Comments on: Would Your Habits Change If You Had To Publish Your Spending?

By: Scopulus

Scopulus — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:12:16 +0000

If it makes you look at your expenses then its a step in the right direction.

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:08:08 +0000

Shame our MP’s didn’t consider that ;)

By: Simon @ Shrewdcookie.com

Simon @ Shrewdcookie.com — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:17:19 +0000

It is definitely psychological – none of us wish to be judged by our peers and therefore posting expenditure on a website would be like having to account for food eaten when attending a slimming class.

It takes 6 weeks to develop/break a habit – maybe posting the expenditure to the web is one way of keeping the momentum going for that 6 week period.

By: bromoney

bromoney — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:10:19 +0000

I think habits definitely change when your spending is made public. When you have to account to other people you tend to modify your behavior.

By: Financial Samurai

Financial Samurai — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:49:28 +0000

Absolutely! Every since I declared September to be “Samurai September” no spend month, I haven’t bought a single thing in 45 days!

It’s great to have accountability.

Hope to see more folks from the UK over at FS!

By: Lee

Lee — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:26:23 +0000

I’ve been considering doing this for the last few weeks. I already post my net worth calculations, so it’s no bigger deal.

If anything I suspect people would be surprised how little I spend on just about everything. Roll on debt freedom.

By: Lulu

Lulu — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:13:33 +0000

Actually I publish my spending and all income except for my salary on a weekly basis. It has changed the way I spend because I have had readers call me out for going over budget!!! I know that I could hide it from them but it makes me feel better to be honest….and when I get a comment or an email saying hey why are you spending so much on Domino’s pizza instead of cooking it gets me back on track.

By: Simon @ Shrewdcookie.com

Simon @ Shrewdcookie.com — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:15:18 +0000

It is a little extreme! For those who need to budget, one technique I have read about before is to have a separate envelope for all expenses – when you get paid withdraw the money and place it in the envelope – when the money is gone from each envelope you will spend now more in that category for that month.

By: Phil Sumner

Phil Sumner — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:06:02 +0000

I like the idea – perhaps for most people a smaller version would work better. Not posting to the internet, but having a weekly/monthly session with friends where you all go through your spending for the period together.