Conscious Spending

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Conscious Spending
Deductive logic refers to the process of making logical deductions through reasoning by considering one or more factors to make logical conclusions. The concept can be applied to make conscious spending decisions. Healthy spending is not the same as deprivation. Also, just because a person has the money, it does not mean the money should be spent buying whatever the person wants. Differentiating essential and non-essential items is vital.
One of the ways to become a conscious spender is through developing a spending log; this is a record of all items bought. The data can be assessed on a monthly basis to compare the money an individual receives versus the amount of money that is spent. In situations where it is not possible to create such a log using a debit card for every purchase can be used to achieve the same results. Online banking provides visual access to spending records.
The next step is analyzing the information provided by online banking or manual spending logs a person has written down; the data can be used to point out unhealthy spending patterns such as areas where a person overspends and therefore help in making the necessary changes. From a personal perspective, the primary expenditures are directed towards gas, food, personal items such as beauty products and clothes, entertainment by going the movies, dinner, and concerts. At this point, it is essential to make keen evaluations on every expenditure separately.

For example, making an evaluating how much money is spent on movies on a weekly basis.
The third step is writing all the source of income. On a personal level, the two primary sources of income are babysitting jobs and money sent by parents once per week. Information on expenses and income makes it possible to determine priorities; this is the point to start a budgeting process. Fixed costs such as food and gas are grouped among items with high priority. The remaining expenditures are listed in the conveniences section; this is the area that provides room for making changes. For example, it is possible to look online for methods of doing a manicure or a pedicure at home and using these techniques to reduce the number of visits made to receive such services; this is less expensive, the extra money can be directed towards savings.
The fourth step is writing a budget with a pencil. A pencil written expenditure list makes it possible to make changes to the document (Money Instructor n.p.). In some cases, one might need to make some few additional changes; this is not a bad thing as long as it does not lead to unhealthy spending. Alternatively, mobile phone applications might be used in place of pencil-written budgets; they are numerous excel applications that can be used to make budgets. One of the advantages of this method is that it is possible to monitor personal expenditure from almost anywhere through checking the cell phone.
The last step is setting both short-term and long-term saving goals. Genuine goals should not make a person feel deprived while at the same time they should motivate the individual to keep on saving. Such decisions are not easy and require a lot of patience, in some cases it possible to deviate from the goals. When this happens, it might help to have a constant reminder of the goals by writing them down and referring to them often.

Work Cited
Money Instructor. “5 Steps To Healthy Spending Habits.” Content.moneyinstructor.com. N.p., 2018. Web. 7 Feb. 2018.