I am spending out of control.

[nick__45]

Would a big security makes people spend more? It certainly let me spend more without much care in the world. Of course, I don't think I spend nearly as much as a typical person I see at the stores from the pure simple observation of what they buy. And I don't buy things I don't need. However, I don't do the double or triple pause and think before buying things I need like I used to. I even authorize my wife to buy anything she wants and she has access to all of my CCs. On top of it all, I haven't check what I spend money on through CC online access. I used to do that every Sunday night in order for the weekend transactions to show up.

Am I on a dangerous trend of overspending? I certainly will be cutting eating out at work as it actually add serious weight as well as being a detriment to my car saving account, which shares the same card.

Being that tomorrow is the 1st of the month, I am thinking about doing a monthly summary expense by using just just 1 CC to cover all spending and track it better.

[kork13]

You'll never know if/how much you're over-spending if you don't know WHAT you're spending. Using a single CC to pay for everything is a good method, or you can just track each expenditure with a pen/notepad or in an excel spreadsheet.

Figure out what you SHOULD be spending now. Once you know what you ARE spending, compare the two and if necessary, look at where you need to trim your expenses.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by nick__45

I don't buy things I don't need

I even authorize my wife to buy anything she wants

I certainly will be cutting eating out at work

You are clearly contradicting yourself. You are NOT just buying things you need. Your wife can buy anything she WANTS and you are going out to eat at work which is not a need. I would suspect there are other things in your spending that would also qualify as wants, not needs.

Are you overspending? I have no idea. You need to look at the numbers. And you need to have some type of spending plan - a budget - so that you know what constitutes "too much."

[krantcents]

Set a monthly limit and stop at that limit. If you bought too many wants versus needs, adjust next month. Keep adjusting until you get your priorities right!

[danieldroga]

Know what you are spending with your money. Make a list of the things you usually buy or your basic necessities and keep buying them. For those things that are not included on your basic necessities consider them as your 2nd priority. If you don't have any financial problems then this is nothing to worry about. One can only realize the importance of spending your money wisely if he or she is going through a very tight budget.

[nick__45]

I know I am spending out of control because I had to put more money into my checking account that I have already budgeted for just to pay the cards off. Normally, I have 200 dollars left over from each billing cycle and I would take that money out to hit the bars with friends. However, I had to actually take money out of saving to insure adequate fund is available to pay off the cards. Of course, there have been non-occurrence expense such as buying a new mattress, pay for a medical operation since I have not visit a doctor or need any service and there is a 300 annual deductible (very low if you have a lot of work done but I need work done once every 4-7 years). However, I put enough wiggle room in there that I should not need to deposit more. Anyway, that will change this month on out.

[nick__45]

Originally Posted by danieldroga

Know what you are spending with your money. Make a list of the things you usually buy or your basic necessities and keep buying them. For those things that are not included on your basic necessities consider them as your 2nd priority. If you don't have any financial problems then this is nothing to worry about. One can only realize the importance of spending your money wisely if he or she is going through a very tight budget.

Fortunately, I don't have a tight budget but that secured mentality has been detriment in trying to save more money for stuffs I want. I may need to stop blowing through checking account left-over and use that toward a new car. I don't want to lower the revolving account monthly deposit as there are stores that won't take credit cards (Costco and a few groceries store we go to) and there has always been a need to have 200-500 dollars buffet in the account.

[Eric80]

you really need to monitor what you are spending so that you can manage your finances. a great tip is to write down what you are buying so that every penny can be accounted for.

[feh]

If you don't use cash for purchases, mint.com is a great site for keeping track of all your expenditures.

[GrimJack]

If you do your budget correctly, you won't have any 'left over money'.

You go out with friends and spend $200?! You could budget $100 for that and budget the other hundred to savings. A budget should account for all your money including the money you spend in bars. You know how much comes in, you know how much goes out; if you have money left over add a bucket into your budget to account for the money.

er, I don't budget but I can tell you how other people do it - sigh!

[maat55]

If you are spending too much, stop doing it. There is no one twisting your arm to do so.

[thefrugaltoad]

If you are worried about spending too much then you probably are. You need to first track what you and your wife are spending monthly and then decide how much you want to save towards college for kids, retirement, other goals, monthly bills, etc. Whatever is left is discretionary spending. If you can't pay off your credit card at the end of the month you are spending too much.