What Did I Buy Today? An Obsessive Consumption Journal

As you may be aware I'm already 25 days into my 100 day spending ban for 2014. That's a 1/4 of a way through…already!! (My reasons for completing a spending ban are written in this blog post so go and check that out if you're interested.) I wanted to share with you a little tool I found on Amazon recently that has been really helping me look at where my income goes and how much I really do shell out on bills - a little journal by the name of What Did I Buy Today? An Obsessive Consumption Journal.

I adore journals and books like this one. It's so simple and easy to use and yet it has been invaluable to me over the last month, enabling me to track every single penny and pound that I spend, what I spent them on, and when. I think writing things down definitely helps you to see the bigger picture too, like I know that halfway through my pay period I tend to crave spending money and end up shopping online (not actually buying, mind! Just browsing!). I've learned a lot about my spending habits from filling in this book and it's only been 25 days so far - progress!

So what do you do? Put simply, you save receipts and each week you write down the date of when you spent, what the item was, and how much it cost in each relevant box on the table. At the end of each week you tot up your purchases and marvel at how well you've done or have a little cry. Lately it's been the former for me, but all shall be revealed in my Spending ban updates every fortnight! If you don't fancy writing, there's space to draw pictures too and make the task of logging your spends a little less dull. I'm not much of an artist, so I've stuck to writing for now!  I do keep flicking back to the 'Goals' section at the front of the book to give me some motivation of what I'm aiming for financially. As you can see from the pic above all of my goals are achievable in the long run, and contain the one thing I've been lusting after for a good 24 months now - a Mulberry Bayswater. I think it's an excellent idea to have something to work towards, and once I've finished writing this I shall be writing 'Save for Florida 2015' under the Big Goals because we're so, so close to booking the holiday *squeal*.

This little journal, and all of it's fabulous doodles, is available on Amazon for £7.99. You may find it off putting that the journal uses American $ instead of British £, but this hasn't bothered me because I've been changing the signs as I go along. As someone who's obsessed with planning and organising my life, this is an invaluable tool for me and I shall be using it for as long as I can!

Are you good at saving money?
What do you do to help you save?