Keeping it Real: Keeping Track

As some of you may know part of my consulting work includes recruiting for focus groups or user experience tests. As a part of the work I screen participants, often times on things related to their shopping habits and how much they spend per month on clothing, shoes, accessories.

While asking others these types of questions, I can't help but think about my own expenditures, both for myself and for the Mini Fashionista. I know ballpark numbers, but I am somewhat ashamed to say that I don't keep track of it (gasp!).

So, last week I decided to make a spreadsheet and start tracking my purchases for both me and the Mini Fashionista. My goal is to track them for an entire year. On the spread sheet I will track what the item is, the date I purchased it and how much I spent. I've also decided to track income I make from selling the Mini's clothes and shoes, since anything we are not passing on to her new baby cousin, I consign or sell to friends or through eBay. 

My guess is that much like when keeping track of calories, I'll be less likely to "consume" if I have to write it down. While I don't consider myself an over spender or an over shopper, I do make most of my purchases based on desire and not need. I think this exercise will likely make me even more discerning in my purchases. 

Six months from now I'll write an update post to let you how I'm tracking, what the experience has been like and how it has changed my shopping behaviors, if at all. Anyone want to join me? I'd be fun to have thoughts from a few different people. 

In the mean time, I'd love to start a conversation on this topic in the comments section. So, do you keep track of how much you spend (on clothes, shoes, bags, etc.)? Do you like knowing exactly the amount or do you prefer to live in denial?