Impulse buying is a thing, and we’re all guilty of it from time to time. Sometimes, if you’re feeling a little down, it feels good to place an order for that little thing you’ve been meaning to buy, but never quite got around to picking up. Or maybe you see a deal for something you’ve been eyeing and figure, “Eh, now’s as good a time as any.”
There are plenty of services you can use to track your credit card spending, what’s coming in and out of your bank account, and how much your investments are plummeting and likely unable to support your shopping habits.
You can also just go straight to the source. Plenty of online retailers offer different ways for you to track everything you’ve purchased over a particular length of time. It can be a useful wake-up call to help you admit that, yes, you’re an Amazon addict, you’re too easily triggered by Steam sales, or you’re single-handedly funding the App Store.
Amazon
Say what you will about Amazon, but the online retail giant makes it incredibly easy to view everything you’ve purchased — well, ever. Pull up your order history, where you can view recent and upcoming purchases, search for previous purchases, or just view everything you bought over any year you’ve been an Amazon user.
But that isn’t all. You can also create a customised order history report to see everything you purchased between two specific dates, as well as any refunds or returns you made in that time period. Since the information all dumps out as a .CSV file, you’re just a few formulas away from figuring out how much you’re spent in a year (so far).
Steam
Steam always has something on sale, it seems. And if you can’t resist the gaming service’s big summer and winter sales — prime times for picking up all the games on your wish list — then you’ve probably spent a decent amount of money building up your game collection. You can pull up your official purchase history on this page:
I’m also a big fan of Steam Calculator, which shows you the total value of your entire gaming collection. It can be a bit eye-opening, to say the least, especially since it gives you a breakdown of the games you own by their current prices, as well as how long you’ve played the various games in your collection. If you’re sitting with a lot of “0 to 1 hours” games, maybe it’s time to back down on the binge-buying a bit.
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2018/06/discover-how-much-money-youve-spent-on-steam-with-this-tool/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/oecsmbiibcejk4nx1ume.png” title=”Discover How Much Money You’ve Spent On Steam With This Tool” excerpt=”Ever wonder how much money you’ve blown on Steam games over the years? You might not want to really know, but you’re probably curious. And now thanks to Valve’s “External Funds Used” tracker, you can finally get a sense of the long-term damage Steam has done to your financial health.”]
iTunes, the App Store and Google Play
If your spending habits veer more towards apps, music and movies than anything else, you have a few options to see if those occasional $1.49 to $5.99 purchases are starting to add up to a pretty big amount. If you’re an Apple enthusiast, you can view your purchase history via iTunes here (including subscriptions) or via your iPhone or iPad here. (And if you’ve been spending a lot of dough at the Apple store, you can also view that here.)
If you’re an Android aficionado, you can check out everything you’ve bought on Google Play on your account page. (Your order history from the Google Store — hardware you’ve purchased — can be found here.)
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/10/bobby-tracks-your-subscriptions-for-you/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/dmlozyiv5jneo2zhzar6.jpg” title=”Bobby Tracks Your Subscriptions For You” excerpt=”iOS. If you’re like me, you’ve experienced the sting of an unwanted subscription draining money from your checking account, long after you forgot to cancel a free trial. If you’d like to finally get a handle on all your subscriptions without poring over your bank statements, take a look at Bobby. It’s an iOS app that lets you track multiple subscriptions to see how much money you’re shelling out each month. The only thing it requires is a little leg work to start (and a $US1.99 ($3) in-app purchase for certain options).”]
Microsoft
Been buying some Windows 10 apps? Office subscriptions? Xbox Live memberships? Microsoft tracks all of your purchases in one convenient location. Use the drop-down menu to filter if you only care about digital or physical items you’ve purchased — as in, you don’t need to see any refunds or returns.
Sony and Nintendo
Since we just talked about Microsoft, it’s only fitting that we share how you can view your various gaming splurges for Sony and Nintendo consoles as well.
If you’re a PlayStation gamer, click here to view your PlayStation Store transactions.
For Nintendo gamers, pull up the eShop on your associated device and look for the “redownload” option in your Account information. Unfortunately, there’s no way to get a list of everything you’ve purchase from Nintendo’s digital store via your My Nintendo page.
[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/10/what-to-do-if-a-package-is-stolen-from-your-porch/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/hgxosa2yq5dvodz2klrk.jpg” title=”What To Do If A Package Is Stolen From Your Doorstep” excerpt=”Last month, I bought a tiny air conditioner on eBay for my sweltering top-floor apartment. Despite me being home and anxiously awaiting its arrival, the delivery service decided to leave it on my busy street where it was promptly stolen.”]
eBay
I don’t buy a lot from eBay, but I certainly search the site on occasion to see if there’s anything unique I should buy, like ultra-rare band memorabilia I don’t have, hot deals on graphics cards, or Tron collectables. (We all have our vices.)
To see all the various items you’ve blown your hard-earned money on, just visit your eBay Purchase History. Though eBay no longer offers a way to export this information as a .CSV file, someone else has come to the rescue with a handy browser extension.
Facebook, Snapchat and LinkedIn
Odds are good that you don’t spend a lot of money on social platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat and LinkedIn, but maybe you’re curious just how much you’ve spent on things like in-app currency, silly lenses, or premium job-hunting services. Go here to find your Facebook payment history, download a data dump to see how much you’ve spent in Snapchat, and view your LinkedIn Premium purchases here.
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