Bringing Back Some Details

About a month ago, Mark B. asked a question in the comments:

…Also, you used to post your monthly Quicken spending and income reports, did you stop posting those? I found those to be very interesting and revealing for a person trying to escape debt myself.

Ever since my mention in the New York Times, I started shying away from revealing specifics on here and I phased out those monthly spending reports. They took me a while to do and do I want my boss (or future employers) to read how I spend my money? Seems a bit too personal and I was worried it could affect my employment. While I don’t readily attach my name to this blog, people who know me could put two and two together. My brother did, and I pleaded the fifth

I’ve been thinking about Mark’s comment for over a month now. I need to bring those reports back. They prompted some great discussions in the comments and they kept me very focused. I was able to find all of the receipts for April and May. I’m still looking for some receipts for Jan – Mar and if I can’t find them all I may skip those months or perhaps create a miscellaneous category for them so I can still post them. I already revised my Quicken file so my reports would be easier for me to do.

Expect to see some reports shortly!

Posted by Tricia on May 22, 2008 at 11:47 PM in Monthly Spending | 4 Comments »
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Tammy responded:
Posted: May 23rd, 2008 at 8:37 am
I feel the same way about posting my financial information, not in regards to a potential employer. The idea of so much personal information here is a little overwhelming.

I track my money spending and for myself I don’t like how I’m spending it, so I’m changing it. I really appreciate that you’ll post yours. You’ve done so well on getting your debt down I’m really interested in seeing how my poor spending (improving) compares to yours.

Thanks.
Matt responded:
Posted: May 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I’ve been wrestling with exact same issue myself – how much do you disclose? I guess its personal for everyone.
Mark B. responded:
Posted: May 27th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Hey, thanks for reading my comment!!!

Perhaps there is a happy medium? Maybe if you consolidated your spending into fewer categories and used percentages instead of actual dollars? This would still give a good picture without revealing exact dollar amounts (i.e. your actual mortgage payment). I am looking forward to the reports.
Tricia responded:
Posted: May 27th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Mark – I just finished April’s report last night, and was going to post it tonight. You know what? I think I REALLY like your idea about percentages. I’ve never looked at our spending in that manner. Hmmm…