The topics introduced on this website aim to increase your spending consciousness. What I mean is that you should think about the true cost of your spending decisions. Did you realize that each km you drive is costing you over $0.50 even though you don’t have ‘that nice’ of a car? What about how your spending today impacts your future? Investing $100 today will be worth $761 in 30 years when you are retired – this should be something you’re aware of when spending your hard-earned money. Will your future self be happier that you spent that $100 on a dinner you don’t remember or that you invested it, giving yourself an extra $761 when you’re no longer working? I personally indulge in many “wants”, including regularly buying coffee from local cafes and visiting new local restaurants, however, I remain conscious of every dollar I spend, and I realize the true cost of the coffee or shakshuka.

Another part of conscious spending is recurring expenses that may be overseen since they are automatically paid from your account to the merchant. Most will have some recurring payment items such as home utilities, insurance, mobile telephones, internet, and subscriptions to media services for music or video content, or other software. Since these are automatic, we may forget about them or choose not to pay attention to them. However, you must remain conscious of them since complacency might be costing you! Periodically, you should shop around to ensure that you are receiving a competitive price on your utilities, telephone, internet, and insurance plan. I do this every year or so and make a change if one is warranted. Media subscriptions are plentiful and often raise their prices over time. You should review your subscriptions monthly to ensure that the value you receive from the subscription is worth the cost you are paying. There is no sense in paying for a subscription monthly if you are not using it.