We analyze the novel transactional card expenditure data for Germany and Austria provided by Fable Data. We describe the data, explain how we construct the expenditure time series, and highlight strengths and limitations of the data by comparing it to more consolidated lower-frequency information from external data sources. Our analysis shows how consumption expenditures have evolved during the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, illustrating the advantages of the transactional data in terms of its granular, higher-frequency information on expenditures across items and locations.