Ever find yourself out in the world minding your business, you know just living life and then all of a sudden you check your bank statement online to find that all the money that was in your account only five days ago is no longer there? This whole thing used to be my life. It felt like I would get paid and then “POOF” all my money was gone. Okay so maybe I paid some bills and did some responsible things, but I still found that at the end of the day I had nothing to show for my lack of funds. It got to a point where I was tired asking myself  “Where Did All My Money Go?”

Where did all my money go has to be one of the questions on the “Most Frequently Asked” list when it comes to money. We’ve all muttered the question to ourselves or someone else in our family. The crazy thing is that money has a funny way of doing whatever the hell it wants to. It does this especially when we haven’t placed any boundaries on where it can go, you know in the form of a budget. So when we spend, we do it almost limitlessly by spending based on however we’re feeling at the time. So, If you’re tired of asking yourself where all your money went here’s a great way to identify your spending habits here’s what you do.

First, gather up all your statements going back at least a month. These statements should include your credit card statements as well as all your bank statements. These are going to to be your primary tools as you delve into the mystery of your spending. You may also want to grab a few different color highlighters as well.

Now that you have all your statements in front of you laid out like a couple of promising bingo sheets or lottery tickets which you prefer you’re next going to go through each one and mark off spending from one these three categories.

Habits

Trends

Triggers

Habit spending can be either conscious or subconscious. It’s spending that you do as a part of a routine. For instance, you may find that you stop and purchase a coffee on the way to work every morning. Or, you after Sunday church service you and your family head to your favorite restaurant for a sit down meal. We all have habits that incorporate spending in some way.

Trends spending is a bit different than habits, as I define trend spending as spending that happens due to pressures from society. Think about a holiday. With it being October you may find yourself spending more money on Halloween gear like decoration, costumes, and candy. You may even feel pressure to spend on other holidays like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, National Pizza Day, National Coffee Day, National Lipstick day; you get where I’m going here?

Another way spending trends can get you is during a big launch of a new tech product. Many felt the pressure to update with their phones when Apple released the new iPhone. I can admit that everytime Apple releases a new phone the older models start acting crazy, making upgrading tempting, but when you look at the specs sometimes upgrading isn’t even worth it.

Trigger spending can be caused by a person, place, or a type of feeling. Ever notice when you’re around certain people that you tend to spend more? Maybe when you’re with your best friend or hanging out with your mom or your sister? Places can also cause you to spend; we’ve all fallen victim to the bullseye at Target. You walk in with the mission of just grabbing some dish detergent, but then find yourself at the check out counter with a whole new bathroom set and new bedroom decor. You can also be triggered to spend by your feelings. You may feel guilted into spending money to make someone happy, maybe you got into a fight with your significant other, or perhaps someone made you feel bad because they got you a gift, but you didn’t get them anything. Emotions can easily cloud your judgment triggering you to spend money that you hadn’t planned on spending. We’ve all experienced some type of emotional spending and usually find that we regret it afterward

The final step is to go through your statements and mark whether a transaction occurred as a result of a spending Habit, Trend or Trigger. Use a different color pen or highlighter to help you get a better visual. Once you finish the exercise, analyze the results and use this information to help you identify which areas of your spending you need to focus on the most. Are you finding that your spending is more in the habits area? Look at those transactions and come up with a plan for curbing those habits. Maybe you brew coffee to take with you before heading into to work, or perhaps you meal prep to avoid eating out on Sundays. If you find that a majority of your spending is a result of being triggered by a person talk with them and let them know that you’re looking to make a change with your finances so, you may not be able to hang out with them as much as you used too. Instead, suggesting spend free outings or girls night in.

Read This: Budgeting Methods Aren’t One Size Fits All

Once you’ve nailed down your spending you can start to work to correct it and in turn, start to build better financial habits.

Want a further deep dive into your spending? Check out my “Get Out of Your Feelings and Into Your Finances” worksheet bundle. It has everything you need to help you dissect your spending habits and to create a monthly spending plan.