Your Personal Expense Tracker
Everyone needs one.
And borne of a MoneyDoctors story, we have produced one. And we called it The Walking Eater.
Thing is, it is not just a MoneyDoctors story. It is actually our story. My husband’s story.
He is the walking eater.
He follows his nose wherever it takes him and believe me, money would leave his pocket like crazy when he gets kind of a hound dog like that.
He smells fish balls, he buys fish balls. Sees an energy drink bar, gets his energy drink with mega doses of something something. At the neighborhood 7-11, he gets his coffee or his Red Bull (he gulped bottles after bottles of energy drinks during his pre-pacemaker days) or his power bar or his mineral water. Release him at the food court, he runs amok. And we are talking not only of food – when we go to the mall, he scuttles off to some place and returns either with a sports equipment or apparel, or a book on design, or a magazine (he tries to hide them from me because he knows I think it is a waste of money), or a Mega Mass Weight Gainer, or something to make him lose weight – go figure (I can’t).
And when audited, he gets angry. Mostly because he does not know where his money went, why his money went, and why I am pissed.
With The Walking Eater, he changed his story.
He became more aware of his spending, of why certain times (especially close to meal times) he is more prone to buying, of what he buys and gives the most premium to, of what expenses he can cut.
Joe, our financial planner, is right: my husband is redeemable.
Well, the good news is, everyone is redeemable.
And 3 of you, my dear readers, will get 2 each of The Walking Eater delivered to your doorsteps. The design is by the walking eater himself, Danvic Briones, and the text is by my partners at MoneyDoctors, Joe Ferreria and Salve Duplito.
It will teach you the rudiments of down-and-dirty but simple expense tracking. It will ask for what you bought, how much you bought it for, and the date and time of your purchase.
Use it for 30 days – which, at your discretion, you can stretch to 120 days for more mind-boggling discoveries about yourself, your spending habits and the skeletons in your closet you never acknowledged you had.
Here’s the catch: you have to tell me if you are an a.m. or a p.m. spender and what you spend your precious money on.
Contest ends midnight of March 15. I will ask the walking eater himself to choose the 3 winners whose lives (and finances) will hopefully be improved and enriched by The Walking Eater.
For Philippine residents only.
Good luck, everyone!
P.S. The Walking Eater is currently only available to MoneyDoctors clients and seminar attendees. But if you are interested in owning one, you can drop me an email at issa@youwanttoberich.com. I promise you that the price is very reasonable.
Article by Issa. The Walking Eater Cover by Danvic Briones. Copyright 2011.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
Email: issa@youwanttoberich.com
Great contest Issa!
Aside from utilities and household expenses, a big chunk of my money went to paying off credit card debt which ballooned because of wedding, nesting, eating out and impulse purchases. I’m happy to say though that I wiped out my credit card debt 3 months ago but now have the expenses from my recent travels to “look forward to”:p
I am a PM spender. I pretty much buy anything I see that is has a nice or quirky design regardless of whether I need it or not. I am particularly susceptible in buying nicely designed plastic containers, junk food bag sealers, etc. My biggest “non-important” monthly expense are comic books that I read once and stash away never to be seen — I tend to add new titles based on the cover design so it is an ever growing expense
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Hi! Just to clarify, a.m. as in morning and p.m. in the afternoon? Or are these financial book words? =)
@Tin You are right the first time – am as in morning and pm as in the afternoon. Good luck! 🙂
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Ok. Thanks for the clarification. =D
Anyway, I’m definitely a PM spender. When I’m really stressed with work and school, I drop by the mall on the way home and shop. I’m happy to say though that I can control my spending urges as much as possible with the help of financial advice I’ve been reading about.
But if I DO feel really worn out, then a good book or a small trinket (i.e. notebook, cute writing material, etc.) would get my spirits high again. =)
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I’m a PM spender. I tend to spend too much on gadget and gadget accessories. The rest go to food. My spending habits are obviously skewed towards things I don’t really need but at the same time I don’t devote my money to basic stuff like clothing, bags and similar feminine necessities. LOL! I think I need the book you’re advertising Issa! 🙂
Btw, for some reason I keep getting an error message re: website field. It’s http://appsized.com – dunno why it says “a feed could not be found.”
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A hapless PM spender, I am. I am known to troop to the mall come 4 PM to 5 PM because I am hella stressed at work and return with a ton of bags from Powerbooks and Zara. I am led to believe I now have such low EQ that whenever I feel sad or harassed, I resort to retail therapy.
And while I do not let my debt balloon and I pay my CCs on the dot and with the full amount, these could have gone to my stock or MF folio instead.
Sigh.
Wow! Upon reading it I thought you are describing me, hahaha! This has been my problem for over a decade now. Whenever I have money, it’s like there’s no tomorrow that I want to spend it all. Don’t know kung sakit sya or normal lang sa isang depressed.
I’m a Pm spender since tanghali na ako magising, hahaha! And usually sa food napupunta money ko. I love to eat, and whenever I feel sad or happy same lng din I like to eat. And same dun sa story, pag na check ko na san napunta money, puro food /grocery receipt meron ako. Bihira sa clothes, gadgets or gamit sa bahay. I really want to fix this, problem is bihira naman meron ganitong blog or write ups. And all along I thought nag iisa ako, meron din pala nakakaexperience nito. Hope someone or this book can help me, hope to win, I think i really need this. <3
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@Jill I loved your posts about your recent trip to New Zealand but I also worried about you because of the earthquake. Glad you are back and blogging. As for your expenses – I am sure you will wipe the slate clean. More power! 🙂
@Patrick That’s cute! I am also attracted to the unusual, but my internal brakes usually work (key word is usually). My husband’s, though, is a different story – he is also attracted to plastic containers, by the way, but because of a product he is developing. And comic books! I used to love them, but just (thankfully) borrow them from my cousins. But if you collect really good ones, keep them, they might be worth something someday. Good luck!
@Tin Haha… Then this notebook will be perfect for you. Good luck!
@Enuhski Oh-oh-oh I love food! (well, me and hubby) As for bags, we share the un-passion (but I might be giving in – because of good buys at beyondtherack.com hay). Good luck and more power to appsized.com!
@Teeyah I recently gave in to books and had my arms embracing some at Fully Booked. And shoes too, when Dumond recently had a sale. Yeah, it is stress, that sometimes does it for me. But sometimes – we do need to give in (I think – key word though is sometimes). Good luck to us. 🙂
@Polinda Hahaha – I was writing about everyone, I think. We all splurge, then get guilty, then splurge. But such is life, I guess. But at least you know now and are taking steps to curb it a little bit – or a lot of bit. Good luck!
I’m a PM spender. Being an impulsive buyer is never an easy thing to do. Guilt after every purchase. Dont know why I cant resist the charm of “SALE’. Even if I dont need it today or even next month, I ended up buying it. Coz I have this thoughts of “baka d na mag sale ulit”, wow! 50-70% great deal (kahit d ko magagamit or masusuot agad) and lastly, “sayang naman, sale na sya eh”. I hope someone or something can enlighten me. Thank you.
@Editha I do know what you mean. A sale would also get me excited (and eager to swipe!). But through time, I realized that some of the deals were not really good, and that I end up with duds that I do not want to wear. So I have become more vigilant with sales, excited pa rin, yes, pero I look and compare and try out the stuff and think and think and think. And if I decide not to get the item and I feel bad, I think that there is always another day, and another sale, maybe better – because you know what, there always is. Good luck!
i earn 2400 perweek but i always come short.2000p for family budget and 400p for my meal and transport allowance.i always ask myself how can i save from my 400p allowance.should i look for sideline but my work requires a 12hr per day.xtn
Well, you can get another job that pays more, or you can study, so you can increase your skills and be sure to get that higher paying job. Whatever you have right now is temporary, if you make it temporary – you can always choose to be more. Good luck and please let me know how else I can help you.
I am a PM spender. I realize that I spend too much on food because I am a believer that you get what u pay for. When I tried to backtrack, i think 60% of my salary goes to food, 30% to transpo. (I live in Fairview but I work in Makati) mostly taking cabs because I dont wanna risk being late.
Your website name interests me; moreso because i had a conversation about the topic a few weeks back with my friends. I don’t wanna be rich, but I wanna make sure that I have just enough to cover my vices. (I also like to travel once in a while). I hope you can help.
We are the same – I want to experience what I think I deserve – and to do that, I have to work really hard and smart. But I think you should aim for riches – only then will you get a great quality of life – because you have the capacity to help. If you equate riches with being able to help people and make a difference – you will not set the idea aside as easily.
But if you want just a comfortable life, then your expenses should be below your income. But that is not for you – you deserve more than trying to duck below an imaginary line. It will get tiring living this way day after day. It is fact that as man gets older, his needs gets more varied and complex – you will want more. You said you love to travel. You may want Palawan now but in the next 5 years, you will want to go to Europe too. How will you be able to pay for that if your income does not skyrocket as fast as your dreams/wants?
Entrepreneurship is one way to go. Learn it, do it (it only takes a single step). And then give back. Please let me know how else I can help.