When it comes to your own expenses, not every dollar spent carries the same weight. Here's 1 question you can ask yourself to be more mindful with your expenses.

𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 $𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂?

I've been thinking about what my relationship to my own finances are, specifically my expenses. Sometimes, cash going out can feel scary.

At the end of the day, all outflows have a purpose. Not a business purpose, but a general purpose. The question is, what are those purposes?

It depends on who.

𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟰 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗵𝗼:

- Me

- Ours

- Theirs (Yours)

- Future Me

𝗠𝗲

These are your personal expenses that only relate to you.

It does not include rent, household, shared costs, car, or investments - those are future you.

What did those expenses mean to you?

𝗢𝘂𝗿𝘀

How much did we spend on household and shared expenses?

These can be things such as supplies for the home, all the way to shared cost with partners and roommate, and any possible item that could entail a reimbursement - though not always.

What did those expenses mean to you?

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿𝘀

These are cost only associated with others including education, as well as healthcare for family members in your care.

What did those expenses mean to you?

𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗠𝗲

List out any investment and savings contributions. This can include loan repayments such as auto and mortgage.

What did those contributions mean to you?

𝗜 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 "𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿" 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲.

Use this to with your traditional categories such as groceries and utilities.

Use it to get out of the bill scare that cause a knee-jerk statement of "we need to cut all the costs" but nothing happens.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁.

$100 spent on yourself carries a different weight than $100 spent on your SO or family, which also carries a different weight of $100 spent on future self. Because of the different in meaning, it’s important to recognize the intention and value behind an expense, and WHO it is for. If you want to be mindful and consciousness, this is how you do it.

For “Who is it for” and “Why does that matter to me?”

𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲-𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲