Mint Spending Comparison

[Jags4186]

I'm sure many here use Mint.  I just discovered that you can compare your spending by category to other Mint users based on City, State, and the entire USA.

I was both surprised and discouraged to learn I spend nearly the average for my state of NJ.

So far in 2015 I've spent about $16,625.  This includes $1500 towards some wedding expenses, $664 towards new furniture, and a few $100 towards eBay seller fees.  So far this year the average spent by a NJ Mint user is $19,337.

How does everyone here compare?

[StockBeard]

Last time I checked Mint, it only saved your files locally, preventing me from sharing it on several devices, which is why I never installed it. Has that changed?

[sparky28]

Jags, I'm in the same boat spendingwise:
$16,056 spent this year (with 6,855 in payroll tax - how do I show that in Mint?)

The Chicago Average is 24,616 during this time period.

The notable differences:
Auto & Transport (public transit pre-tax FTW!), Utilities, the "Shopping" catchall which covers clothes, gadgets etc. and Housing.

I don't find this surprising as these are pretty much the biggest category of spending in life where I consciously work to whittle down on the extraneous. Other than food. That's still a big weakness of mine.

Cool feature that I didn't know existed before, thanks!

[mathlete]

A $3K difference for roughly half a year is pretty substantial IMO.

Also maybe you make more money than the average NJ person. It stands to reason that people who have more money will spend more money.

[Bracken_Joy]

Last time I checked Mint, it only saved your files locally, preventing me from sharing it on several devices, which is why I never installed it. Has that changed?

? I don't understand your question. My mint account is fully online, they draw the info from accounts every time I log in... I can access it on my phone (they have a great mobile app), my computer, DH's computer, wherever I have net access and I sign on. DH and I share an account and both access it often, from various devices. Does that answer your question?

[Dicey]

I'm sure many here use Mint.

I just discovered that you can compare your spending by category to other Mint users based on City, State, and the entire USA.

How does everyone here compare?

Sorry, Jags, dissenting opinion here. What follows is a not so much a facepunch as it is a challenge to your budding Mustachian chops:

I would believe that fewer people here use the system you're referring to than you think. Please understand that it is a cool tool, but not a replacement for the development of massive internal locus of control muscles (aka Mustachian six-pack abs) that will propel you speedily across the FI threshold.

Also, Mustachians know that keeping up with the Joneses is a fool's errand. To achieve FIRE, one does not fall into the trap of comparing one's spending habits to those of mere mortals. More worthy study subjects might be MMM himself, or the stunningly awesome JL Fisker over at ERE, along with many other talented journal writers on this very forum.

You are doing well compared to the "average", but around here, we strive to be anything but average.

[rubybeth]

I would say, New Jersey is a place with a lot of people, and maybe being 'average' isn't so bad. You're also being compared with people of all income levels.

For Minnesota, in some categories, we way underspent compared to the average, and for others, spent way more (travel: we went to Europe a few weeks ago).

I realize that comparison can sometimes be helpful, but be careful about too much of this. Comparison is the thief of joy, and also not that helpful if you're trying to save more and spend less.

[Dollar Slice]

Kind of interesting results. I compared for 6 months because I moved 10 months ago and switched all my bank accounts etc which confused Mint.

It doesn't really narrow down enough for me to compare like-to-like since I live in Manhattan and they only let me compare to NYC as a whole (which includes a lot of far-flung areas which are much cheaper to live in). I spent much more on rent, a little more on food & dining, and a lot more on entertainment. But everything else was swung dramatically in my direction - I spent less than half on "bills and utilities," a third on health and fitness, 20% on shopping, 5% on transportation, and a total of $4 on "misc" compared to $1500, and $0 on "fees" compared to $300...

Bottom line: If you exclude rent/mortgage (since it's unfair to compare Manhattan with Queens and the Bronx on that metric) my spending is roughly half of my neighbors' spending. And I'm not even trying that hard.

[sallyanne]

Hmm, mixed bag here. Only 7k less spending than US average over the past 12 months. OTOH, family size of 8 is much higher than the US average.

Diane C, I hear your point, but it is still interesting to see!

[GetItRight]

Interesting, when I compare my spending in mint to the average in NJ it says the average NJ Mint user has spend $31,568.74 YTD. I have spent about $33k, with $17k of that being Education (student loans). I wonder why it gives a significantly different number for me? I went into spending by category and selected compare.

Particularly interesting is that it says the average NJ Mint user has spent nearly $11k in taxes YTD. My taxes category is fairly small. Do others track taxes differently than I do? At year end I break out income taxes in one transaction and throughout the year I'll categorize any other clear direct taxes as such. I do not break out property tax into either an explicit category under housing or a general tax category.

[Dollar Slice]

Particularly interesting is that it says the average NJ Mint user has spent nearly $11k in taxes YTD. My taxes category is fairly small. Do others track taxes differently than I do? At year end I break out income taxes in one transaction and throughout the year I'll categorize any other clear direct taxes as such. I do not break out property tax into either an explicit category under housing or a general tax category.

I subtracted taxes out of my comparison entirely since mine don't show up at all in Mint (income tax deducted from paycheck before it hits the bank, no property tax or other tax). But I guess that's not apples-to-apples because property tax is theoretically built in to my rent. My numbers look a lot better if I put the taxes paid by my fellow New Yorkers in the "rent and mortgage" category. Hmm.

[StockBeard]

Last time I checked Mint, it only saved your files locally, preventing me from sharing it on several devices, which is why I never installed it. Has that changed?

? I don't understand your question. My mint account is fully online, they draw the info from accounts every time I log in... I can access it on my phone (they have a great mobile app), my computer, DH's computer, wherever I have net access and I sign on. DH and I share an account and both access it often, from various devices. Does that answer your question?

Yes it does. I assume the tool has dramatically evolved, or now that I think about it it is possible I was looking at another finance tool...
Thanks for the answer.

[Jags4186]

Interesting, when I compare my spending in mint to the average in NJ it says the average NJ Mint user has spend $31,568.74 YTD. I have spent about $33k, with $17k of that being Education (student loans). I wonder why it gives a significantly different number for me? I went into spending by category and selected compare.

Particularly interesting is that it says the average NJ Mint user has spent nearly $11k in taxes YTD. My taxes category is fairly small. Do others track taxes differently than I do? At year end I break out income taxes in one transaction and throughout the year I'll categorize any other clear direct taxes as such. I do not break out property tax into either an explicit category under housing or a general tax category.

I can't say for sure but perhaps it only compares your categories to others with the same category.

I just pay payroll taxes and therefore have no "taxes" category.  It doesn't compare my "taxes" category to anyone else.

But I'm curious...for NJ I put in "this year" and under the Food & Dining category it says average spent for NJ is $2,274.79 YTD.  I wonder if someone else does that what they get.

[Jags4186]

I'm sure many here use Mint.

I just discovered that you can compare your spending by category to other Mint users based on City, State, and the entire USA.

How does everyone here compare?

Sorry, Jags, dissenting opinion here. What follows is a not so much a facepunch as it is a challenge to your budding Mustachian chops:

I would believe that fewer people here use the system you're referring to than you think. Please understand that it is a cool tool, but not a replacement for the development of massive internal locus of control muscles (aka Mustachian six-pack abs) that will propel you speedily across the FI threshold.

Also, Mustachians know that keeping up with the Joneses is a fool's errand. To achieve FIRE, one does not fall into the trap of comparing one's spending habits to those of mere mortals. More worthy study subjects might be MMM himself, or the stunningly awesome JL Fisker over at ERE, along with many other talented journal writers on this very forum.

You are doing well compared to the "average", but around here, we strive to be anything but average.

Hi Diane,

I was comparing myself because I was HOPING to find out I was being pretty frugal compared to everyone else.  What I found was that I am only marginally better than average which disappoints me.

I'm curious how they mine the data.  It seems users below my post put in similar information and have different results...

[MLKnits]

I'm not sure where Mint gets its "averages" (other Mint users?) so I usually don't look at that, but I have a great time comparing my own recent, thoughtful spending against past, spendy-pants numbers.

For instance: for the last six months vs. the six before, my grocery spending is up 39%, but my everything-in food spending (groceries, restaurants, coffee, alcohol) is down by half. Very pleased indeed!

Overall "shopping" is down 80% in the same comparison--very pleased with that! (Though also appalled at past!me ...)

Anyone else compare their current, mustachian selves to their past spending on Mint?

[Bracken_Joy]

I'm not sure where Mint gets its "averages" (other Mint users?) so I usually don't look at that, but I have a great time comparing my own recent, thoughtful spending against past, spendy-pants numbers.

For instance: for the last six months vs. the six before, my grocery spending is up 39%, but my everything-in food spending (groceries, restaurants, coffee, alcohol) is down by half. Very pleased indeed!

Overall "shopping" is down 80% in the same comparison--very pleased with that! (Though also appalled at past!me ...)

Anyone else compare their current, mustachian selves to their past spending on Mint?

That's the main way I use Mint, especially looking at what I spent in budget areas I have more control over- restaunrants, bars, entertainment, etc.

[Zikoris]

I don't see it - maybe it's not available to Canadians yet?

We've spent $13,086 so far this year, as a couple living in a major city. Biggest categories are housing ($4675), vacations to Hong Kong/Macau and Iceland ($4444), and food ($1636).

[Kaspian]

I was comparing myself because I was HOPING to find out I was being pretty frugal compared to everyone else.  What I found was that I am only marginally better than average which disappoints me.

You shouldn't do the opposite of "keeping up with the Joneses", whatever that is?  "Undercutting the Joneses"?  Comparing yourself against others is one of the plagues of society.  We are golden gods of rippling frugal muscle who stand on money pedestals.  We make ourselves better and do not look at the other statues.   I compare year/year against myself, trying to slim things down.  ...Turns out I've been a real spendypants douchebag this year.  Last year's me is delivering time-travel facepunches through his TARDIS.  :(

(I will indulge one comparison--good job, Zikoris!! You beat me out and I'm single and rent a one-bedroom apartment in a small Canadian city.) 

[TrMama]

I'd guess that the average Mint user is more financially astute than the average person on the street. It is, after all, a financial tool for people who like crunching their personal spending numbers. I'm pretty sure your comparison isn't really a comparison to all people in NJ. It's a comparison to other Mint users in NJ, and they are probably already spending less than the "average".

[Dicey]

Hi Diane,
I was comparing myself because I was HOPING to find out I was being pretty frugal compared to everyone else.  What I found was that I am only marginally better than average which disappoints me.

Wow! That is the perfect response. Now channel that disappointment when something shiny catches your eye and you'll be way above average in no time.

BTW - I agree that tracking can be really rewarding and is, in fact, essential. I just don't think that the majority of folks around here use that particular tool. My point is that the tool is far less important than the behavior. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

[simmias]

Wow, something is jacked up with their numbers.  Mint is telling me that the average person in the U.S. spent $800 total for housing over the last three months, and $400 total for food.

[dunhamjr]

the other side of this spending thought is savings.

yeah you might be "only" just below average in spending but I would have to assume your savings rate is much higher than average

[randymarsh]

I find the Mint comparisons aren't crazy useful in some categories. If you want to see how you stack up on Walmart purchases, it's useful. But for other transactions, not so much. I still pay my rent by check. I'm sure a lot of other people do too. By default, Mint shows this as "Check"  instead of "Mortgage & Rent". If I didn't manually change this, my rent would never be included in the average.

I've also had random times where a gas station will get categorized as "Alcohol & Bars". Many people probably don't catch this sort of thing.

[MLKnits]

Wow, something is jacked up with their numbers.  Mint is telling me that the average person in the U.S. spent $800 total for housing over the last three months, and $400 total for food.

That's interesting--I usually see outrageously high housing "averages" when I look at Mint, like $100,000+ per year. That's one of the reasons I stopped looking at those supposed averages.