Tracking Spending

Now that we're more confident on who we are as buyers and why money is important to us, it's time to learn how to manage it. For example, let's say your needs for spending money include a mortgage payment, groceries, and gas. And your wants consist of getting your sister a present for her birthday and buying new clothes for your aunt's wedding next month. How do you keep track of all your expenses? Tracking Spending: Lesson 2 provides exercises that show participants how to create and achieve SMART goals and learn different ways to track your expenses. 

Participants Will:

  • Understand that tracking spending by memory is ineffective.
  • Choose relevant categories to track their own spending.
  • Become familiar with a variety of ways/tools to track spending.
  • Select a method for tracking expenses.
  • Make a commitment to track expenses.
  • Understand the benefit of using SMART goals.
  • Create one financial goal using the SMART method.

Key Features:

  • Gain vital goal-setting skills when it comes to spending money.
  • Explore different methods for tracking expenses.
  • Customize activities fit to either a 30 or 60 minute timeframe.
  • Easily add more resources by replicating included master copies.

Activities Included:

  1. Spending Recall
  2. Choose my Categories
  3. Ways to Track Expenses
  4. Commit to Tracking Expenses
  5. My Financial Goal
  6. Wrap Up and Evaluation.

What you'll need from the Resource Box:

  • One set of Category Cards per participant (Note: the cards named “Fixed” and “Flexible” will not be used for this activity) OR My Categories worksheet

  • Envelope Budgeting Steps Card

* Use included master copies to make more, as needed.

Additional Materials (not included):

* = optional items

  • Pen or pencil for each participant
  • *Calculator
  • *Easel pad or whiteboard; markers (optional) 

Tracking expenses is an essential money management skill.