Questions tagged [spending]
The spending tag has no usage guidance.
40
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How can I effectively track my expenses? [closed]
How can I effectively track my expenses?
10
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5
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4k
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What’s the difference between inflation and inflation tax?
I get that people seem to be using the term inflation tax as a metaphor for understanding inflation, but it seems to be a bit more than that. We all know that inflation reduces the buying power of our ...
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10
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What is the optimal number of months to base my "average spending" on?
My goal is to determine how much money I spend on groceries per month, "on average". I have a list of all my food shopping orders (timestamp + amount in USD).
Currently, I do the sum() of ...
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7
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590
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Saving hard to buy one specific item worth it?
I am new to this Stack Exchange channel, sorry in advance if the story does not fit.
About 3.5 years ago I bought a laptop for my education. At the time it was a top of the line model etc. Recently, ...
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2
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271
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Is there any recommendation of rent / spending / saving ratio?
In the USA, are there popular rent / spending / saving ratio recommendations?
Say I earn $150k per year and split it evenly between the three. Which would be $50k for rent or mortgage, $50k for ...
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2
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134
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Figuring out a way to reduce credit card spend due to memorizing the card number
I have been fairly good at controlling my credit card spend, but occasionally I spend more than I intend (online). I am not in any kind of debt, and I come out positive at the end of the month, but I ...
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2
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4
answers
519
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Monthly budget - deferred expenses from savings vs Income? How to manage?
Background:
My wife and I have put a monthly budget together using the Google Drive Budget Template. Pretty standard - Income section and Expenses section with rows allocated in each.
It makes most ...
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6
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21k
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What can Amex do if I cancel their card after using the sign up bonus miles?
I recently applied for the Amex Gold Delta Skymiles card, with the intention of getting the sign up bonus (60,000 miles after $2k spend in first 3 months) and canceling the card before the first ...
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0
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1
answer
395
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How to spend the coins in your "piggy bank"? [duplicate]
I have saved a full piggy bank of coins and I never bothered to count them. I understand that there are money counting machines that usually charges about 10% of the value to convert them into paper ...
- 1,567
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2
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129
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Would the cost of an item be more accurately expressed as a ratio of cost vs. minimum wage?
I'd like to express the cost of items in a document that can help with spending decisions in the long term.
For instance, an item costs $30, with the minimum wage being $15/hr. in the present year.
...
- 135
4
votes
3
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597
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Saving vs. Living Life
Saving is good. Everyone knows this. However, it is important to not get so caught up in cash hoarding that you forget to live life.
Our savings goal is $1m in revenue/interest bearing assets, ...
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6
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2
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729
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How to handle large inheritance
My uncle is ill and doesn't have much longer to live. He's been tying up loose ends and the other day he gave me a briefcase full of $20 bills, neatly stacked. If my math is right it's about $100k. I'...
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4
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892
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Should I have a "Vacation" category in my budget?
In my budget, I have a "vacation" category that I track along with other categories (like car lease, dining, recreation, etc). When you are on vacation you obviously do things that could be tracked ...
- 147
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votes
1
answer
13k
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How to categorize credit card payments?
On mint.com, when I am reviewing my spending reports, my automated credit card payments (set to pay the whole balance) are showing as "Business Services". Since I already have all of the transactions ...
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5
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How are people able to spend more than what they make, without going into debt?
Jeff Bezos reportedly surpassed Bill Gates as the wealthiest person in the world, at least, for a while. But in 2016, it was reported that he had a salary of around $80,000, but obviously his wealth ...
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1
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Best approach for collect money vs resolve some points
First of all Sorry about my English.
Second I have this question: I don't know how to distribute money between goals that must be achieved(bought) at the certain time not now.
List of goals(it's ...
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votes
4
answers
8k
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Is keeping track of your money and having a budget the same thing?
I check my bank account every single day, just out of habit in case there's fraudulent activity. As a result, I always know generally how much I have in my accounts (i.e. if I have $140.25, I'll make ...
- 10.2k
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votes
16
answers
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How to prevent myself from buying things I don't want
We all buy stuff from time to time that only satisfies us for a short time.
I was able to locate a few expenses that fall under that category.
Unfortunately, there are a few products I've wanted to ...
- 1,283
3
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8
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4k
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Buy tires and keep car for 12-36 months, or replace car now? [closed]
I have a car that was purchased in 2010 for around 20k, it now (2016) needs new tires but im going to replace it in 12 to 36 months time. The current resale price is around 8K and the replacement of ...
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1
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Do budgeting % breakdowns apply globally?
Personal finance newbie here.
So I've been looking into how to manage one's monthly expenses and one way to prevent overspending was to allocate a certain percentage of your monthly earnings to the ...
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2
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1
answer
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Credit Card Offer Wording?
I saw an adv for a credit card that I liked the benefits on. The Chase Freedom Unlimited card (in the US) will do exactly what I need it to at a reasonable APR, but some of the wording really confused ...
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2
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How do I evaluate reasonability of home improvement projects?
Assuming that I could afford to make improvements to my home, how do I evaluate whether a project is worth undertaking and not too expensive for the value of my home?
I'm not running my household as ...
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5
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How much of my spendable income should I set aside for travel and tourism?
Some indications about my income and expenditure patterns may be in order.
I save more than 50% of my salary and I earn about 5 times the minimum wage in my country. I am in my early forties.
I am ...
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9
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Why do people buy new cars they can not afford? [closed]
This question in particular refers to the U.S. It has always baffled me and I am looking for diverse viewpoints to help understand the issue.
Every day as I drive to work I see lots of new cars. US ...
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How can I enforce saving when I have a very limited income?
I have a very limited income (unfortunately) and have found I am practically incapable of saving. What are the best methods to enforce saving, however still have access to the money if required? Here ...
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1
answer
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What should be involved in a monthly family budget meeting?
My nephew just got married. I gave him my usual advice to use a monthly budget. He admitted that he's tried to keep a budget before, but he hasn't ever succeeded in forming a long-term habit of ...
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1
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Why aren't there solutions for electronic itemized receipt for retail in-store purchases? [closed]
This is a personal finance question related to retail shopping. I am wondering why, with the evolution of the Web and relatively well-established credit card payment system, there is still no widely ...
- 497
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votes
1
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Total Yearly Expenditures for a Single Person in the USA
I recently calculated every single penny I spent in 2014 (literally everything). Let's round up and say the total came to $21,000. I would like to know where I stand in terms of spending. I was trying ...
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15
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How to spend more? (AKA, how to avoid being a miser)
I was blessed growing up to have a father that greatly impressed upon me the need to save. I am very thankful for his influence, it has allowed me to make smart decisions with my money and I am ...
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What are some creative ways to run up my credit card bill without any cost to me?
I got a new credit card with a very large signup bonus - as long as a minimum amount is spent on the card in the first 3 months. I usually don't go for things like this but in this case the bonus is ...
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"Inflation actually causes people not to spend"... could it be true? [closed]
Oasis Jnr claims that if inflation is high, consumers do not spend, because the high prices does not attract them:
...if inflation occurs then prices rise which will affect consumer
spending ...
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1
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2
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Considerations for taking a sizable break from working
The Proposition
From time to time, my wife and I consider the "foolish" idea of leaving our jobs (and, likely, careers) and taking a sizable chunk of time off from working, or at least working in the ...
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1
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When are checks are preferred over cash, and when cash is preferred over checks?
Checks are not guaranteed to be cashed, as the payer's account may not have enough money at the time of cashing, and the payer may not know when the payee is going to cash the check. When that happen, ...
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3
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How to budget or gain control of daily spending if suffering from OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder)?
I want to get better at saving money as I am a spendthrift. I am not always able to control myself since I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). I am not able to spend money wisely since ...
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votes
5
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What should my finances look like at 18?
So, I'm 18, making 50k+ a year. Living at home for now, and thankfully that's not costing me anything. Not going back to school next year, and I have no loans to pay off. Right now, I kinda suck at ...
anon
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13
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4k
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I'm only spending roughly half of what I earn; should I spend more?
around 6 months ago I started this job. Around 3 months ago while reading this very website I downloaded a budgeting software and started writing down everything I earned and spent, and I noticed I'm ...
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4
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How can I spend less?
I was raised in a lower class family, and we never really had money for anything we wanted. Now, years later, I have a job and I feel like I can't stop spending. I see myself buying useless things and ...
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2
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9k
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Can you recommend good Excel spreadsheet templates for tracking spending?
I did use Microsoft Money to track my spending couple of years ago, then I switched to paper and pen and then switch to online money sites such as Wesabe, but none of them really worked out. The ...
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9
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How can I avoid going deep into debt during the holiday season?
The holiday season is just around the corner. The shopping malls are especially eager – Christmas trees, lights, and decorations have been up for weeks, all to get us in the mood to spend, ...
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13
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4
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1k
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Where can I find an example of a really basic family budget?
It's about time that I took my family's finances seriously and built a budget. I'd rather not start from scratch, and am thinking, "surely, I can benefit from someone else's work?" - can someone ...
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