Lose Weight, Get Rich: Write it Down
I discovered yesterday, to my consternation, that a tall skim latte has 100 calories. I’m not a daily Starbucks drinker; I indulge once or twice a month. Anyway, after reading a report that found keeping a food diary can double your weight loss, I decided to write down what I ate, and looked up the calories on Starbucks.com. (I’m not overweight but must be thinner than my sister Mary before our family reunion in August. Hopefully she won’t read this.)
I had this idea in the back of my mind that there are no calories in a tall skim latte, which is absurd, since the skim milk has to count for something. But these are the mental tricks we play when we don’t have a handle on the real numbers.
The process works the same for money as it does for food. Unless you write down exactly what you’re spending your money on, it will be impossible to figure out why you’re not making progress toward your financial goals. Unless you crunch the numbers with a credit card payoff calculator and figure out how much that interest really costs, you’ll continue to run up debt.
See this post for an overview of how to track your spending the old-fashioned way. As my finances grew more complicated, I switched from pencil and paper to online budgeting software. I use Mvelopes, which links to your checking, savings and credit cards, and electronically records all your activity. It shows up in a big transaction folder, and you click and drag each item into the right category: food, rent, clothing, and so on.
I also discovered yesterday that salad really does have almost no calories. And is cheaper, and better for you, than a latte.
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