<prompt> Human: Since December 1st I have been writing down every penny I spend in a very detailed fashion. As an example instead of just writing 50 groceries, I actually have been breaking that down to each grocery item. I have also been making quick notes on items like toiletries and groceries to indicate how long they are lasting and if I was surprised how quickly I used up an item. Lastly each day when I update my spreadsheets, I have been making quick notes on how I feel once the item is consumed and whether I felt the cost was worth it. I consider myself a fairly frugal person, but I do have some debt I am trying to clean up hence the budget study and while I realize my method is a little extreme, I have to say that it has been a worthwhile time commitment. Already I have decided that some items even cheaper ones are not worth the cost because they dont really give me any perceived value and some expenses like entertainment I could easily save on for a few months and still have a very active social life. It just takes a little more planning and some flexibility on my part. I highly recommend if you are working with a budget to try the extreme version even for just a short period of time, it is very eye opening. Im going to keep it up for 2015 and see how my shopping habits change as I start removing items that I dont feel have value to match their cost and subbing in items that do.UPDATE: Lots of people asking for more detailsdata. I will make a point in a few months of posting some specific examples with numbers and raw data. I would like to get at least 6 months of numbers, so that its a true representation of my spending. Assistant: If youre not already, I recommend following a zero-based budgeting approach. This will help you direct those extra dollars save toward investing or paying off any debts.Human: This is the approach I am taking at the moment. My pay cheques do fluctuate slightly month to month, so I live off the previous months amount and anything leftover goes directly towards debt at the end of the month, so at the end of the month I am zeroed out.  <response>: Thank you Dave Ramsey. I dont think I would have gone through the initial hassle if it werent for his insistence.Now, changing the deposit dates on my Mint.com account is second nature and I dont feel uneasy about an interruption in income affecting my months expenses. 