The Kitchen Table

When you check your bank account, are you staring at zeros? Are you looking around your home and wondering what do you have to show for all of this spending? If you are overwhelmed by feelings of confusion and regret, you are not alone. No matter how much…or how little you make, if it seems like you can’t get out of the “living paycheck to paycheck” cycle, there is a way out.

The answer to your problems is to “track your spending”, here is how it works. Review the past few months of your bank statements, and credit card statements. If you go through these statements line by line you can easily categories your spending. Some examples of categories would be, groceries, dining out, entertainment/alcohol, rent, utilities etc. Tally up your total spending from previous months and you might be surprised by what you discover. Tracking your spending allows you to see where your money is going. It shows you how much you are spending on non-essentials such as entertainment and hobbies. This might seem like inconsequential spending, but those are the things that really add up.

It doesn’t end there! Continue tracking your spending in real time. Write down your purchases, keep records of your receipts add them all up at the end of the month and take back control of your spending. Once you see those numbers in black and white you can’t un-see them. When you discover where your money is going you can make the appropriate adjustments to your spending habits. Set up a budget that supports your savings goals. It won’t be easy, change never is, but with tracking and a budget in place saving isn’t far behind.

*Employees of LPI Loans and our affiliates are not attorneys and LPI Loans DOES NOT provide any legal advice and users of this web site should consult with their own attorney for legal advice.