Hold Yourself Openly Accountable for Your Spending in 2021

[kittykat]

              |  Fun Out  | Restaurants | Groceries  |   Shopping   |     Total   |
              |-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|
DEC 2019      | $      26 | $       682 | $      634 | $      3,473 | $     4,815 |
AVG 2020      | $      42 | $       227 | $      948 | $        953 | $     2,302 |
              |-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|
JAN 2021      | $       0 | $       445 | $    1,091 | $      2,707 | $     4,243 |
FEB 2021      | $      31 | $       319 | $      757 | $      1,126 | $     2,233 |
MAR 2021      | $       0 | $       896 | $      976 | $      1,352 | $     3,224 |
APR 2021      | $       0 | $       754 | $      912 | $      1,476 | $     3,142 |
MAY 2021      | $       0 | $     1,330 | $    1,012 | $      1,251 | $     3,593 |
JUN 2021      | $      75 | $     1,291 | $      867 | $      1,098 | $     3,331 |
JUL 2021      | $     447 | $       853 | $    1,291 | $      2,379 | $     4,970 |
AUG 2021      | $     571 | $     1,366 | $    1,437 | $      1,202 | $     4,576 |
              |-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|


I threw a party so my food/drink expenses were up. I managed to not go crazy shopping, and I'm planning to keep that up this month, so really hoping to see my numbers drop for Sept.

[philli14]

              |  Gas/Fuel  | Restaurants | "Shopping" |  Groceries |    Total   |
2018 AVG      | $      160 | $       541 | $      422 | $      195 | $     2902 |
2019 AVG      | $       45 | $       151 | $       93 | $      182 | $     1464 |
2020 AVG      | $       25 | $        95 | $       46 | $      258 | $     1192 |
              |------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
2021 GOAL     | $       25 | $       100 | $       50 | $      200 | $     1100 |
              |------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
JAN           | $        0 | $         0 | $       42 | $      257 | $      971 |
FEB           | $       26 | $        34 | $        0 | $      155 | $     1670 |
MAR           | $       30 | $        52 | $      164 | $      226 | $     1881 |
APR           | $       27 | $       165 | $        0 | $      228 | $      998 |
MAY           | $       29 | $       827 | $      583 | $      221 | $     2279 |
JUN           | $        0 | $       170 | $      180 | $      226 | $     1174 |
JUL           | $       41 | $       166 | $      481 | $      289 | $     1760 |
AUG           | $       25 | $       293 | $      267 | $      249 | $     1726 |
SEP           | $       35 | $        83 | $       53 | $      108 | $      946 |
              |------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
2021 AVG      | $       24 | $       199 | $      195 | $      218 | $     1489 |


First green month in a while! Parents came to town and spoiled a little. Expenses are about to trend north as we lose a roommate, first month living with just my wife and I. Also planning some pre-purchasing of groceries, including a CSA and a portion of a grass-fed cow, which means big expenses coming up to finish the year.

[oneday]

LOL, that was a polite mustachian-call-out if I've ever read one, @oneday , and thanks for the welcome!

I'm expecting about 6k in medical expenses that are going to make my budget really frustrating to look at this month. Better to start with a month that isn't going to make me cry, right? However, please give me grief if I'm not here in September.

Cats are always spoiled - I think it's a base personality trait. They determine how much we value those purr-cuddles and use that knowledge to their decisive advantage.

This isn't grief, just a friendly reminder to say I hope your playing along at home, @rebel_quietude

[oneday]

September wrap up


              |  Entertain | Restaurants | Groceries  |    Total   |
              |------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DEC 2019      | $      358 | $       309 | $      281 | $     3553 |
              |------------|-------------|------------|------------|
AVG 2020      | $      102 | $       106 | $      226 | $     3419 |
              |------------|-------------|------------|------------|
JAN 2021      | $      290 | $        94 | $       91 | $     4595^A|
FEB 2021      | $      168 | $       142 | $      116 | $     7692^B|
MAR 2021      | $       38 | $       120 | $       96 | $     2483 |
APR 2021      | $       18 | $       188 | $      311 | $      732^C|
MAY 2021      | $       59 | $       239 | $      120 | $     3044 |
JUN 2021      | $        0 | $       233 | $      142 | $     6352^D|
JUL 2021      | $      150 | $       335 | $      398 | $     1618^E|
AUG 2021      | $       66 | $       109 | $      254 | $     3146 |
              |------------|-------------|------------|------------|
YTD AVG       | $       99 | $       183 | $      191 | $     3708 |
              |------------|-------------|------------|------------|
SEP 2021      | $       82 | $       205 | $      261 | $     2562 |
              |------------|-------------|------------|------------|
                ^A2645 w/o housing deposit                         
                ^B2741 w/o IRA contrib or reimbursements           
                ^C3556 w/o extraordinary things
                ^D1967 w/o braces or double paying rent
                ^E2718 w/o return of prior apartment deposit

Compared to 2020 average:

Kind of a boring budget month! For fiscal health sake, I wish for more of these, but for analysis sake...boring! lol

Trailing 12 month average spend fell to the bottom of the range, due to low spend month. Still waiting for enough data to accumulate to feel more secure in  projections. Starting to think I want to include taxes and other payroll deductions in my budget. Will start in Jan.

A second legitimately low-spend month without caveats in a row. Post-tax savings are counted as an expense for now, that was $800 this month, not counting 401(k) contributions because that's a payroll deductions. My largest expense. Even bigger than rent, once you consider the 401(k)!

Groceries is the next largest spend (outside of rent) as it was last month. I intended to work more on eating from the pantry and less chasing deals, but am still pulled into it. It's like a hobby almost. Will need to come up with an alternate activity this month. Although this might stay high because I'll be buying more shelf-stable & snack type food than usual for a camping trip this month. I have a gift card from prior month manufactured spend, so maybe that will offset it. It's a mystery!

Restaurants is high again, partly because of travel. Although not too bad, because without the travel I would probably be pretty close to the YTD average.

The only other expense that peaked over $100 was clothing. Nothing crazy, just filling in some wardrobe gaps that have developed. Bought shoes & leggings at Costco, various sizes. Will try on at home & return the non-fitting items, so that will be more like $50 rather than $130, once the dust settles.

I am again amazed at how much other little stuff I can buy (this month: potting soil, a hose clamp and a napkin holder) to keep my life working smoothly and not really make a blip in the budget. I mean, it seems like a lot of stuff at the time, but in retrospect it's not much of anything.

[kittykat]

              |  Fun Out  | Restaurants | Groceries  |   Shopping   |     Total   |
              |-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|
DEC 2019      | $      26 | $       682 | $      634 | $      3,473 | $     4,815 |
AVG 2020      | $      42 | $       227 | $      948 | $        953 | $     2,302 |
              |-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|
JAN 2021      | $       0 | $       445 | $    1,091 | $      2,707 | $     4,243 |
FEB 2021      | $      31 | $       319 | $      757 | $      1,126 | $     2,233 |
MAR 2021      | $       0 | $       896 | $      976 | $      1,352 | $     3,224 |
APR 2021      | $       0 | $       754 | $      912 | $      1,476 | $     3,142 |
MAY 2021      | $       0 | $     1,330 | $    1,012 | $      1,251 | $     3,593 |
JUN 2021      | $      75 | $     1,291 | $      867 | $      1,098 | $     3,331 |
JUL 2021      | $     447 | $       853 | $    1,291 | $      2,379 | $     4,970 |
AUG 2021      | $     571 | $     1,366 | $    1,437 | $      1,202 | $     4,576 |
SEP 2021      | $     807 | $       916 | $    1,121 | $      1,462 | $     4,306 |
              |-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|


I don't even know anymore, I guess this is just who I am now lol sigh

[oneday]

I don't even know anymore, I guess this is just who I am now lol sigh

OK, if that's who you want to be. (But if not, keep trying! I know you can reach the goals you set for yourself.)

Motivation ebbs and flows.

[kittykat]

I don't even know anymore, I guess this is just who I am now lol sigh

OK, if that's who you want to be. (But if not, keep trying! I know you can reach the goals you set for yourself.)

Motivation ebbs and flows.

Thanks. I think I just lost focus, too much going on and I’ve been in a spending mode since I bought this house and haven’t been able to get myself out of that mindset and back to serious saving mode again…yet.

[rebel_quietude]

LOL, that was a polite mustachian-call-out if I've ever read one, @oneday , and thanks for the welcome!

This isn't grief, just a friendly reminder to say I hope your playing along at home, @rebel_quietude

Called out! I love it. The occasional peer reminder is what makes this forum great, after all. Thanks, @oneday

I'm still working on my categories, so this may change in stride, but please see below my initial attempt modeled after you fine people.  I've included the categories I truly despise, because I'm awful at predicting them and they seem to be up to chance so often. They directly detract from additional savings - so I've also added a column for how much extra I was able to save from my checking account that month. (I live in an environment of artificial scarcity, but it still feels nice to be in the green).


         Month    |     Entertainment |         Los Dos        |      Restaurants    |     Misc             Savings
       -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        SEP        |      $300               |          $651           |     $91.66            |     $78          |   $387


In sum: rented a boat to take my dad out when he visited, paid for a month of doggy daycare (hopefully the last) and one overnight, and there's a $54 pair of insoles in the "misc" category. I think "restaurants" and "misc" aren't bad this month, compared to the norm, but time shall tell.

I'm moving in November, so I should have a normal October, an artificially low November as I go almost a month without rent, and then a bunch of expenses in December as I (hopefully) get settled into a place again. Looking forward to trying to reduce grocery expenses by eating like a local in a new country, but I don't think I'm going to add a grocery category because (true money confessions) trying to budget in a grocery store gives me flashbacks to my broke early days, and makes me feel poor. I may merit a mustachian face punch, for that one . . . welcome any comments!

[SotI]

Mixed update from July, some good, some not so good.

                      2020 Spend          2021 Spend
Jan                  5,379                          4,383
Feb                  3,876                          2,645
March             4,030                          3,275
April                3,774                          1,990
May                 3,437                          4,953
June               3,635                           2,618
July                2,938                           3,179
Aug                 2,659                           4,914
Sept                3,012                           2,481

My spend seems to be quite erratic. Maybe that's just life or
my lack of foresight. Either way, I am 4.1 % behind plan, so I guess I miss my target again this year (which was 10% reduction of last year's spend). And Oct was spendy either, getting stuff that DH was't comfortable in getting second-hand. Will start reviewing potential cuts for the last two months.

[oneday]

LOL, that was a polite mustachian-call-out if I've ever read one, @oneday , and thanks for the welcome!

This isn't grief, just a friendly reminder to say I hope your playing along at home, @rebel_quietude

Called out! I love it. The occasional peer reminder is what makes this forum great, after all. Thanks, @oneday

I'm still working on my categories, so this may change in stride, but please see below my initial attempt modeled after you fine people.  I've included the categories I truly despise, because I'm awful at predicting them and they seem to be up to chance so often. They directly detract from additional savings - so I've also added a column for how much extra I was able to save from my checking account that month. (I live in an environment of artificial scarcity, but it still feels nice to be in the green).


         Month    |     Entertainment |         Los Dos        |      Restaurants    |     Misc             Savings
       -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

        SEP        |      $300               |          $651           |     $91.66            |     $78          |   $387


In sum: rented a boat to take my dad out when he visited, paid for a month of doggy daycare (hopefully the last) and one overnight, and there's a $54 pair of insoles in the "misc" category. I think "restaurants" and "misc" aren't bad this month, compared to the norm, but time shall tell.

I'm moving in November, so I should have a normal October, an artificially low November as I go almost a month without rent, and then a bunch of expenses in December as I (hopefully) get settled into a place again. Looking forward to trying to reduce grocery expenses by eating like a local in a new country, but I don't think I'm going to add a grocery category because (true money confessions) trying to budget in a grocery store gives me flashbacks to my broke early days, and makes me feel poor. I may merit a mustachian face punch, for that one . . . welcome any comments!

Great start! It is always interesting to see how things develop over time.

Re: groceries - certainly don't spend in a way that makes you feel bad! That would be incompetent humaning.

[rebel_quietude]

Re: groceries - certainly don't spend in a way that makes you feel bad! That would be incompetent humaning.

Whelp, I now haw a new favorite behavior descriptor. Hope you don't mind if I begin high-volume use of the phrase "incompetent humaning."

[oneday]

Re: groceries - certainly don't spend in a way that makes you feel bad! That would be incompetent humaning.

Whelp, I now haw a new favorite behavior descriptor. Hope you don't mind if I begin high-volume use of the phrase "incompetent humaning."

Lol, sure!  As long as you don't *do* high-volume  "incompetent humaning."