Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga di buku kecil setiap minggu. - We record household expenses in a small notebook every week.

kami suggests that the speaker and their group record the expenses, but the listener is not part of that group, or is being treated as not part of it for this statement.

If you wanted to say to your spouse, for example, “We (you and I) record our household expenses…”, you would more naturally say:

Kita mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga di buku kecil setiap minggu.

What is the nuance of mencatat compared to menulis? Can I just say menulis?

mencatat comes from catat = to note down, record.
It suggests systematic recording, like keeping records, notes, or logs.
menulis = to write, in a broader sense (writing a letter, essay, etc.).

In this context:

Kami mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga...

implies keeping records of expenses (like bookkeeping), which is more precise than just writing them.

You could say:

Kami menulis pengeluaran rumah tangga di buku kecil.

but it sounds less like organized record-keeping and more like simply writing them down. mencatat is the better verb for financial records, logs, minutes of meetings, etc.

What exactly does pengeluaran rumah tangga mean? How is it formed?

Breakdown:

keluar = to go out
pengeluaran (peN- + keluar + -an) =
- expenses/spending (money that “goes out”), or
- “output” in some contexts
rumah tangga = household (literally “house” + “household/domestic matters”)

So:

pengeluaran rumah tangga = household expenses / household spending

Grammatically, rumah tangga is a compound noun (meaning household), and pengeluaran rumah tangga is a noun + modifier structure: “expenses (of the) household”.

Literally: the spending of the household → household expenses.

Why is it rumah tangga and not just rumah? What’s the difference?

rumah = house (the building)
rumah tangga = household (the domestic unit, family life, domestic matters)

pengeluaran rumah would be understood more as “expenses of the house” (e.g. house-related costs), but that’s not the usual phrase.

For the typical idea of household expenses (food, electricity, daily needs, etc.), Indonesian uses:

pengeluaran rumah tangga

Why is the phrase rumah tangga written as two words, not one?

Indonesian often writes compound nouns as separate words, even when they function as one concept:

rumah sakit (house + sick) = hospital
mata hari (eye + day) = sun
rumah tangga (house + household/domestic) = household

So rumah tangga is a fixed compound meaning household, but spelling rules keep it as two separate words. You don’t write it as “rumahtangga” in standard modern Indonesian.

Why is it di buku kecil and not ke buku kecil? What’s the difference between di and ke?

di = at / in / on → indicates location (where something is)
ke = to / towards → indicates direction or movement (where something goes)

In this sentence:

Kami mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga di buku kecil...

The focus is on where the expenses are recorded (located): in the small notebook. So di is correct.

If you said:

✗ Kami mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga ke buku kecil...

it would sound wrong or at least very unnatural, because you’re not describing movement towards the notebook; you’re describing the place where the records exist.

Could we use dalam instead of di here, like dalam buku kecil?

Sometimes di and dalam both translate as “in”, but they differ slightly:

di = more general location: at / in / on
dalam = inside (the inside of something), a bit more literal or formal

In practice:

di buku kecil is the most natural for “in the small notebook” in everyday speech.
dalam buku kecil would sound more formal or literal, emphasizing inside the pages of the notebook.

Both can be understood, but di buku kecil is the standard, natural choice here.

Why is kecil after buku? Can I say kecil buku?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they modify:

buku kecil = small book
rumah baru = new house
mobil merah = red car

So:

buku kecil = small notebook/small book

You cannot say:

✗ kecil buku

That word order is ungrammatical in Indonesian.

How is tense shown in this sentence? How do we know it’s something done regularly?

Indonesian does not have verb tenses like English (no direct equivalent of “record / recorded / will record”).

The idea of habitual action here comes from:

setiap minggu = every week

So the sentence means:

We record household expenses in a small notebook every week.
(i.e. habitually)

If you needed to emphasize present continuous, past, or future, you’d add separate words:

Present continuous:
Kami sedang mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga di buku kecil.
“We are recording…”
Past (often with time words):
Kemarin kami mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga di buku kecil.
“Yesterday we recorded…”
Future:
Besok kami akan mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga di buku kecil.
“Tomorrow we will record…”

“Expenses” is plural in English. Why is pengeluaran singular in form? How does plural work here?

Indonesian usually does not change word forms for plural. Context makes it singular or plural.

pengeluaran can mean:
- an expense (in the right context), or
- expenses in general

In:

Kami mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga...

it is naturally understood as “household expenses” (plural) because expenses are typically multiple and the context suggests a set of regular outgoing money.

To emphasize plural, you could say:

semua pengeluaran rumah tangga = all the household expenses
berbagai pengeluaran rumah tangga = various household expenses

But it’s not required; pengeluaran alone is enough.

What does setiap minggu literally mean, and can it go at the beginning of the sentence?

setiap = every / each
minggu = week

So:

setiap minggu = every week

In Indonesian, time expressions are flexible in position. All of these are grammatical:

Kami mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga di buku kecil setiap minggu.
Setiap minggu kami mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga di buku kecil.
Kami setiap minggu mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga di buku kecil.

The most common are (1) and (2). Starting with setiap minggu adds emphasis to how often the action occurs.

Could the subject kami be dropped? Would the sentence still make sense?

Yes. Indonesian is often pro-drop, meaning pronouns can be omitted if the subject is clear from context.

You can say:

Mencatat pengeluaran rumah tangga di buku kecil setiap minggu.

In real conversations, this might appear as part of a longer explanation where “who” is already clear. On its own, it becomes more like a heading, instruction, or general statement:

As a rule: “(We) record household expenses in a small notebook every week.”
Or a to-do item: “Record household expenses in a small notebook every week.”

To explicitly say “we”, keep kami. Dropping it is natural when context already specifies the subject.

How is mencatat formed from catat? Are there related forms I should know?

Base word: catat = to note, to jot down

Common related forms:

mencatat (meN- + catat) = to record, to take notes, to write down
pencatat (peN- + catat) = note-taker / recorder (person)
catatan (catat + -an) = note(s), record(s)
pencatatan (peN- + catat + -an) = the act/process of recording (more formal, like in admin/finance)

Your sentence uses the active verb form:

mencatat = (to) record / (to) keep a record of

Is pengeluaran rumah tangga and biaya rumah tangga the same?

Related, but not exactly the same:

pengeluaran rumah tangga = household expenses/spending (focus on money that goes out, what’s actually spent)
biaya rumah tangga = household costs (more like the costs/prices associated with running a household)

In everyday financial talk about what you pay and record each week, pengeluaran rumah tangga is the standard phrase.