家計簿 The Japanese Housewife's Housekeeping Diary

The other day in Mama Circle, we got talking on the topic of 家計簿 (kakeibo), literally translated to mean household finance ledger or otherwise known as the Housewife's Housekeeping Diary. Actually it is more a financial record of daily expenses tracked by category. Traditionally, Japanese men give their entire salary to their wives to manage and out of this habit, the boom of the kakeibo erupted.

In the Mama Circle, I was surprised to hear that most still use them instead of fancy new apps on smartphones.

There are many different varieties out there, sorted by themes such as recipe tracking housekeeping books to Hello Kitty. There are also really comprehensive ones for you to plot your spending trends down to simple monthly-at-a-glance types that come free with various housekeeping magazines.

Although I think not many salarymen hand over their salaries to their wives these days, the kakeibo hasn't lost its popularity. Of course, there are apps and software now to help you with it but some of us, like me, prefer the good ol' fashioned way- writing it down.

Not my photo but this literally is me last couple of months. I was so busy that I had this crazy amount of receipts.

I don't how many women (single and married) do this and maybe it's just me being geeky and stuck in the showa period.

I like doing the kakeibo. Usually I find a routine when I can get away and be alone and just tally up my spending. It's good as you can see a spending trend so much easier when you have done it a couple of months. I started doing this because my husband generally doesn't have a real clue on how much things cost in Singapore. And we tend to cook and buy Japanese produce a lot. So I started tracking our expenses to see how we could save and this has helped.

Do you have a housekeeping diary? You can find kakeibo on Amazon and at Kinokuniya.