Author Topic: Hold Yourself Openly Accountable for Your Spending in 2020 (Read 11655 times)

oneday · « **Reply #50 on:** April 03, 2020, 07:33:27 PM »

March wrap up

| Entertain | Restaurants | Groceries | Total |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DEC 2019 | $ 358 | $ 309 | $ 281 | $ 3553 |
JAN 2020 | $ 231 | $ 293 | $ 206 | $ 3109 |
FEB 2020 | $ 529 | $ 311 | $ 152 | $ 4345 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
AVG | $ 373 | $ 304 | $ 213 | $ 3669 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
MAR 2020 | $ -79 | $ 193 | $ 146 | $ 3804 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DIF | $ 452 | $ 111 | $ 67 | $ 135 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|

Compared to historical average (Dec 2019-Feb 2020):
Entertainment spending was actually negative, as I was refunded for April's vacation expenses (paid in Feb) and this is also the reason my overall spending was lower on the 31st than it was on the 20th.

Restaurant spending ceased a few days before our Shelter In Place order, but if it hadn't I would be WAY over both my budget target and the historical average.

Groceries spend looks like it's settling in around $150, so that's nice even with all the eating in. So far it has been very minimal effort to get to that number.

If I hadn't had the car repair, then I would have been under $3K for monthly spend. Seems crazy low. But if I want my annual spend to be around $36K, then I will probably have a few months like this throughout the year to balance the months with the "extraordinary" spending, right? Only trouble is, once the SIP is lifted, I'll probably spend more moolah on fun stuff & eating out again. Food for thought...

Queen Frugal · « **Reply #51 on:** April 05, 2020, 01:30:38 PM »

| Groceries | Entertainment | Clothing | Travel | Total |
2018 AVG | $ 738 | $ 42 | $ 86 | $ 463 | $ 3719 |
2019 AVG | $ 614 | $ 88 | $ 51 | $ 63 | $ 3855 |
|-------------|----------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 GOAL | $ 400 | $ 50 | $ 60 | $ 100 | $ 3300 |
|-------------|----------------|------------|------------|------------|
JAN | $ 287 | $ 24 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 2255 |
FEB | $ 349 | $ 0 | $ 63 | $ 55 | $ 2327 |
MAR | $ 728 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 3407 |
|-------------|----------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 AVG | $ 455 | $ 8 | $ 12 | $ 18 | $ 2663 |

What a month!!!

I modified February's spending because I had purchased a freezer in February but alas with the pandemic it has not been delivered yet. Perhaps it will be delivered this month but I am not counting on it. Delivery has been rescheduled 4 times already.

I have a feeling my grocery spending for the year will be in the red. I spent a ton of money on food last month but mostly it was the regular stuff I use, just stocking up on the nonperishables. I am a minimalist by nature and this pandemic may change that habit as I don't normally have extra of anything on hand. I loaded up on things like rice, peanut butter, olive oil and teff (it's what I eat for breakfast because I can't handle oats). I was sick last month and so I haven't been in a grocery store since March 7th. I did have groceries delivered.

I am now running out of fresh vegetables and meats that I normally would shop around for to get a good deal. Instead I am just buying from local producers which is a lot more expensive, but, eh, it's good for the community. I predict by the end of the year my average grocery bill will be more like $600/m for a family of 2.

I didn't spend a penny on my other budget items this month though!

middo · « **Reply #52 on:** April 30, 2020, 03:06:23 AM »

April Update.

Some significant reductions in transport, but I did use the time for some maintenance. Only $30 in petrol!
A lower month in Utilities, but that was more about timing than anything else.
A big reduction in eating out. We cooked almost all of our own meals. We did buy some booze...
A big reduction in our holiday and hobby spending.

Food spending went up. We have a very full pantry as my wife likes to overstock at the moment.
Non-Food went up due to work from home and kid at home expenses. 250 on printer ink!

The aim is to be down 10% this year on these expenses. Currently down 13.5% A huge improvement.

Linea_Norway · « **Reply #53 on:** April 30, 2020, 03:45:23 AM »

Quote from: Linea_Norway on April 30, 2020, 03:04:04 AM

I have not been tracking my expenses in 2020, because I didnt feel the need. But today I just had a look at the total amount I have spent in 4 months. I expected it to be very low, because of Corona and being home most of the time.

I spent on average almost 20.000 NOK / by old valuta courses about 2000 euro per month. That is a few thousand crowns higher average than last year. DH only spent 7000 NOK, 700 euro per month, this year. We kept the new car outside the calculation. I pay for most groceries and fuel, because I have cashback cards.

So the totalspent on normal things is roughly 27.000 NOK / 2700 euro per month.
Some explanation is:
A new tent that I ordered last year, but it arrived this year.
Two separate wheel bearing replacements for the car, done professionally.
About 8500 NOK (850 euro) in advanced 2020 taxes for me. Plus a for me unknown amount for DH's 2020 taxes.
Credit card bills for the December vacation to Europe. (Mostly fuel, some food and Christmas presents).

As we are downsizing, we sold stuff that we don't need for more than 21.000 NOK / 2100 euro this year. That was not included in the spending overview, as this won't be a regular thing.

After the coming necessary spending to get the old car sold, we should have a lot less spending on car repairs, but will have a lot higher drop in value of the new car. But we have six years of guarantee left on it, which is a good deal.

Apart from the new car, which will be financed by the higher than expected sales price of the house, we are on average per month on 60% of our planned FIRE spending budget. We also paid a sum to stand in queue for a new Tesla, but that is not marled as spending, but as an investment. We hope to sell that place for a higher price, or could ask for money back.

DH never tracked his expenses before, but as he now had such a low amount, he looked at what he spent it on. Wine and whisky is a big expense. We live in a place with very high alcohol taxes. We spend more than 1100 nok / 110 euro per month on alcohol. I noticed that last year when I tracked my expenses in detail. But DH didn't realize it before now.

philli14 · « **Reply #54 on:** April 30, 2020, 10:00:18 AM »

April in the books. Another essential-only spend month, but my grocery bill was high due to a big costco run at the end of the month. This month also puts my total monthly spend under $1000 average which I'm very happy about.

| Gas/Fuel | Restaurants | "Shopping" | Groceries | Total |
2018 AVG | $ 160 | $ 541 | $ 422 | $ 195 | $ 2902 |
2019 AVG | $ 45 | $ 151 | $ 93 | $ 182 | $ 1464 |
2020 GOAL | $ 40 | $ 100 | $ 50 | $ 200 | $ 1200 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
JAN | $ 27 | $ 137 | $ 73 | $ 273 | $ 1247 |
FEB | $ 26 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 278 | $ 921 |
MAR | $ 41 | $ 164 | $ 0 | $ 142 | $ 912 |
APR | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 229 | $ 807 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 AVG | $ 24 | $ 75 | $ 18 | $ 231 | $ 972 |

SotI · « **Reply #55 on:** May 01, 2020, 05:04:58 AM »

Update YoY, total expense.
My goal is to drop total spend by 10%, but so far not so good.
Despite (or because) of Corona, spending is higher than envisioned at the beginning of the year.
Some Corona prepping, but also bringing some garden and home improvement forward to first quarter. Plus a couple of sick pets that require regular check-ups.
So, this is the numbers:

2019 Spend 2020 Spend
Jan 5,797 5,379
Feb 3,523 3,876
March 3,548 4,030
April 3,702 3,774

I hope to bring the spend down again, but the next vet trip will be in May when I also may have to get back to the office.

zygote · « **Reply #56 on:** May 01, 2020, 09:40:51 AM »

Much better this month. Spent about $2900, down $500 from last month and about the same as April last year. We are now recovered from the coronavirus (antibody test confirmed we had it), so we're able to shop ourselves at the low cost stores instead of paying a premium for delivery. That total still includes delivery a few times to support local restaurants, buying a gift card for the haircut I desperately want when this is all over, and my annual CSA fee. And also a refund for a canceled VRBO for a trip I can longer take in June.

kittykat · « **Reply #57 on:** May 01, 2020, 11:54:32 AM »

| Fun Out | Restaurants | Groceries | Shopping | Total |
NOV 2019 | $ 412 | $ 843 | $ 510 | $ 2,791 | $ 4,556 |
DEC 2019 | $ 26 | $ 682 | $ 634 | $ 3,473 | $ 4,815 |
JAN 2020 | $ 118 | $ 147 | $ 678 | $ 86 | $ 1,029 |
FEB 2020 | $ 232 | $ 253 | $ 687 | $ 229 | $ 1,401 |
MAR 2020 | $ 110 | $ 30 | $ 1,448 | $ 2,420 | $ 4,008 |
APR 2020 | $ 0 | $ 111 | $ 965 | $ 723 | $ 1,799 |
|-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|

Overall this month wasn't so bad. Groceries are coming back down and ordering in is still low enough. Shopping was a bit high because I bought a large shipment of wine from a vineyard which should last a few months and some house plants. I plan to spend less this month on shopping, but not sure how much more groceries will come down.

Queen Frugal · « **Reply #58 on:** May 06, 2020, 08:23:07 PM »

Quote from: zygote on May 01, 2020, 09:40:51 AM

Much better this month. Spent about $2900, down $500 from last month and about the same as April last year. We are now recovered from the coronavirus (antibody test confirmed we had it), so we're able to shop ourselves at the low cost stores instead of paying a premium for delivery. That total still includes delivery a few times to support local restaurants, buying a gift card for the haircut I desperately want when this is all over, and my annual CSA fee. And also a refund for a canceled VRBO for a trip I can longer take in June.

Your post inspired me to look and see how hard it is to get an antibody test. Not too hard apparently! I was sick in March and I suspect I had the coronavirus but gosh it would be nice to know. So I am going to get one!

And I am so glad you recovered!

oneday · « **Reply #59 on:** May 09, 2020, 09:03:47 PM »

April wrap up

| Entertain | Restaurants | Groceries | Total |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DEC 2019 | $ 358 | $ 309 | $ 281 | $ 3553 |
JAN 2020 | $ 231 | $ 293 | $ 206 | $ 3109 |
FEB 2020 | $ 529 | $ 311 | $ 152 | $ 4345 |
MAR 2020 | $ -79 | $ 193 | $ 146 | $ 3804 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
TOT | $ 1,039 | $ 1,106 | $ 785 | $ 14,811 |
AVG | $ 260 | $ 277 | $ 196 | $ 3703 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
APR 2020 | $ 4 | $ 47 | $ 285 | $ 3175 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DIF | $ 256 | $ 230 | $ 89 | $ 528 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|

Compared to historical average (Dec 2019-Mar 2020):
Entertainment & Restaurant - way down, no surprise due to COVID-19.

Groceries are up to an all time high, but only by a few dollars. Part of that is shopping almost exclusively at Costco/stocking up and partly due to shopping with Room Mate and splitting costs - she is not Mustachian. I'm OK with this for now.

I was surprised that overall spending didn't drop much, but mostly it's due to paying federal taxes (minus the stimulus money, thankfully). Total spend would have been $2,381 without that. Had to pay so much in taxes because I'd had the withholding set at Married rate still...forgot to change that after the divorce. Well, no matter. At the next job I'll be able to get that fixed from the get-go.

The other surprising/unpredictable thing this month was no spending on gas. I've got about a half tank, and it should get me through to June, so I'm hoping to repeat that this month.

philli14 · « **Reply #60 on:** May 30, 2020, 09:42:46 AM »

May in the books. Overall happy, though had a really big grocery bill.

| Gas/Fuel | Restaurants | "Shopping" | Groceries | Total |
2018 AVG | $ 160 | $ 541 | $ 422 | $ 195 | $ 2902 |
2019 AVG | $ 45 | $ 151 | $ 93 | $ 182 | $ 1464 |
2020 GOAL | $ 40 | $ 100 | $ 50 | $ 200 | $ 1200 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
JAN | $ 27 | $ 137 | $ 73 | $ 273 | $ 1247 |
FEB | $ 26 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 278 | $ 921 |
MAR | $ 41 | $ 164 | $ 0 | $ 142 | $ 912 |
APR | $ 0 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 229 | $ 807 |
MAY | $ 21 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 394 | $ 973 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 AVG | $ 23 | $ 60 | $ 15 | $ 263 | $ 972 |

middo · « **Reply #61 on:** May 31, 2020, 05:13:27 PM »

May wrap up.

My aim is to be down 10% for the year on these groups, and currently we are down almost 16%. The big changes have been reductions in our utilities, our transport costs (down $3600) and our holiday expenses. Some of these will rebound in the next few months as Australia opens back up again. We both start commuting to work again this week.

Our food and non-food supermarket type expenses have increased, but we are feeding a third mouth with our daughter home until July, and we have had home office expenses we did not expect.

Really happy with how these expenses are going in 2020.

zygote · « **Reply #62 on:** June 01, 2020, 10:44:01 AM »

$3100 this month. Down $600 from May of last year. Entertainment spending (usually eating out and theater tickets) is way down due to the coronavirus, and I got some refunds for canceled events. Being stuck in the house made me want to carry out some improvements I've been thinking about for a while, so I did spend more than usual on household stuff. We also had to get a new microwave because ours started sparking. I've done what I wanted to do, though, so I think that spending will level off now.

kittykat · « **Reply #63 on:** June 01, 2020, 07:01:48 PM »

| Fun Out | Restaurants | Groceries | Shopping | Total |
NOV 2019 | $ 412 | $ 843 | $ 510 | $ 2,791 | $ 4,556 |
DEC 2019 | $ 26 | $ 682 | $ 634 | $ 3,473 | $ 4,815 |
JAN 2020 | $ 118 | $ 147 | $ 678 | $ 86 | $ 1,029 |
FEB 2020 | $ 232 | $ 253 | $ 687 | $ 229 | $ 1,401 |
MAR 2020 | $ 110 | $ 30 | $ 1,448 | $ 1,420 | $ 3,008 |
APR 2020 | $ 0 | $ 111 | $ 965 | $ 723 | $ 1,799 |
MAY 2020 | $ 0 | $ 232 | $ 1,326 | $ 1,824 | $ 3,382 |
|-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|

My spending for May was somewhat careless. I had a trip to my parent's house and ended up spending a bunch around that.
I need to get it back in order in June and going forward.

Update: I just received a 1k reimbursement from my work for the home office furniture I purchased in March, so I am updating my March numbers to reflect a 1k reduction in shopping. Which now makes May my worst spending month of 2020 so far.

SotI · « **Reply #64 on:** June 03, 2020, 01:24:25 PM »

Update YoY, total expense.
Improving.
The numbers for May

2019 Spend 2020 Spend
Jan 5,797 5,379
Feb 3,523 3,876
March 3,548 4,030
April 3,702 3,774
May 4,469 3,437

oneday · « **Reply #65 on:** June 03, 2020, 11:29:43 PM »

May wrap up

| Entertain | Restaurants | Groceries | Total |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DEC 2019 | $ 358 | $ 309 | $ 281 | $ 3553 |
JAN 2020 | $ 231 | $ 293 | $ 206 | $ 3109 |
FEB 2020 | $ 529 | $ 311 | $ 152 | $ 4345 |
MAR 2020 | $ -79 | $ 193 | $ 146 | $ 3804 |
APR 2020 | $ 4 | $ 47 | $ 285 | $ 3175 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
TOT | $ 1,043 | $ 1,153 | $ 1,070 | $ 17,986 |
AVG | $ 209 | $ 231 | $ 214 | $ 3597 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
MAY 2020 | $ 37 | $ 103 | $ 110 | $ 3912 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DIF | $ 172 | $ 128 | $ 104 | $ 315 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|

Compared to historical average (Dec 2019-Apr 2020):
Entertainment & Restaurant - all three key categories still well below average. Restaurants are creeping up, and I've felt out of control of my eating: no surprise. Will keep an eye on the financial and psychological issues showing up here.

Paid state taxes this month (feds paid last month), adding $1300 to overall spending. Other notable expenses were $185 for a cargo-area cover for my hatchback and $115 for a 6-month supply of flea medicine for the cat, budgeted for monthly.

I've wanted the cargo cover since I got the car almost 2 years ago, and since I knew I'd still have very low expenses in most categories I thought I would finally pull the trigger.

Still no spending on gas!!!

middo · « **Reply #66 on:** June 30, 2020, 04:28:44 AM »

My end of June Update:

We spent more on food, non-food (supermarket stuff), medical and transport than our 2019 average, mainly due to having an extra person in the house. Our transport included a couple of registrations and insurances.

We are still down, by 13% for the year. Aim was 10%, but I am hoping to keep it more than that.

zygote · « **Reply #67 on:** June 30, 2020, 11:56:41 AM »

$2650 this month, which is $700 less than June 2019 and the lowest monthly spend since I started tracking my budget in January 2018. I was supposed to go on a vacation this month, but obviously that didn't happen. I did treat myself to good takeout a few times and an (old model) Apple Watch for my birthday. I basically spent money whenever I wanted to and I still came out way ahead. Clearly things being closed is really helpful to my budget...my new goal for the year is to be mindful about what I reincorporate into my life when things reopen. This has been a good reset.

kittykat · « **Reply #68 on:** June 30, 2020, 03:53:35 PM »

| Fun Out | Restaurants | Groceries | Shopping | Total |
NOV 2019 | $ 412 | $ 843 | $ 510 | $ 2,791 | $ 4,556 |
DEC 2019 | $ 26 | $ 682 | $ 634 | $ 3,473 | $ 4,815 |
JAN 2020 | $ 118 | $ 147 | $ 678 | $ 86 | $ 1,029 |
FEB 2020 | $ 232 | $ 253 | $ 687 | $ 229 | $ 1,401 |
MAR 2020 | $ 110 | $ 30 | $ 1,448 | $ 1,420 | $ 3,008 |
APR 2020 | $ 0 | $ 111 | $ 965 | $ 723 | $ 1,799 |
MAY 2020 | $ 0 | $ 232 | $ 1,326 | $ 1,824 | $ 3,382 |
JUN 2020 | $ 0 | $ 274 | $ 1,034 | $ 348 | $ 1,656 |

|-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|

Overall this past month went well for me. I ate out a little more but it was fine, and groceries were a little better. The biggest win was my shopping, I was able to trim it back down and did not even feel it so that was awesome. Part of that is that I'm heavily preoccupied with saving for a house I'm trying to buy this month, and so I'm saving whereever I can for the downpayment and aftermath. It's been good having an ever-present savings focus.

oneday · « **Reply #69 on:** July 03, 2020, 12:31:39 AM »

June wrap up

| Entertain | Restaurants | Groceries | Total |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DEC 2019 | $ 358 | $ 309 | $ 281 | $ 3553 |
JAN 2020 | $ 231 | $ 293 | $ 206 | $ 3109 |
FEB 2020 | $ 529 | $ 311 | $ 152 | $ 4345 |
MAR 2020 | $ -79 | $ 193 | $ 146 | $ 3804 |
APR 2020 | $ 4 | $ 47 | $ 285 | $ 3175 |
MAY 2020 | $ 37 | $ 103 | $ 110 | $ 3912 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
TOT | $ 1,080 | $ 1,256 | $ 1,180 | $ 21,898 |
AVG | $ 180 | $ 209 | $ 196 | $ 3650 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
JUN 2020 | $ 2 | $ 55 | $ 186 | $ 2825 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DIF | $ 178 | $ 154 | $ 10 | $ 825 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|

Compared to historical average (Dec 2019-May 2020):
All three key categories still below average. Last month's vigilance in Restaurants paid off. Groceries reflect two Costco runs and a little looser permission to myself. Good to keep in mind for July.

What a difference it makes, not paying taxes! That was taken care of in April and May. I even made a $300 payment on my braces in June, and the overall number is so low!

philli14 · « **Reply #70 on:** July 03, 2020, 09:22:46 AM »

June in the books. Had a week long vacation, lots of excessive spending but worth it.

| Gas/Fuel | Restaurants | "Shopping" | Groceries | Total |
2018 AVG | $ 160 | $ 541 | $ 422 | $ 195 | $ 2902 |
2019 AVG | $ 45 | $ 151 | $ 93 | $ 182 | $ 1464 |
2020 GOAL | $ 40 | $ 100 | $ 50 | $ 200 | $ 1200 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
JAN | $ 27 | $ 137 | $ 73 | $ 273 | $ 1247 |
FEB | $ 26 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 278 | $ 921 |
MAR | $ 41 | $ 164 | $ 0 | $ 142 | $ 912 |
APR | $ 0 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 229 | $ 807 |
MAY | $ 21 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 394 | $ 973 |
JUN | $ 21 | $ 223 | $ 0 | $ 209 | $ 1011 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 AVG | $ 23 | $ 87 | $ 12 | $ 254 | $ 979 |

SotI · « **Reply #71 on:** July 04, 2020, 02:24:45 PM »

Update YoY, total expense.
Overspent my June budget by around 1k due to unexpected vet/end of life care plus some extra garden redesign. Still below the same month a year ago, so I guess it's still an improvement.

2019 Spend 2020 Spend
Jan 5,797 5,379
Feb 3,523 3,876
March 3,548 4,030
April 3,702 3,774
May 4,469 3,437
June 4,462 3,635

kittykat · « **Reply #72 on:** July 31, 2020, 12:59:13 PM »

| Fun Out | Restaurants | Groceries | Shopping | Total |
NOV 2019 | $ 412 | $ 843 | $ 510 | $ 2,791 | $ 4,556 |
DEC 2019 | $ 26 | $ 682 | $ 634 | $ 3,473 | $ 4,815 |
JAN 2020 | $ 118 | $ 147 | $ 678 | $ 86 | $ 1,029 |
FEB 2020 | $ 232 | $ 253 | $ 687 | $ 229 | $ 1,401 |
MAR 2020 | $ 110 | $ 30 | $ 1,448 | $ 1,420 | $ 3,008 |
APR 2020 | $ 0 | $ 111 | $ 965 | $ 723 | $ 1,799 |
MAY 2020 | $ 0 | $ 232 | $ 1,326 | $ 1,824 | $ 3,382 |
JUN 2020 | $ 0 | $ 274 | $ 1,034 | $ 348 | $ 1,656 |
JUL 2020 | $ 0 | $ 346 | $ 989 | $ 87 | $ 1,422 |

|-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|

I was able to keep spending low this month, I think mostly because I was heavily preoccupied with the home purchase process and saving. We dined out a bit more on weekends since the weather was nice and we needed to get out.
I'm bracing myself for the spending I will do once we move in to the new place.

middo · « **Reply #73 on:** July 31, 2020, 04:45:06 PM »

July expenses update.

Aim for 2020 was down by 10%. Currently running at down by 14% :)

The big numbers:

Transport was up. Two motorbike repairs and a car accident paid for out of cash added $1700 of the $2100.
Utilities were down, mainly due to when bill dates fall. Next month will include rates for at least two properties, so will be very high
Our food bill was still high even with only two mouths to feed this month. I will have to look at that

Ultimately still happy, but I expect the Utilities category to hammer us next month.

zygote · « **Reply #74 on:** August 01, 2020, 11:21:19 AM »

$3500 this month. Higher than I'd like, but it includes $700 of medical and vet bills. Life. Without those bills, the total would have been very reasonable. Hopefully next month will be better. Either way, I'm down $2000 from this time last year, so I'm pleased with how I'm doing overall.

SotI · « **Reply #75 on:** August 01, 2020, 09:15:43 PM »

Update YoY, total expense.
Overspent my July budget by around 400 bucks again due to unexpected vet visits. However, it's down compared to the same month last year, so I am fine with that.

2019 Spend 2020 Spend
Jan 5,797 5,379
Feb 3,523 3,876
March 3,548 4,030
April 3,702 3,774
May 4,469 3,437
June 4,462 3,635
July 3,776 2,938

philli14 · « **Reply #76 on:** August 02, 2020, 03:30:05 PM »

July check-in. Reigned it in a bit, but not my best month.

| Gas/Fuel | Restaurants | "Shopping" | Groceries | Total |
2018 AVG | $ 160 | $ 541 | $ 422 | $ 195 | $ 2902 |
2019 AVG | $ 45 | $ 151 | $ 93 | $ 182 | $ 1464 |
2020 GOAL | $ 40 | $ 100 | $ 50 | $ 200 | $ 1200 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
JAN | $ 27 | $ 137 | $ 73 | $ 273 | $ 1247 |
FEB | $ 26 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 278 | $ 921 |
MAR | $ 41 | $ 164 | $ 0 | $ 142 | $ 912 |
APR | $ 0 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 229 | $ 807 |
MAY | $ 21 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 394 | $ 973 |
JUN | $ 21 | $ 223 | $ 0 | $ 209 | $ 1011 |
JUL | $ 23 | $ 78 | $ 156 | $ 194 | $ 966 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 AVG | $ 23 | $ 86 | $ 33 | $ 246 | $ 977 |

oneday · « **Reply #77 on:** August 05, 2020, 01:48:03 AM »

July wrap up

| Entertain | Restaurants | Groceries | Total |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DEC 2019 | $ 358 | $ 309 | $ 281 | $ 3553 |
JAN 2020 | $ 231 | $ 293 | $ 206 | $ 3109 |
FEB 2020 | $ 529 | $ 311 | $ 152 | $ 4345 |
MAR 2020 | $ -79 | $ 193 | $ 146 | $ 3804 |
APR 2020 | $ 4 | $ 47 | $ 285 | $ 3175 |
MAY 2020 | $ 37 | $ 103 | $ 110 | $ 3912 |
JUN 2020 | $ 2 | $ 55 | $ 186 | $ 2825 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
TOT | $ 1,082 | $ 1,311 | $ 1,366 | $ 24,723 |
AVG | $ 155 | $ 187 | $ 195 | $ 3532 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
JUL 2020 | $ 39 | $ 35 | $ 443 | $ 3250 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DIF | $ 116 | $ 152 | $ 248 | $ 282 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|

Compared to historical average (Dec 2019-Jun 2020):

Woah, groceries! $120 actually was spent in June by my room mate and I didn't pay her back until very early July, but that makes June $306! Two expensive months in a row; I'm not liking this trend. Without the June spending, July would have been $323 (on par with June). There was also $81 in expensive "meal replacement" food I buy from the weight loss program. I hardly eat them anymore, maybe I just felt insecure not having any around. I will probably not buy them again. Without that, July would have been $242, still way over average. I will keep a very close eye on it this month.

I have been eating more which is showing up on my waistline, and just the last few days am getting that back under control. So hopefully that discipline will hold and I'll get a two-fold effect (health & wealth).

The only other expense over $100 was a vet bill,

August preview: More vet bills, but able to spread the rest of it out over time at 0% (about $50/month)...unless there becomes even more bills.

Sister is visiting, so I'll have increased eating out costs; hopefully this will also help the grocery bills! Maybe increased Entertainment costs.

philli14 · « **Reply #78 on:** August 31, 2020, 06:44:35 PM »

August.. Very spendy month for me, some essential and some non-essential. Need to be better, hope to get my monthly spend average under 1k by the end of the year!

| Gas/Fuel | Restaurants | "Shopping" | Groceries | Total |
2018 AVG | $ 160 | $ 541 | $ 422 | $ 195 | $ 2902 |
2019 AVG | $ 45 | $ 151 | $ 93 | $ 182 | $ 1464 |
2020 GOAL | $ 40 | $ 100 | $ 50 | $ 200 | $ 1200 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
JAN | $ 27 | $ 137 | $ 73 | $ 273 | $ 1247 |
FEB | $ 26 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 278 | $ 921 |
MAR | $ 41 | $ 164 | $ 0 | $ 142 | $ 912 |
APR | $ 0 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 229 | $ 807 |
MAY | $ 21 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 394 | $ 973 |
JUN | $ 21 | $ 223 | $ 0 | $ 209 | $ 1011 |
JUL | $ 23 | $ 78 | $ 156 | $ 194 | $ 966 |
JUL | $ 23 | $ 151 | $ 53 | $ 277 | $ 1430 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 AVG | $ 23 | $ 94 | $ 35 | $ 250 | $ 1033 |

middo · « **Reply #79 on:** August 31, 2020, 10:34:29 PM »

August Update:

Ouch.

We are currently running at 7% down from last year. The aim is for 10%. Last month we were at 14% down, so we took a hit this month. The main points:

Utilities. $7170. This was due to rates for 3 properties being paid this month. Last year we paid them in installments, but I found that to be stressful, so just got it over and done with.
Transport. $0. First time ever since I have been recording our expenses. So happy. Lock down has it's upsides.
Travel. Way down, but includes our pet expenses as it is also our "non essential" bucket
The other categories were pretty standard.

Next month is looking better, but we have some ground to make up now.

zygote · « **Reply #80 on:** September 01, 2020, 06:42:55 PM »

$3100 this month. It was my wife's birthday, so I spent more on some gifts and some really good takeout so she still felt celebrated even though we couldn't have a party or go out and do our normal birthday activities. (I may have also gifted myself a few things along the way...joy is sparse in the pandemic.) That total is higher than the last few months, but still $300 less than August last year. And I'm still down almost $2000 for the year, which is great.

oneday · « **Reply #81 on:** September 02, 2020, 09:07:54 PM »

Wow, @philli14 you are knocking it out of the park! You have well surpassed your goal!

August wrap up

| Entertain | Restaurants | Groceries | Total |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DEC 2019 | $ 358 | $ 309 | $ 281 | $ 3553 |
JAN 2020 | $ 231 | $ 293 | $ 206 | $ 3109 |
FEB 2020 | $ 529 | $ 311 | $ 152 | $ 4345 |
MAR 2020 | $ -79 | $ 193 | $ 146 | $ 3804 |
APR 2020 | $ 4 | $ 47 | $ 285 | $ 3175 |
MAY 2020 | $ 37 | $ 103 | $ 110 | $ 3912 |
JUN 2020 | $ 2 | $ 55 | $ 186 | $ 2825 |
JUL 2020 | $ 39 | $ 35 | $ 443 | $ 3250 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
TOT | $ 1,121 | $ 1,346 | $ 1,809 | $ 27,973 |
AVG | $ 141 | $ 168 | $ 226 | $ 3497 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
AUG 2020 | $ 40 | $ 28 | $ 141 | $ 3233 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DIF | $ 101 | $ 140 | $ 85 | $ 264 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|

Compared to historical average (Dec 2019-Jul 2020):

Groceries are closer to what I think is a sustainable number...except that I split a lot of this with Room Mate. In Aug, we had a Covid scare and ate down the pantry while quarantining. There was a rebound/stock up purchase by RM late last week; we haven't yet settled her Aug receipts, so that will hit in Sept. It's a little frustrating in that we still had a lot of food in the house, so if we had purchased more strategically we could have made the most of that and had a smaller stock-up bill. Honestly, I'm OK with the expense, it's just the cost of living with this particular person. Fine. But it's obscuring *my* true grocery costs. Once we go our separate ways next spring, I'll probably have a month or two of very low grocery spending while I eat through the stockpile.

Additional vet bills $840! But I'm able to pay it off over 18 months interest free, that's about $50/month. Still, the $840 hits my budget this month.

Sister's visit didn't cost much. She picked up the tab the one time we went out, which was very sweet of her. Gas costs were about $15 higher than average, which was the trip we made to Mom, 3 hours each way. Because of Covid, we didn't do anything else.

$431 auto insurance budgeted monthly but paid every 6 months (Aug & Feb).

Spent on a couple small things, most notably $91 on clothes. I had started the year thinking clothing was significant and needed to be tracked. But that's close to $10/month. Not nothing, but also not worth special attention. Wardrobe should be good for the rest of the year, now.

kittykat · « **Reply #82 on:** September 03, 2020, 07:45:14 AM »

| Fun Out | Restaurants | Groceries | Shopping | Total |
NOV 2019 | $ 412 | $ 843 | $ 510 | $ 2,791 | $ 4,556 |
DEC 2019 | $ 26 | $ 682 | $ 634 | $ 3,473 | $ 4,815 |
JAN 2020 | $ 118 | $ 147 | $ 678 | $ 86 | $ 1,029 |
FEB 2020 | $ 232 | $ 253 | $ 687 | $ 229 | $ 1,401 |
MAR 2020 | $ 110 | $ 30 | $ 1,448 | $ 1,420 | $ 3,008 |
APR 2020 | $ 0 | $ 111 | $ 965 | $ 723 | $ 1,799 |
MAY 2020 | $ 0 | $ 232 | $ 1,326 | $ 1,824 | $ 3,382 |
JUN 2020 | $ 0 | $ 274 | $ 1,034 | $ 348 | $ 1,656 |
JUL 2020 | $ 0 | $ 346 | $ 989 | $ 87 | $ 1,422 |
AUG 2020 | $ 0 | $ 669 | $ 570 | $ 21 | $ 1,260 |

|-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|

August was one of my lowest spending months yay. Even though I ate out a bunch of times my food spending was a little lower; some how it turned out in direct proportion to my grocery reduction... I'm still scratching my head about that one. I guess the restaurant portions are so big for us that we end up with leftovers that become a second meal, so maybe that's why.
Also, it was my birthday month and at the end of the month I bought myself a couple of things which I did not include in this budgeting, because, well it was a gift to self so I'm not going to stress myself out about it.

SotI · « **Reply #83 on:** September 05, 2020, 05:01:22 AM »

Update YoY, total expense.
Downward trend continues.

2019 Spend 2020 Spend
Jan 5,797 5,379
Feb 3,523 3,876
March 3,548 4,030
April 3,702 3,774
May 4,469 3,437
June 4,462 3,635
July 3,776 2,938
August 3,423 2,659

zygote · « **Reply #84 on:** September 30, 2020, 09:21:38 AM »

This month...ouch. I spent almost $10,000. $6500 of that went directly to the orthodontist. I never had braces as a kid because my teeth aren't cosmetically that bad, but some minor bite issues and crowding are causing dental problems now that I'm older. I've been thinking about doing this for a year or two based on the advice of my dentist, and researched a lot of orthodontists. This seems to be the going rate if you want quality care from a good one in my city, and I'm very comfortable with the orthodontist I chose. I got a discount for paying everything up front, so I did. But this is why it's good to be frugal! I was able to save up the cash quickly and pay for this necessary health procedure without any financial pain.

As for the other $3500 I spent, definitely some unnecessary splurges in there. Especially eating out. The pandemic has limited a lot of my hobbies, and I'm just mentally burnt out by the whole thing. It's made it much more tempting to give in and throw money at one of the few things that I can still do to bring me joy, especially when it saves me the energy of cooking. I'm honestly okay with it right now, because I want all these restaurants to still be here when things get back to whatever the new normal will look like.

philli14 · « **Reply #85 on:** September 30, 2020, 01:38:48 PM »

| Gas/Fuel | Restaurants | "Shopping" | Groceries | Total |
2018 AVG | $ 160 | $ 541 | $ 422 | $ 195 | $ 2902 |
2019 AVG | $ 45 | $ 151 | $ 93 | $ 182 | $ 1464 |
2020 GOAL | $ 40 | $ 100 | $ 50 | $ 200 | $ 1200 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
JAN | $ 27 | $ 137 | $ 73 | $ 273 | $ 1247 |
FEB | $ 26 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 278 | $ 921 |
MAR | $ 41 | $ 164 | $ 0 | $ 142 | $ 912 |
APR | $ 0 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 229 | $ 807 |
MAY | $ 21 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 394 | $ 973 |
JUN | $ 21 | $ 223 | $ 0 | $ 209 | $ 1011 |
JUL | $ 23 | $ 78 | $ 156 | $ 194 | $ 966 |
AUG | $ 23 | $ 151 | $ 53 | $ 277 | $ 1430 |
SEP | $ 24 | $ 101 | $ 8 | $ 362 | $ 1426 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 AVG | $ 23 | $ 95 | $ 32 | $ 262 | $ 1077 |

Still well below my total spend goal, groceries is a little out of hand mostly from the reduction in my restaurants spending and my craft beer hobby :) All in all still very happy, but would like to finish off the year strong, try to get total spend under 1k and try to get groceries down near my goal.

middo · « **Reply #86 on:** October 01, 2020, 06:23:51 PM »

We had a better month, and are now at 9% down from last year. Aim is 10%. The main points:

Our food bills are starting to come down. I know we can live on $400 a month, but it has been much more this year. I feel that food prices are higher, but also we are limited in where we can shop due to the current lockdown.
Non-food was still a bit high. We bought my wife a watch, and there are other things that add up, such as printer costs.
Transport was up this month, even though I bought no fuel. I did some repairs to my wife's motorbike. There will be a few more before it is back to showroom condition.
Utilities returned to a more reasonable level. This years utilities will have a double hot of rates from some properties as I deferred some of them last year, but paid them up front this year.

oneday · « **Reply #87 on:** October 05, 2020, 05:56:48 PM »

Well done, @middo you are almost there!

September wrap up

| Entertain | Restaurants | Groceries | Total |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DEC 2019 | $ 358 | $ 309 | $ 281 | $ 3553 |
JAN 2020 | $ 231 | $ 293 | $ 206 | $ 3109 |
FEB 2020 | $ 529 | $ 311 | $ 152 | $ 4345 |
MAR 2020 | $ -79 | $ 193 | $ 146 | $ 3804 |
APR 2020 | $ 4 | $ 47 | $ 285 | $ 3175 |
MAY 2020 | $ 37 | $ 103 | $ 110 | $ 3912 |
JUN 2020 | $ 2 | $ 55 | $ 186 | $ 2825 |
JUL 2020 | $ 39 | $ 35 | $ 443 | $ 3250 |
AUG 2020 | $ 40 | $ 28 | $ 141 | $ 3233 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
TOT | $ 1,161 | $ 1,378 | $ 1,950 | $ 31,206 |
AVG | $ 129 | $ 153 | $ 217 | $ 3467 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
SEP 2020 | $ 124 | $ 53 | $ 215 | $ 3733 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DIF | $ 5 | $ 100 | $ 2 | $ 500 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|

Compared to historical average (Dec 2019-Aug 2020):

Key categories are down or about the same as last month, OK. But overall I spent $500 more.

Biggest was $300 on a photo scanner. This is only half the cost...it was split with Mom. And some of that will come back to me when we are done scanning photos & re-sell it. But for now, it's a hit on the cash flow.

$140 for a few items I picked up for a family member at Costco and will be reimbursed in October.

Next was $110 for an air purifier...just in time for the skies to clear, lol. I live in CA/fire country, so it will come in handy and I'm glad I got it.

It felt like a high-spending month, due to a bunch of things:
$25 for supplies to fix boyfriend's loveseat
$214 groceries bounced up again
$175 last payment on Invisalign
$124 bike part needed due to bike crash
$116 A/C recharge in car

I am surprised that I'm only $500 more than last month.

kittykat · « **Reply #88 on:** October 08, 2020, 05:00:34 PM »

| Fun Out | Restaurants | Groceries | Shopping | Total |
NOV 2019 | $ 412 | $ 843 | $ 510 | $ 2,791 | $ 4,556 |
DEC 2019 | $ 26 | $ 682 | $ 634 | $ 3,473 | $ 4,815 |
JAN 2020 | $ 118 | $ 147 | $ 678 | $ 86 | $ 1,029 |
FEB 2020 | $ 232 | $ 253 | $ 687 | $ 229 | $ 1,401 |
MAR 2020 | $ 110 | $ 30 | $ 1,448 | $ 1,420 | $ 3,008 |
APR 2020 | $ 0 | $ 111 | $ 965 | $ 723 | $ 1,799 |
MAY 2020 | $ 0 | $ 232 | $ 1,326 | $ 1,824 | $ 3,382 |
JUN 2020 | $ 0 | $ 274 | $ 1,034 | $ 348 | $ 1,656 |
JUL 2020 | $ 0 | $ 346 | $ 989 | $ 87 | $ 1,422 |
AUG 2020 | $ 0 | $ 669 | $ 570 | $ 21 | $ 1,260 |
SEP 2020 | $ 47 | $ 1,564 | $ 401 | $ 622 | $ 2,634 |

|-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|

September was expensive because I moved and long story short I haven't been able to use my new kitchen yet, so we've been eating out every single day. My shopping was higher because of my winery subscription for several bottles of wine. Can't wait to get fully settled in and back on track, but moving is expensive and I won't be doing it again in the next decade.

Queen Frugal · « **Reply #89 on:** October 19, 2020, 09:02:14 PM »

| Groceries | Entertainment | Clothing | Travel | Total |
2018 AVG | $ 738 | $ 42 | $ 86 | $ 463 | $ 3719 |
2019 AVG | $ 614 | $ 88 | $ 51 | $ 63 | $ 3855 |
|-------------|----------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 GOAL | $ 400 | $ 50 | $ 60 | $ 100 | $ 3300 |
|-------------|----------------|------------|------------|------------|
JAN | $ 287 | $ 24 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 2255 |
FEB | $ 349 | $ 0 | $ 63 | $ 55 | $ 2327 |
MAR | $ 728 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 3407 |
APR | $ 423 | $ 71 | $ 30 | $ 414 | $ 3791 |
MAY | $ 412 | $ 0 | $ 78 | $ 173 | $ 4139 |
JUN | $ 424 | $ 71 | $ 30 | $ 414 | $ 4360 |
JUL | $ 596 | $ 7 | $ 10 | $ 228 | $ 3782 |
AUG | $ 555 | $ 31 | $ 129 | $ 69 | $ 3115 |
SEP | $ 881 | $ 12 | $ 57 | $ 0 | $ 3921 |

|-------------|----------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 AVG | $ 565 | $ 16 | $ 41 | $ 91 | $ 3431 |

Catching up on my entries! I'm not doing so hot on the groceries or overall spending but I'm holding on in the other categories!

zygote · « **Reply #90 on:** November 01, 2020, 09:45:15 AM »

Another high-ish month at $3450. A lot of medium expenses cropped up - a vet bill, a winter CSA payment, some necessary clothing, some extra donations. This month will probably be similarly high because my phone is dying and I'm going to need a new one. Oh well. At least my spending was lower than expected at the beginning of the year.

middo · « **Reply #91 on:** November 01, 2020, 02:51:22 PM »

October update:

Down 8.5% for the year so far. The largest $ increase from last year is attached to my utilities, which I couldn't understand. A bit of digging, and I found that last year I paid my many council rates in installments, which meant the $3100 of last years rates fell into this year. That means that last year is down $3100 more than it should be, and this year is up $3100 more than it should be. If I account for that, I am actually down this year on utilities, which makes me happy.

Our food bills are still higher than last year. Anecdotally, meat prices here are around double what they were last year. Not all meat prices, but the bottom end mince (ground) beef and cheaper roasts we would cut up for stir fries. They have gone from around $6 per kilogram to around $12 a kilo. Vegetables are also more expensive than last year.

Most other categories are down a fair bit from last year.

Queen Frugal · « **Reply #92 on:** November 01, 2020, 06:33:18 PM »

Quote from: Queen Frugal on October 19, 2020, 09:02:14 PM

| Groceries | Entertainment | Clothing | Travel | Total |
2018 AVG | $ 738 | $ 42 | $ 86 | $ 463 | $ 3719 |
2019 AVG | $ 614 | $ 88 | $ 51 | $ 63 | $ 3855 |
|-------------|----------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 GOAL | $ 400 | $ 50 | $ 60 | $ 100 | $ 3300 |
|-------------|----------------|------------|------------|------------|
JAN | $ 287 | $ 24 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 2255 |
FEB | $ 349 | $ 0 | $ 63 | $ 55 | $ 2327 |
MAR | $ 728 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 3407 |
APR | $ 423 | $ 71 | $ 30 | $ 414 | $ 3791 |
MAY | $ 412 | $ 0 | $ 78 | $ 173 | $ 4139 |
JUN | $ 424 | $ 71 | $ 30 | $ 414 | $ 4360 |
JUL | $ 596 | $ 7 | $ 10 | $ 228 | $ 3782 |
AUG | $ 555 | $ 31 | $ 129 | $ 69 | $ 3115 |
SEP | $ 881 | $ 12 | $ 57 | $ 0 | $ 3921 |
OCT | $ 566 | $ 8 | $ 270 | $ 0 | $ 3245 |
|-------------|----------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 AVG | $ 567 | $ 16 | $ 64 | $ 82 | $ 3412 |

I think I know where that extra grocery money went - I ate it! COVID has not been kind to my waistline. The first 6 months of the pandemic I spent chasing my tail, not eating heathy, not working out... Ugh. I have been doing much better the last 30 days though.

So I needed clothes that fit because my waistline has expanded and I spent a lot of money on clothes in October. Most of the purchases came from Goodwill and I'm okay with those. I also had to buy my growing kiddo a new coat and new shoes. Normally I would buy such things from garage sales but this year I just had to cough up the extra dough. We should be good on clothes for some time though.

oneday · « **Reply #93 on:** November 06, 2020, 12:55:29 PM »

October wrap up

| Entertain | Restaurants | Groceries | Total |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DEC 2019 | $ 358 | $ 309 | $ 281 | $ 3553 |
JAN 2020 | $ 231 | $ 293 | $ 206 | $ 3109 |
FEB 2020 | $ 529 | $ 311 | $ 152 | $ 4345 |
MAR 2020 | $ -79 | $ 193 | $ 146 | $ 3804 |
APR 2020 | $ 4 | $ 47 | $ 285 | $ 3175 |
MAY 2020 | $ 37 | $ 103 | $ 110 | $ 3912 |
JUN 2020 | $ 2 | $ 55 | $ 186 | $ 2825 |
JUL 2020 | $ 39 | $ 35 | $ 443 | $ 3250 |
AUG 2020 | $ 40 | $ 28 | $ 141 | $ 3233 |
SEP 2020 | $ 124 | $ 53 | $ 215 | $ 3733 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
TOT | $ 1,285 | $ 1,431 | $ 2,165 | $ 34,939 |
AVG | $ 129 | $ 143 | $ 217 | $ 3494 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
OCT 2020 | $ 223 | $ 89 | $ 247 | $ 4006 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DIF | $ 94 | $ 54 | $ 30 | $ 512 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|

Compared to historical average (Dec 2019-Sep2020):

Overspent my new average by $500 again. This time in different categories. And I'm not surprised this month is high.

For one, spent $790 on the vet, so I now know my cat's issues are not heart-related. Again, I was able to finance this at 0%, thank goodness. So while it's hitting my budget, cash flow is manageable. I was planning to pay the vet bills off once I got a job, but maybe I'll just cash flow them. I'll decide once I have a paycheck...it *is* nice to have one less financial task to manage every month.

Groceries are up again, but I'm just resigned to that for the duration of my lease with this particular room mate. Doing what I can to keep it down, but not stressing when it's high.

My car needed another $192 in maintenance. This has been an expensive year for my 2011 Honda Fit, because even though I haven't had a job and the pandemic has kept me from doing much other driving, I went on two cross-country trips and hit 100,000 miles, which was the service interval for a lot of things. Plus, it's generally older now. I expect the next 12 months to be far less expensive.

The place where my budget went most awry was personal spending. Not in amount, but in frivolity. I bought some jewelry for myself, which is out of character to begin with, but it was "fine" jewelry, not a costume piece, and that is very odd for me. I "only" spent $135, and I am very happy with the piece, but I'd fallen for Marketing. The jeweler will take any of their pieces in on trade, only you have to spend 2x as much as the value they are giving you. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't persisted in getting something once I learned this, as I was expecting to spend $0. For the rest of the pieces, I'm just going to try to sell or pawn them. I won't get as much, but it won't cost me money!!!

kittykat · « **Reply #94 on:** November 08, 2020, 04:19:59 PM »

| Fun Out | Restaurants | Groceries | Shopping | Total |
NOV 2019 | $ 412 | $ 843 | $ 510 | $ 2,791 | $ 4,556 |
DEC 2019 | $ 26 | $ 682 | $ 634 | $ 3,473 | $ 4,815 |
JAN 2020 | $ 118 | $ 147 | $ 678 | $ 86 | $ 1,029 |
FEB 2020 | $ 232 | $ 253 | $ 687 | $ 229 | $ 1,401 |
MAR 2020 | $ 110 | $ 30 | $ 1,448 | $ 1,420 | $ 3,008 |
APR 2020 | $ 0 | $ 111 | $ 965 | $ 723 | $ 1,799 |
MAY 2020 | $ 0 | $ 232 | $ 1,326 | $ 1,824 | $ 3,382 |
JUN 2020 | $ 0 | $ 274 | $ 1,034 | $ 348 | $ 1,656 |
JUL 2020 | $ 0 | $ 346 | $ 989 | $ 87 | $ 1,422 |
AUG 2020 | $ 0 | $ 669 | $ 570 | $ 21 | $ 1,260 |
SEP 2020 | $ 47 | $ 1,564 | $ 401 | $ 622 | $ 2,634 |
OCT 2020 | $ 0 | $ 936 | $ 1,220 | $ 912 | $ 3,068 |

|-----------|-------------|------------|--------------|-------------|

I did a bunch of shopping for the new house in October, but that should wrap it up for now. About mid-way through the month I got use of my kitchen back, so the restaurant spending was less than last month and should be back to normal for November. Once I got my kitchen back then I stocked up on a bunch of groceries, so that spending picked back up and should also normalize at about the same number starting November.

SotI · « **Reply #95 on:** November 15, 2020, 10:09:37 AM »

Update YoY, total expense.
Bad month in Oct (vet costs, again).

2019 Spend 2020 Spend
Jan 5,797 5,379
Feb 3,523 3,876
March 3,548 4,030
April 3,702 3,774
May 4,469 3,437
June 4,462 3,635
July 3,776 2,938
August 3,423 2,659
Sept 3,400 3,012
Oct 3,201 3,858

philli14 · « **Reply #96 on:** November 15, 2020, 12:38:48 PM »

| Gas/Fuel | Restaurants | "Shopping" | Groceries | Total |
2018 AVG | $ 160 | $ 541 | $ 422 | $ 195 | $ 2902 |
2019 AVG | $ 45 | $ 151 | $ 93 | $ 182 | $ 1464 |
2020 GOAL | $ 40 | $ 100 | $ 50 | $ 200 | $ 1200 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
JAN | $ 27 | $ 137 | $ 73 | $ 273 | $ 1247 |
FEB | $ 26 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 278 | $ 921 |
MAR | $ 41 | $ 164 | $ 0 | $ 142 | $ 912 |
APR | $ 0 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 229 | $ 807 |
MAY | $ 21 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 394 | $ 973 |
JUN | $ 21 | $ 223 | $ 0 | $ 209 | $ 1011 |
JUL | $ 23 | $ 78 | $ 156 | $ 194 | $ 966 |
AUG | $ 23 | $ 151 | $ 53 | $ 277 | $ 1430 |
SEP | $ 24 | $ 101 | $ 8 | $ 362 | $ 1426 |
OCT | $ 46 | $ 91 | $ 132 | $ 262 | $ 1683 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 AVG | $ 25 | $ 95 | $ 42 | $ 262 | $ 1138 |

Ouch. Certainly excessive spending this month, but most notable was a big chunky $525 charge that I will be reimbursed for sometime next year. Going to consider it as a spend, and consider the reimbursement later as income.. I want to make the end of the year tighter budget-wise for some inspiration.

Bigger picture, expenses have come down from last year. The worrying trend is the gradual increase in spending over the course of the year. Some unavoidable, but lots of excess.

philli14 · « **Reply #97 on:** December 01, 2020, 08:53:42 AM »

| Gas/Fuel | Restaurants | "Shopping" | Groceries | Total |
2018 AVG | $ 160 | $ 541 | $ 422 | $ 195 | $ 2902 |
2019 AVG | $ 45 | $ 151 | $ 93 | $ 182 | $ 1464 |
2020 GOAL | $ 40 | $ 100 | $ 50 | $ 200 | $ 1200 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
JAN | $ 27 | $ 137 | $ 73 | $ 273 | $ 1247 |
FEB | $ 26 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 278 | $ 921 |
MAR | $ 41 | $ 164 | $ 0 | $ 142 | $ 912 |
APR | $ 0 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 229 | $ 807 |
MAY | $ 21 | $    0 | $ 0 | $ 394 | $ 973 |
JUN | $ 21 | $ 223 | $ 0 | $ 209 | $ 1011 |
JUL | $ 23 | $ 78 | $ 156 | $ 194 | $ 966 |
AUG | $ 23 | $ 151 | $ 53 | $ 277 | $ 1430 |
SEP | $ 24 | $ 101 | $ 8 | $ 362 | $ 1426 |
OCT | $ 46 | $ 91 | $ 132 | $ 262 | $ 1683 |
NOV | $ 23 | $ 131 | $ 6 | $ 216 | $ 950 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|------------|
2020 AVG | $ 25 | $ 98 | $ 39 | $ 258 | $ 1121 |

Solid month. Restaurants creeping closer to the red, but just gives me all the more reason to lock down in December! Should be easy with the current COVID climate and holidays. Still happy YTD, even if the last several months things have slid..

zygote · « **Reply #98 on:** December 01, 2020, 09:49:55 AM »

Spent about $4000 this month, mostly due to lumpy expenses that all fell now. Annual renter's insurance payment, new cell phone, stocked up on things I always use during Black Friday sales, started Christmas shopping. I feel like I've been hemorrhaging money, but somehow it's still $800 less than I spent in November 2019? What was I even buying before the pandemic??

oneday · « **Reply #99 on:** December 19, 2020, 08:52:21 PM »

How is everyone doing towards their 2020 financial goals? Almost at the finish line, y'all!

Very Late November wrap up

| Entertain | Restaurants | Groceries | Total |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DEC 2019 | $ 358 | $ 309 | $ 281 | $ 3553 |
JAN 2020 | $ 231 | $ 293 | $ 206 | $ 3109 |
FEB 2020 | $ 529 | $ 311 | $ 152 | $ 4345 |
MAR 2020 | $ -79 | $ 193 | $ 146 | $ 3804 |
APR 2020 | $ 4 | $ 47 | $ 285 | $ 3175 |
MAY 2020 | $ 37 | $ 103 | $ 110 | $ 3912 |
JUN 2020 | $ 2 | $ 55 | $ 186 | $ 2825 |
JUL 2020 | $ 39 | $ 35 | $ 443 | $ 3250 |
AUG 2020 | $ 40 | $ 28 | $ 141 | $ 3233 |
SEP 2020 | $ 124 | $ 53 | $ 215 | $ 3733 |
OCT 2020 | $ 223 | $ 89 | $ 247 | $ 4006 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
TOT | $ 1,508 | $ 1,520 | $ 2,412 | $ 38,945 |
AVG | $ 137 | $ 138 | $ 219 | $ 3540 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
NOV 2020 | $ 46 | $ 30 | $ 291 | $ 2327 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|
DIF | $ 183 | $ 108 | $ 72 | $ 1183 |
|------------|-------------|------------|------------|

Compared to historical average (Dec 2019-Oct2020):

Very low spending month, despite going on a short trip (isolated for a week, then met family out of town). They put us up and paid for all the food, so generous! Basically my only cost was a tank of gas and $35 for

Also bought the bulk of my holiday gifts this month to the tune $182 and an external hard drive for the photographs I am scanning for $153.

Some more cat and car expenses, $244 altogether.

But I didn't really spend much else. Not sure what was different this month.

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Author Topic: Hold Yourself Openly Accountable for Your Spending in 2020 (Read 11655 times)