Intuitive Spending

I've been eager to do a money exercise ever since I listened to the book "Money, A Love Story" by Kate Northrup some time last summer:

You print out your bank/credit card statements from the last two months, then you sit down and ponder every single purchase you made, and how you feel about it. And you mark up the paper in hearts for what you are happy you spent money on (ones that make you feel "expansive"), and some kind of negative mark to indicate purchases you don't feel great about (ones that make you feel "contractive").

I printed out my transactions from Mint.com from January 1st (when I started this current spending freeze) through today.

• I highlighted the "happy/expansive" purchases in pink (ex: Dentist appointment- I love clean teeth!- All payments on my debts, and going to the movies with my friend Jed to see "Call Me By Your Name"... So good).
• I used yellow to highlight purchases that felt icky or too spendy.
• Orange indicated something that was a Need, but I felt neutral about it. Or it indicated something that I truly enjoyed, but had guilty thoughts about spending on it. Basically, orange equals mixed feelings. Like buying stamps at Office Depot (I needed them, but they don't bring me joy), or the BBQ takeout that tasted delicious, but the spending guilt made it hard to fully relish it.

I had far more pink than yellow, which was cool. I did pretty well, baring a few "Hmmm, shouldn't have done that" purchases. It would be good to do this exercise at the end of every month, to keep myself accountable about what items are worth it, and which are not.

Plus, it's fun to use highlighters!