Any tips to figuring this out
You can use an app like mint.com and it will keep track of your spending for you, I think it even has pie charts that break down where your money is going.
But the more important question is where SHOULD your money be going. I recently read Pirates of Financial Freedom, which was actually really entertaining, and it made a good point that you should use interest rates to determine what you should be doing with your extra money once you get control of it. For example, getting the 50% 401k match, then paying off 18% credit cards, then saving for retirement with 8% long term stock returns, etc. Of course you also need an emergency fund even though it only has a 0% interest rate, that is the main exception to the rule.
A easy way to do it, is put your credit cards away and pay everything on your debit card. Then each month, print out your checking account statement and do a spreadsheet, and list each debit in a collum of the total amount spent in each category, like food, eat out, movies, cell phone, insurance and charges etc.
Per your other questions living at home, so not paying rent, utilities, so mainly your expenses appears to be your own. My guess, your biggest expenses will be going out to eat, or buying clothes etc. If you see on your checking account that you eat out at lunch, meet friends for dinner and/or drinks, will see how much "each" time, this will add up. Or, if you like to shop, will see that how much you are spending each month for things you may not need. The problem with credit cards, even when you look at it, may forget, or like many people will use more than one, or not pay off the balance each month and thus end up paying interest for carrying over a balance.
With cash, could have $20, buy something and the next day forget how much you spent or even where, so the reason for the debit card to see each transaction and then will know where to cut back.
Well, here is what I would do... Find a budget on line, it usually will prioritize your stuff for you, for instance, food will be over cable and internet. You then can look at different websites to see what average cost of things are, such as the average cost of groceries for one persona month in the US is $302. Maybe you can use that as your amount. Take a few days of your month where you will go to the grocery store to buy most of your food for the month. It is a proven fact the more you plan your meals and shop a week ahead (or so) will save you a lot of money. Just a few ideas... Good luck. Make a budget and stick to it! Also there is a guy who is great at teaching people to budget properly, his name is Dave Ramsey.
The only thing I pay for with cash is a weekly allowance for restaurants and walking-around money. Everything else is put on a credit card and you need to analyze the transactions as well as any checks you write. Expenses can be divided into categories - housing, utilities, transportation, food, health care, clothing, vacations and miscellaneous.
Keep a list of all expenditures for the next month. After reviewing the list you should see where it is going and possibly find a way to cut back. Good Luck
Radical idea. How about writing down what you bought when you spend money. Then when you want to know where your money went, read what you wrote.
write down everything, keep all receipts and make a log of all your spending for a 2 week period and analyze your spending - probably a lot of waste on non-necessities
Look through your receipts.
Check your credit card and bank statements.
money going: https://shortly.im/e13/where-is-my-money...
