Spending
Understanding where money goes is the first step to making intentional financial decisions. This page collects spending analyses and insights.
Why Track Spending?
- Awareness: Hard to change what you don't measure
- Patterns: Recurring expenses add up faster than one-time purchases
- Trade-offs: Every dollar spent is a choice about priorities
- Forecasting: Historical data helps predict future needs
Spending Philosophy
- Spend on experiences over things (usually)
- Buy quality for frequently-used items
- Question subscriptions regularly
- Automate savings before spending
Analysis Docs
Tools
- Lunch Money — unofficial plugin for coding agents; read-only spending, budgets, and bills
Categories Worth Watching
Often underestimated:
- Subscriptions (streaming, SaaS, memberships)
- Food delivery and eating out
- Small recurring charges
Often overestimated:
- One-time purchases
- Entertainment