Am I spending more this month than usual?
Choose a consistent comparison
A comparison with your own earlier months gives the word usual a clear numerical meaning. Write the current month, accounts and currency at the top of your paper. Choose the earlier complete months available in the same records and list their dates. Use the same definition of spending throughout: for example, outgoing purchases with linked refunds subtracted and transfers between your own accounts listed separately.
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 freeMake one total for each month
Copy the included payment rows into monthly columns and add each column. Keep refunds visible before calculating net spending. Mark one-off purchases with their descriptions while retaining them in the original totals. Leave cash withdrawals in a consistent separate group unless cash records identify the purchases. This makes changes in the numbers traceable rather than letting a different grouping create the apparent change.
Calculate the earlier average
Add the totals of the earlier complete months, then divide by the number of those months. Write both the sum and the divisor beside the result. Compare a complete current month with that average. If the current month is still underway, label its total as month to date and record the last included date. A partial month and a full month measure different spans of time.
Example: made-up figures
Imagine three earlier complete months with spending of 900, 1,000 and 1,100. Their sum is 3,000; dividing by 3 gives an average of 1,000. A complete current month of 1,200 is 200 above that average. Dividing the difference of 200 by 1,000 gives 20 percent. If 1,200 covers only part of the current month, describe it as a month-to-date amount instead of a completed monthly total.
Keep the evidence beside the difference
Subtract the earlier average from the current total and retain the sign of the answer. Write the number of comparison months next to it. If you also compare matching portions of months, use the same date range in each and label that calculation separately. Check the monthly sums against the source rows. The result describes your selected records and dates; it does not establish a future monthly total.
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.