1) Anything I bring into my home that I buy, including groceries but excluding gifts I buy for others. The purpose of this category is two-fold: (a) to show what I choose to spend money on, in line with my finance objectives; and (b) to show what I bring into my home, in line with my decluttering objectives. I've been able to curb my purchases in a lot of areas, but I've been stocking up way too much on groceries. For example, I have a minor addiction to buying frozen shrimp--when I see it on sale, I must have it. Our freezer and cupboards are packed to the brim, and it will take us months to eat everything we have, yet I buy more. I'm hoping that by showing my purchases, I'll be more thoughtful about what I buy and whether I truly need it.
2) Anything I bring into my home that is free. Over the years, I've had a love-hate relationship with free stuff. I used to love it and would take anything and everything that was free. Eventually, I got to a point where I hated it and wouldn't take anything that was free, even if I wanted it. Yes, I used to be a very all-or-nothing kind of gal. I'm trying to find a balance now, but I don't want to fall into the trap of bringing home stuff just because it's free. I'm hoping that showing these items will help me be more selective about accepting free stuff.
3) Anything I buy to eat or drink in addition to groceries (this may include some free stuff, but likely not all). This category includes restaurants, eateries, takeout, or delivery. I'm not 100% sure about this category yet, so I'm going to see how it goes in the next few weeks. I think it would be interesting information for finance purposes; however, I'm not sure I'll always remember to take a photo when I buy a snack or go out to eat. Case in point: I met up with my former employer for a chat this week but didn't take a photo of the tea I purchased. I'll try to include this category for the time being, but I may omit it in the future if I can't keep up.
This will be a weekly feature on my blog every Sunday. All expenses will be expressed as the total amount spent--note that hubby and I split our expenses on groceries and restaurants equally, so my portion will usually be half the amount shown. I may play around with the format of this over time, but here is what I bought in week 1. Not shown below is a tea I purchased on Jan 2/19 for $2.65. :)
