Hammered my Grocery Budget With Two Lists, Paper Beats App Every Time

I spent 3 months trying to track my grocery spending with a fancy app on my phone. Kept forgetting to log stuff, and the notifications annoyed me so much I just started ignoring them. Last month I switched to a plain paper list stuck to the fridge with a magnet. I write down what I need as I run out, and I take a photo of it before I leave the house. Turns out I cut my weekly total from $140 to about $105 just by not impulse buying stuff the app kept suggesting. The app was trying to be smart, but I just needed something dumb and simple. Anyone else ditch the tech for a basic notepad and see a drop in their numbers? It feels backwards, but it works for me.

1 comments

1 Comment

betty_reed612h ago

I read somewhere that the act of writing stuff down makes your brain pay more attention to it, so that might be why the paper works for you. My sister did the same thing last year and her bill went down by about $30 a week, just from skipping those store brand specials the app kept pushing.