What is my biggest spending category?
Choose one comparison period
Category totals show which group accounts for the largest amount in a set of recorded payments. Start with a full month or another clearly dated period. Write the account and currency beside it. Copy only the outgoing transactions within those dates. If you use several accounts, keep a source column and identify transfers between them before adding the payments together.
Worked example with made-up figures
Repeating
- Fictional sample rent
- A$270.97 / week
- Telco One
- A$11.06 / week
- Fictional sample groceries
- A$9.65 / week
- Streamly
- A$3.16 / week
Together A$294.84 a week.
Get your own answer, first one freeUse clear group names
Write a short list of categories such as housing, food, transport, subscriptions and other. Give each payment one category and retain its original description in the next column. A shop name may cover several kinds of purchases. Where no receipt splits that amount, use a broad label or mark it unclassified. This keeps the total tied to the information actually available.
Add each column once
Sum the payments in each category. Put refunds in a separate column, linking them to a category only where the records show the connection. You can then write both gross outgoing payments and a net amount after refunds. Keep cash withdrawals separate from purchases unless your cash records explain the spending. Treat the same transaction consistently throughout the chosen period.
Example: made-up figures
Imagine housing totals 900, food 400, transport 150 and subscriptions 50. The combined total is 1,500, and housing is the largest category at 900. Dividing 900 by 1,500 gives 0.6, or 60 percent of this example total. If food includes a linked refund of 100, net food becomes 300; the housing total stays 900 and the net overall total becomes 1,400.
Rank and check the result
List the categories from the largest total to the smallest. State whether the ranking uses gross or net amounts. Add all category totals and compare that figure with a fresh sum of the included statement rows. Keep an unclassified total visible rather than assigning it by guesswork. Your result names the largest recorded group for these accounts and dates; different periods or group definitions can produce a different ranking.
Related questions
Axiolia reads the statement, payslip or bill you hand it and shows the same pattern in one view. Try it on a sample statement first, free, no email.