Hearts at Home

To celebrate the release of Hearts at Home's newest book: Living With Less So Your Family Has More, by Jill and Mark Savage, we launched the Living with Less Contest in January. You can order the book at the Heart Shoppe. Below is one of the runner up winners of the contest by reader Esther Feng:

In our family’s quest to have more, we’ve started keeping track of every expense we make. We get a receipt for every transaction and record each one in an Excel sheet. 

We keep a record of everything – from bills to little purchases like a cup of coffee at the mall or the emergency trip for milk. (We experimented with a variety of programs, but like Excel because it most accurately reflects our spending habits.)

Our records help us know exactly where our money goes. Now, there’s no guessing how much money we spend, no more discussions on who is spending too much on what, no more thinking we are saving money when we’re not. Knowing I have to “hand in” my receipts has kept me in check with small frivolous purchases. I feel accountable for the $4 mocha I purchase while grocery shopping.

The best thing that has come out of this is that we are free to set our financial priorities, instead of being victim to our spending. We’ve been able to consciously decide how we will use our resources. 

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