Your monthly online total: the one number worth knowing
If you track only one number about online spending, make it your monthly total. Working it out takes half an hour, and it turns vague worries into a figure you can plan around.
ReloadableVCC Team 2 min read
Ask people how much they spend online in a month and most will guess, often low. Detailed budgets have their place, but a single figure, your monthly online total, already answers most questions.
What to include
Everything paid online with a card:
- subscriptions and memberships;
- one-off purchases from online shops;
- food and grocery deliveries;
- in-app purchases and digital content;
- yearly plans, divided by twelve.
Leave out rent, utilities and other bills paid by direct transfer, unless you want a total of everything.
Work it out
- Take three recent, ordinary months of card activity.
- Add up all online charges for each month.
- Add one-twelfth of any yearly plans that did not fall in those months.
- Average the three months.
The result is your monthly online total. Three months smooth out unusual weeks.
What the number tells you
- Compared with your income: is the share comfortable?
- Compared with what you guessed: a big gap is useful information in itself.
- Over time: is it creeping up? Our guide to keeping lifestyle creep out of online spending looks at why it tends to.
Turn it into a plan
Decide what you want the total to be, then split it by card or category:
| Card | Job | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Subscriptions | Known renewals | $110 |
| Shopping | One-off purchases | $150 |
| Delivery | Food and groceries | $120 |
| Total | $380 |
The loading amount for each card becomes its monthly budget. See monthly or weekly reloads for how to load it.
Check it monthly
At the end of each month, add up what was actually spent and compare it with the plan. A difference is information, not failure: either adjust the plan or change a habit. Our guide to when spending runs ahead of plan helps with mid-month decisions.
Common mistakes
- Using one unusual month. A month with a holiday or a big purchase distorts the figure. Use three ordinary months.
- Leaving out yearly plans. They are invisible in most months and large in one.
- Counting transfers between your own cards. Moving money onto a card you reload is not spending; the charges on that card are.
Frequently asked questions
Should the total include household bills paid online?
Decide once and be consistent. Many people keep bills such as rent and utilities separate, and use the online total for discretionary spending and subscriptions.
How often should I recalculate it?
Every three months, or after any big change such as a move or a new job.
Summary
Add up three ordinary months of online card spending, include yearly plans divided by twelve, and average them. Use the total to set a plan split by card or category, and compare actual spending with it each month.
- #totals
- #budgeting
- #online spending
