Nothing New in the New Year
The most important thing you can do differently in the New Year is…NOTHING. (and track it!)
The New Year is a time when we are all inundated with pressure to make new goals, change our habits, exercise more, eat less, and the list goes on. I am not here to add something new for you to change, but I am here to ask you to consider one easy financial tip/hack I have for you.
Track your spending.
Wow, the lack of glamour and fun in that last sentence is startling, but stay with me because something that was once painful for me to look at is now a fun game and is something I am proud of. (at least sometimes…)
Everyone has something that gets them, maybe it is Target runs or trips to the local bar. For me, it was easy… restaurants and COFFEE!
I knew my spending on coffee had improved a lot, but I had not logged into MINT to compare it in a very long time. Thanks to this article I did and was pleasantly surprised to see that I saved myself….
$780,000 in coffee!
Total Spent on Coffee by Year (I will link images at the bottom of the article)
2021 - $2,171
2022 - $1,113
2023 - $401
Total Saved - $1,770 a year or $147.50 a month.
I knew this was an area that needed improvement for the past several years and have been working on it actively. I bought an expresso machine, which helped me to make quick americanos on the way to the gym in the morning and saved me a stop at the coffee shop.
Turn’s out that $147.50 a month invested looks like this…
This savings in coffee will earn me somewhere between $167,000 - $780,000 over 40 years. And let’s be honest, I don’t plan on quitting coffee anytime soon…
-
Action Item:
Sign up for a FREE or low-cost expense tracking software/application. I have used MINT.com for many years now, but in just about a month it will be migrating over to Credit Karma and some of the features will not carry over.
Recently I have been trying different applications and I love Quicken’s Simplify! (it does cost $4 a month)
https://www.quicken.com/products/simplifi/
I tried Monarch which is also great, but it is a little too pricy and colorful for my taste. ($10 or so a month)
I have not tried Nerd Wallet yet, but I have heard that it is great for basic tracking. I am going to give this a try soon and will report my findings. It is completely FREE.
Empower Finance is what I use for tracking all of my investments and net worth and is also FREE. I highly recommend this tool for more advanced planning, but it fails at budgeting and tracking when compared to the above applications. I love their planning software and investment fee-tracking check-ups to make sure you are not involved in any high-fee funds!
(This is an affiliate link for Empower, I may receive some compensation)
So I am not suggesting you change any habits right now, but I am suggesting that you start tracking data and link your account to one of these applications. The sooner you start aggregating this information, the sooner you will be inspired to adjust and refine your meaningful spending!
Trust me this upfront effort of linking your credit cards and bank accounts will pay off in the long run. Do not worry these companies like Quicken and Intuit have been leaders in safety and do not store or have access to any of your passwords or personal information, rather your information is completely encrypted. Here are some details to ease your mind; https://security.intuit.com/security-practices/
I hope this provides some inspiration for you! Let me know if you have any questions! Happy Tracking!
(Here are the images from my personal Mint account for reference)
