Should We Write it All Down?

My family and I are in the midst of an experiment — one that's starting to wear a bit on my nerves especially during these last two weeks of school with daily picnics, plays, end of the year events and, oh right, work!

We're writing down everything we buy - everything we spend.

On the face of it, it's amazing to see where we've chosen to spend, and not spend, our money. Frankly, I suspect that after the first week of 'hey, this is cool!' wore off, it was more, 'Ugh, I'm not buying that latte because then I have to write-it-down.' And that may be the secret to this well-known tool that everyone (including my parents and some fairly well-known financial planners) hawk as a budget device. By keeping yourself accountable, you have to see that you spent $55 on organic dried beans. On paper. For the rest of your family to see. (Ahem.)

But the truth is, if you don't know where your money is going, you stand to lose it -- or you're rich enough to not have to worry. And I'm talking insane rich, like Bill Gates because we've all heard the stories of very famous and wealthy people who lose sight of their finances and find themselves bankrupt or with properties in foreclosure.

Let me make a frank admission: I am not as rich as Bill Gates.

The reason we decided to do this is we took an honest look at our savings, retirement, and realized we were not close to where we wanted to be. And then we talked where we could cut. Nothing came up. Hmmm. So we poured through our checking register and credit card statement and found there were actually a lot areas. Take-out? A biggy. Often just spent because it's late, we're tired, we've worked all day and it's easy. Then we looked in the refrigerator at the out of date lunch meat, molding strawberries, and rotten cucumbers.

In the last two weeks, we've cut our food budget alone by 20% - and that's even more than we thought we could do to start. We're not spending as much as we budgeted for, and we're still eating meat, fresh fruit, etc...But I'm not sure how long we're going to keep this going. It's one thing to mark down the grocery store receipt. But that half-sandwich I picked up yesterday? Have to say, it hasn't been noted yet.

Still, I am excited that we may have found an easy way to put aside some more money. But, it's Friday tonight. Last day of school. I have two deadlines for work, cookies to make for teachers, an ice cream party for some of her friends....I hear the siren call of the take-out menus.