The Parker family
Eighteen months of bank statements — 725 transactions, never looked at as a whole.
The numbers behind this chart
| Category | First 3 months | Latest 3 months |
|---|---|---|
| Subscriptions | $30.47 | $181.42 |
| Shopping | $255.11 | $272.94 |
| Groceries | $854.09 | $865.29 |
| Dining out | $311.23 | $297.74 |
| Transport & fuel | $266.04 | $237.39 |
Monthly averages. The mortgage and the savings transfer are left out — both are fixed by design.
- NoticedThe gym’s direct debit fired twice on 2024-11-09 — $39.99 taken twice, same day, same billing cycle — and the account’s phone number sits on all 725 rows.
- AnsweredGroceries, dining, shopping, transport: all flat. Subscriptions: up 495%.
- Kept upThe bank refreshed its statement format and the renamed column was matched up on its own, instead of quietly breaking the comparison.
- MovedEight years of history stuck in a desktop budgeting app, on a laptop about to be replaced — everything it keeps, listed in one place.