Comments on: How Much Do You Spend On Coffee – It May Be A Marketing Ploy But Is Also An Important Question

By: Do You Dave Ramsey?

Do You Dave Ramsey? — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 17:32:30 +0000

Yes, tracking is key but don’t let the credit card folks trick you into thinking that they are on your team! It is funny to watch them reposition their product now as a tool for fiscal responsibility. Humourous but dangerous as many will fall prey.

By: Jill Blevins

Jill Blevins — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 23:16:28 +0000

I’m with you, Chris. Don’t justify and don’t make excuses. If you want a coffee beverage, get it. Discipline yourself to examine if it is worth the expense first. If it isn’t, don’t make an excuse.

I used to track expenses manually but it became expensive, time-wise. I use Quicken and mint.com, and decided mint.com is definitely worth the price (free) and better if you don’t have to track business expenses, which is why I bought Quicken. Taxes with a business and with Quicken were heaven, I have to say.

If you haven’t used mint.com or something similar, you’re not using a really good tool.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:07:29 +0000

Jay – What a great idea! I had never even heard of the hire a chef idea before.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:05:39 +0000

All I see in the comments is “I deserve a little treat now and then” and “I use my credit card to track my expenses.”

Frankly, I don’t believe either of those lines. They’re both total BS.

Deserving has nothing to do with anything. The point is to choose. If you want that coffee and donut and are willing to pay for it, live it up. But don’t excuse $1500 a year away by saying that you deserve it.

And I seriously do not believe anyone who says they’re using their credit card to track expenses. That’s just a glorified way of claiming to track expenses without actually looking at them.

I know I’m at the other end of the scale. I do everything manually and have for years. But the point of tracking is not to track, it’s to decide for yourself if you’re really spending money the way you want to. And if not, to realize it and to make rational decisions.

By: jay

jay — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:46:48 +0000

Melissa, I had wondered the same thing. We’ve toyed with deliveries, and around here (pretty urban) there are actually enough out-of-work chefs that you can get a service to make up a week’s worth of meals and deliver it. Pretty cool idea, and still cheaper than take out . I’ve been researching this a bit since my older DD is disabled and knives/gas stoves/etc. are an anathema to her
Also, any one tried NeatReceipts, or similar programs? The concept is having someone else, or a specialized scanner, handle all those paper sales receipts. I can’t imagine it being useful simply as a cost saving measure, but an intriguing bookkeeping aspect of our “electronic” age.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:23:44 +0000

Abigail – I wonder if a healthier diet might ease your chronic fatigue symptoms. Have you asked your grocery store if they deliver? A lot of grocery stores deliver for free or for a very small fee. If you can’t chop the veggies, you can get bags of chopped veggies or even frozen ones (they still have vitamins). It would be more bang for your buck than take-out.

By: Abigail

Abigail — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 03:32:27 +0000

I know I *should* track our finances, but right now it’s all we can do to hold things together. It is a future goal, though.

As for spending the most money, we’re living relatively frugally. I’d say our biggest “nonessential” expense is delivery. I have chronic fatigue, and my husband has health problems as well, plus no license. So it can sometimes lead to a situation wherein I’m too tired to go out for the essential foodstuffs for cooking.

Or days like today, where most of our dishes are dirty, and just about all our plans. But my husband sliced up his finger badly while cooking the other night and we don’t want him getting the bandage wet, since he’s prone to infections. Meanwhile I was too exhausted to do dishes.

We keep “easy” foods around — frozen pizza, peanut butter and bread for PBJs, hot dogs, etc — but we still do get stranded from time to time. In general, though, I try to keep it to once a week. At up to $30 a shot, though, that adds up fast!

By: Mr Plasectomy

Mr Plasectomy — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:52:04 +0000

It is amazing how the tiny little things add up. You hit Dunkin Donuts for a large coffee that costs ~$2.25, a cookie for a treat while you are out, $1.00, that bottled water because you were filling up your gas tank, $1.50. If you do all 3 of these once a week it will cost you close to $5 dollars a week. That is over $250 a year on very small things. Of course at the time is was just a buck or two.

However, there comes a point to where you need to say is it worth it to not doing anything for a treat? Just a small reason as to why it is so important to budget and have a plan.

By: The Babe from BrokeinLove

The Babe from BrokeinLove — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:54:50 +0000

I have to tell you, I’ve been on autopilot for so long with spending that it was finally time to get down to 1. Budgeting and 2. tracking of spending.

Happily my bank now has tracking software for free linked to my accounts, and since we’ve recently moved to cash only…it helps. However we do hit up the ATM and that will get spend on items like gas (pay cash at some places, pay LESS!) and food….so I’m going to start keeping receipts as well.

I feel it’s just another step to gaining CONTROL back. Hey you do Weight Watchers, you track points, you gain CONTROL, you lose weight.

Why can’t money be the same?

By: Jesse@PF Firewall

Jesse@PF Firewall — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:12:29 +0000

@Cindy and paidtwice

Mint.com, which hasnt really been around that long so I dont think it will be mentioned in your post (@paidtwice) has such great tools to track accounts as well as pick new accounts based on what would save a person money.
It is a must for me and getting my finances in line