I am having a bit of an internal struggle here about what counts in various categories. I had a dentist appointment and I counted the money I spent for that as "health" because I took the money out of my HSA for it. However, I paid for my fitness classes out of my checking account, so I categorized those as "fitness." I feel like they're really sort of the same, but somehow they seem different. I don't know. Do you have any areas that are problematic to categorize?
Groceries (29.6%) - Roughly the same as last month. The only thing is that my husband paid for a very spendy trip to Costco instead of me, so this should probably be higher.
Pets (14.1%) - Honestly, the prices just keep going up. Four years ago, the exact same cat food for Zelda was roughly $42 and this month I paid more that $73.
Health (11.7%) - I paid for a periodontist appointment. This money came out of my HSA, but it's still money out of my pocket.
Cars (10.2%) - I bought gas for one of the cars and took our newer car for an oil change/tire rotation.
Clothes (8.9%) - I purchased a few new dresses for work that were on clearance as places make way for warmer weather clothing. This is part of me moving towards a uniform for work and I'll be doing a longer post about my work clothes later on this month. I think at this point to complete my work wardrobe I could use one more sleeved dress, a pair or two of work appropriate leggings, and 2-3 cardigans and/or structured jackets. Maaaaybe another pair of dark jeans, but I'm trying to steer away from jeans because I always wear through them so quickly. I'm quite intentional about my wardrobe.
Gifts (7.6%) - This seems more brutal than it is. I had to buy cards for Valentine's Day AND St. Patrick's Day this month and I had to buy a roll of stamps. It added up pretty quickly.
Donations (6.1%) - I made a donation to our public library and to a Go Fund Me for a friend in need.
Bills (3.8%) - Car and home insurance.
Fitness (2.0%) - I paid for some fitness classes.
Miscellaneous (2.0%) - A couple of things for around the house that don't really fit any category.
Savings (1.6%) - Egads. I need to do better here.
Eating out (0.7%) - I stopped for coffee (technically a decaf americano) a few times this month.
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What did you spend the biggest chunk of your money on last month?
Ooooh I am here for the wardrobe/ uniform discussion. I love love love clothes chat!!! Can't wait to hear more. I love how much you wear dresses!
ReplyDeleteMy number one expenditure is always the same - groceries! It's a huge expenditure for us. I did have a big chunk of clothing expenditures too last month as I needed new sunglasses and I also bought new bras, which is a huge thing for me because I hate buying bras.
Yes, I was a bit disappointed in much the clothing percentage was, but I do need a work wardrobe. I also might consider buying a bra or two in the next few months, but I hate the whole process so this will probably be a conversation we have at this time next year, too.
DeleteI categorize fitness and dental both as health. I personally like to have less categories, but I do have a subcategory column which is just for me. For my big pie though, I try to keep it simple. My hardest one to categorize is when it really covers two categories, like when I eat out when traveling. Do I class that as travel? If so, "travel" becomes kind of big. When I drive to Tahoe for a weekend of running and eat out, is that a "travel" or an "entertainment" (running) or an "eating out?" Those kinds of things are hardest for me.
ReplyDeleteWhere is your Home category? How are your bills so low? Home is definitely my largest, and includes mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, internet, water/sewer, garbage, phone and any repairs, furniture and whatnot. It is usually about 60% of my spending! Yours is so tiny! I assume your house is paid off but what about electricity and gas etc.?
Ooohhh...I explained this last month, but not this month. My husband pays our "big" bills like the car payment and mortgage. I pay a couple of smaller bills, but because I pay for the pets and groceries, this is our equal split. We each have separate checking accounts and a shared savings account.
DeleteTravel is so hard to classify! I classify all the eating out as "eating out" when I travel and the only real travel expenses would be things like plane tickets, hotel stays, rental cars, etc. If we do a car trip, I also just put any gas expenditures under cars. But it is so hard to decide sometimes.
Oops, I must have missed your last post about this! That makes way more sense. I also love that you have separate checking but a shared savings where you can plan for whatever life things you want to save for. I like having financial independence, even when you are sharing a life with someone. It just feels less stifling to me, even if you are essentially splitting things in half anyway.
DeleteYou inspire me to do this. I track, in that I have categories that I mark, but I haven't done a monthly look. My February would find the biggest expense being the house. ($5,000 for mold removal, along with supplies like contractor bags, lysol wipes and rubber gloves to put things back together will do that to you!)
ReplyDeleteUgh. I hate it when there are big house things that don't really change much about the house! Last year we had a big HVAC replacement and it was $$$$ and literally there was no noticeable difference. It just feels like that money has disappeared!
DeleteI just tracked our Feb expenditures yesterday so this is perfect timing.
ReplyDeleteOur top five biggest expenses:
1) House investment - a big lump payment on our mortgage + regular mortgage payments
2) Household - this was mostly a big fuel delivery + electric bill
3) Charitable
4) Groceries
5) Auto - We spend a lot in gas - trips to the ski hill, airport runs (which technically we get reimbursed for so this is a bit of a tricky thing to account for, but this isn't factoring in the reimbursements)
We do a double payment for our mortgage every February, so I know that was a big chunk of my husband's expenses. I sort of want to ask him to track his expenses, but I know he won't do it to the same level of detail I do and it'll frustrate him, so I just have the most general of understandings of what his budget looks like. I'll say "musical instruments" is an entire category he has that I do not!
DeleteProbably my trip to NYC... Hotel was $350 for two nights, I treated myself to a massage, then bought a ticket to a play, then went to a steak house... Thankfully, the conference + food+transport was paid for by my employer... But still.
ReplyDeleteHotels are so expensive! It definitely makes our mortgage look inexpensive compared to what it cost to be in a hotel for an entire month.
DeleteI had to get an eye exam and buy contacts, so that one probably. Our van currently has no heat, and my husband drives it so I figured he'd get it fixed quickly, but nope, just driving it around cold, out of procrastination more than fear of the expense, although the expense will probably be annoying. I also bought tickets to a musical in May for Eve's birthday present.
ReplyDeleteOf all the things I could NOT live with in terms of a car issue in Canada, no heat would be it. Gah!!! This literally gives me the shivers.
DeleteHa ha! The fan in our older car doesn't work, so the heat and AC are not at all effective in it. We have decided not to fix it and we just bundle up in the winter when we drive it and sweat like crazy in the summer.
DeleteI would probably classify your fitness classes under health, myself. That's where I would categorize my Peloton membership when I had it.
ReplyDeleteI just did my final February spending report and ooh, it's not pretty. Food is, as always, my biggest spending category (after bills).
Food is so expensive. I don't feel like we're eating more, but the bills have skyrocketed. It's all those expensive cucumbers I'm buying!
DeleteGroceries. They're SO expensive. I guess we should be lucky we didn't have any health or car expenses in February. OH. We had a major, major expense. We bought my daughter a new flute- an upgrade from what she had (obviously) that's good enough to see her through college. Sigh. Kids are expensive!
ReplyDeleteWell, a flute will be a long-lasting investment, so it's worth it! Especially since she's so talented and invested in music.
DeleteI used to count and log everything I spent through the month, but got out of the habit and I can say I don't miss it. I feel like utilities and groceries are the biggest spend for us.
ReplyDeleteI didn't log last year and I feel like the lack of knowledge was detrimental to my mental health. I just worried about money a lot without having data. At least this way I can be anxious, but know why I'm anxious. LOL.
DeleteI feel so seen! I, too, have been working on my version of a work uniform to make my in office days a bit easier for me (well, I am avoiding thinking about shoes because I am loving just wearing my sneakers so I can do laps around when I need to walk away). I am so intrigued by you and others who track spending in such a specific way. I will have to try once I get all my financial things figured out in the next few months. I mean, if just for the charts it would be worth it!!
ReplyDeleteMy uniform is so simple and yet I think it looks put together enough. I have a relatively casual workplace and no one has ever said anything about the fact that I essentially wear the same eight items of clothing over and over again. It makes getting dressed in the morning so easy!
DeleteI do not include expenses that come from my HSA when I put my annual spending report together. I feel like that bucket of money is so completely separate and my employer makes some contrtibutions towards it. It is an expense, but I have quite a large balance in that account so it still feels like it's not truly coming out of pocket. But I also don't include things like health insurance premiums that are deducted from my paycheck. I am only looking at things that hit our checking accounts/credit cards/etc.
ReplyDeleteI have a work uniform, too. It's pretty much all dresses. I have spent some money recently to build up my work wardrobe but I figure it's an investment. I bought a couple of long sleeved dresses from Boden for the spring. I now have 4 dresses, just different colors of the same dress. But it's a great silhouette for me - and it has sleeves and pockets! I need sleeves year round since offices are so freaking cold!
Boden! They have some cute clothes. A lot of their clothes aren't natural fabrics, so they don't always work for me, but the Boden clothes I do have are a great quality. Sleeves are super important to me, too, so you're not alone.
DeleteI love your mindful acquisition of work clothes... I've fallen into a uniform that I'm happy with and doesn't take much mental effort, but the process was nothing as meticulous as yours sounds.
ReplyDeleteOh, it wasn't meticulous to being with. It's just that I noticed I was gravitating towards a certain look for work and then I just leaned into that. Now it's much more thoughtful, but it is thoughtful by accident.
DeleteI love how mindful you are about your clothing. Unfortunately, I'm not there yet, in a "Can't afford that" sense. I buy less expensive things, but either a) secondhand, and b) keep them forever. For now, that's going to have to do. Sigh. I am breaking down all of my expenses to this level of detail now, and it's fascinating to get a better picture of where all the money goes. I will have to have a reckoning with myself, I suspect...
ReplyDeleteClothes are very challenging because very few us can just go get whatever we want whenever we want! I do keep clothes for a long time when I buy them and I try to repair when possible. That Betabrand dress, for example, was pretty long when I first bought it and I hemmed to a shorter length. But it's hard because my wardrobe isn't exactly what I want it to be!
DeleteI actually really like tracking my expenses. It's eye-opening how much things cost.