budgeting.

You wouldn't think that saving money would be enjoyable. Or fun. But recently, I've picked up on a new hobby... budgeting! Earlier this year I started filling out an excel spreadsheet that broke down all of my purchases into different categories. A sneak peak at what I fill out on a daily basis...

After everything is entered, I then create a fancy little pie graph for a more visual depiction of where my money is actually going. I’ve been keeping track of my spending in this way since January of this year, so I can confidently decide how much I can actually save before my trip next year.

One of the biggest things that I’ve learned from keeping track of my spending in this way is that I used to be a bit too liberal with my spending. Granted, I made a lot of big purchases in the last six months – a fancy new bike, a point-and-shoot camera, a backpack for my trip. But I actually get excited to see the breakdown of my spending, and where I can cut back to make up for one of those large purchases. Seriously, I never thought I would geek out about budgeting and saving money. That’s what my brother does with his babies’ poop. No, really, you can see what I mean here… No offence Adam.

This past weekend I was discussing travel plans with my uncle and he came up with an amazing idea for tracking how much I have saved – filling in the countries I plan on visiting according the money that I have saved. I still need to figure out where exactly I’m going, but I confidently fill in all of India! As soon as I figure out a more accurate way of tracking this, I’ll get it posted so you can follow along.