I’m changing the budget again because I can’t decide. I’ve fluctuated many times on what I want to track. I’ve also changed my mind about how much detail I want to keep. Over the last few months I’ve changed the categories in Mint about 4 times!!

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Some of the time I want a lot of detail while other times I want just the basics. The good thing about having a budget is that it is flexible. It can change to fit my needs as necessary.

What I’m Doing This Time

For the next few months, I will be tracking food and non-food items separately. I’ve done this in the past and then decided it was too much work. Then I’ve gone back to doing it again. Then stopped.

This time around I’m tracking food and non food separately as I really want to see where my money is going. There have been some months when my total spending was very high. This was due to me buying candles or other items for the home. Now I’ve gone on Candle No Buy I really want to see where the money is going.

Tracking these two items are easy because I separate my purchases. Especially during the stay at home period, I’ve only gone into the store for cold or fresh foods. I’ve ordered everything else online. This means I have two receipts for purchases during the month. I’m actually loving this once a month shopping as it forces me to use up what I have in the pantry. Since I use up my items I am no longer wasting food like I did in the past.

Changing the budget will help me keep better track of the items I want to. Once I see those categories better I may switch back to a more simplified version next year.