I read an article today about spending habits in the United Kingdom. It was about the fact that people don't know where their money goes. People spend money and by the end of the week, they don't know where a great deal of the money went. How much is a great deal? Over a year, the amount that is spent with no knowledge of where it goes could pay rent for 3 months. The question that has to be asked is whether or not the money is worth spending if you don't know where it's going. The answer in many cases is no. I think that by tracking money, my wife and I appreciate things more that we do purchase. We savor things more because we make a concious decision to make the purchase and we know where the money went. We are also making a choice with our money. I think that many people don't stop to consider their alternatives. This has been a great thing for us. Do we want A or B? Do we want to go to a ballgame or do we want to put extra money toward our bills? We don't always pick one over the other. We weigh it out. Right now, most of our money goes toward our bills but next Monday is a holiday in Utah so we are going to go visit family, do a little shopping, and take Trey to a baseball game, and watch fireworks. That's the choice we have made. We will enjoy the day more knowing that we have made that choice. We won't regret the day in any way. We will have a great family day and come back tired and happy. Some people choose A while feeling bad about it. When you actually look at your options and make a choice, it's a different story.