i prefer key lime

i'm reading a great book called, 'you're so money', that suggests laying out your expenses in a pie chart to show where you're money is going. this can change over time, depending on what's important to you and how you need/want to spend your money. this is a chart of my approximate current spending. (keep in mind this isn't even sort of mathematically fool proof-it's i think-nearly impossible to make a pie chart hit 100%...and this is no different.) it'll give you a rough idea of how to make one of your own-and at the very least get you thinking about it what your chart would look like.


lockdown spending

of course when i have variable expenses, i have to decrease the 'additional debt payments' section to pay for said expense-but this will give you a pretty good idea of where your money is going.
(note: i also excluded taxes and health care from my chart-they are automatically taken out of my paycheck each month...but remember that you can also include those in your own chart.)

for old times sake-and to show myself how horrible i was with money until about 2 months ago-i also did a chart for my previous spending (using general estimates).

pre lockdown spending

one thing that sticks out is how hectic my spending used to be. no wonder it was so stressful. in general, i wasn't spending more than i had to spend in a month-but it was still so scattered. now, all of the expenses that aren't necessary fall into 'spending' on the new chart-so as you can see it was quite a financial transformation for me. another thing to notice-the largest area on my new spending chart is 'additional debt payments' at 31%....my 'previous spending' chart also has 'additional debt payments'-however, the percentage is 0%. wowzers.  
to make your own pie chart-write out all of your expenses, approximately what you spend on each, and lay them into excel, highlight the information-then go to 'insert-chart.' it should provide you a pretty good idea of where you could cut spending, where you could increase spending and help you with an all around better understanding of your finances.

delicious.
xoxo ashleycolean