18 Lessons Money Diarists Learned After Tracking Their Spending

Every Monday, we take a deeper dive into the Money Diaries community. We started by rounding up some of our favorite comments. Later, we asked all of you whom you like (or don't like) to talk to about money. And since then, we've asked diarists about their most expensive purchases and rounded up their favorite books. Today, we're sharing lessons that past diarists have learned after tracking their spending.

While we aren't able to publish every Money Diary that gets submitted — which means that not all of the following What I Learned submissions come from published diaries — we do hope that the exercise of keeping such a journal is helpful. Here's what a handful of diarists and Money Diaries community members have to say about the experience.