Okay, so I’ve been meaning to revisit this “2013 Payback” thing for a while now, and I finally got around to it. Basically, it’s all about figuring out what worked and what didn’t back in 2013, financially speaking.
First, I dug up all my old bank statements and credit card bills. Man, that was a trip down memory lane! Some of those purchases…yikes. I definitely had some questionable spending habits back then.
Gathering the Data
- Found old bank statements (mostly online, thank goodness).
- Printed out credit card statements. I’m old school like that sometimes.
- Grabbed my 2013 tax return. Gotta see where the money went, right?
- Made a big pile on my desk. It looked pretty intimidating, I’m not gonna lie.
Then, I fired up a spreadsheet. Nothing fancy, just a basic one to track income and expenses. I started plugging in all the numbers. It was tedious, for sure, but also kind of satisfying to see it all laid out.
Crunching the Numbers
- Categorized everything. Rent, food, entertainment, that sort of thing.
- Added up all my income sources. Salary, any side hustles, etc.
- Calculated the difference between income and expenses for each month.
After doing all the math (which took longer than I expected!), I started to see some patterns. I was spending way too much on eating out, for example. And that gym membership I never used? Total waste of money.
The Results and Reflections.
Finally, I realized, it’s not just about the raw numbers and the data. It also reminded me of my growth, and where I am now. I made different choices, and I learned from that. I’m doing much better now, so seeing how I used to my data, is really something special.
But it was also good to see where I was making smart choices. I was actually pretty good at saving for retirement, even back then. So, it wasn’t all bad!
Overall, this whole “2013 Payback” exercise was super helpful. It gave me a clear picture of my past financial mistakes and successes. And it’s definitely going to inform my financial decisions going forward. I highly recommend doing this if you’re looking to get a better handle on your finances!
