Weekly Summary – MoneyMasterClass Week 32
===============================================================================
Gail Vaz-Oxlade, a renowned financial expert, has been using a spending journal since 2012 to keep track of her purchases and budget. This manual tool, introduced by Vaz-Oxlade, has proven to be an effective method for maintaining accountability in spending and setting realistic financial goals.
In January, Vaz-Oxlade asked participants to write out their Core Values and prioritize their goals. She also emphasised the importance of learning these financial tools to weather financial storms. One such tool is the spending journal, which can provide a clear view of your spending habits.
To start a spending analysis using a spending journal, begin by recording all your expenditures for a defined period (such as one week) in a simple notebook or journal. Track every amount spent and note where and what the money was spent on without focusing on precision initially. After the recording phase, group your expenses into categories like food, transportation, entertainment, and others. This categorization helps to identify spending patterns and understand where your money goes.
The benefits of this approach include:
- Gaining clear visibility into your actual spending habits.
- Identifying categories where expenses may be unnecessarily high.
- Encouraging mindful money management through active tracking.
- Helping set realistic budgets and financial goals based on real data.
- Being a simple, low-cost, and tactile method that doesn't require special tools or complex software.
Vaz-Oxlade is currently working on creating a spending analysis using a spreadsheet and her spending journal. She has renamed some categories in the spending analysis worksheet to make them more applicable. The spending analysis worksheet has several categories that can be edited as needed.
The author has made progress in her finances, as shown by the updated Net Worth Statement. She has reorganised her savings and opened higher interest savings accounts. A Net Worth Statement can provide a concrete picture of one's finances and is recommended for making one or updating one.
Resources, spreadsheets, and quizzes for the Money Master Class can be found on the official website. The Money Master Class intro and Week One Recap can be found on the author's website. The link for the Net Worth Statement worksheet and instructions can be found at https://www.hoyes.com/money-master-class/.
Vaz-Oxlade also encourages a little frivolous spending, as long as there is accountability and one stays on budget. Going forward, she plans to be more detailed in her spending analysis to get a more realistic picture of her spending.
Share this post on various social media platforms using the links provided. Let's all strive for financial awareness and stability, one spending journal entry at a time.
- To effectively manage personal-finance and make better saving decisions, one could utilize a spending journal like Gail Vaz-Oxlade proposed, which aids in identifying debt-management issues, setting budgeting targets, gaining clarity on spending habits, and fostering mindful money management.
- As part of debt-management and budgeting strategies, it's crucial to categorize expenses in a spending journal, tracking bills and luxuries alike, and adjusting spending patterns accordingly to merge towards financial stability.
