn’t have during the day, that way I have something to look forward to when I finish work.  

Given that it is now the end of the first week I will look at the habits and patterns I have noticed and, as you have seen above, I will come up with some ideas that I can try to combat them. Then next week when I review the week that was I can see if they made an impact or if they need further correction. So until then, have a good one.