As a reminder, my husband pays the "big bills" like mortgage, phone, car, and electricity. I pay for groceries and the pets and that somehow evens things out. The big story here is that I bought a lot of gifts. Not too shocking, I guess.
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Miscellaneous ($13.37, <1%) - I had to print off some photos for work. I teach a first year seminar and I take photos all semester long and then each student gets a packet at the end of the semester. The students like it, I think.
Fitness ($141.25, 3.6%) - This was fitness classes through March.
Bills ($132.83, 5.7%) - Insurance for house and car. This has gone up a bit because of the new car. That's what we like to call lifestyle creep.
Health ($141.25, 6%) - Anyone want to know how much I spent on physical therapy this year?
Savings ($200, 8.5%) - This is going to be better next year!
Entertainment ($207.49, 8.9%) - Spotify subscription, tickets for the lights at the Rotary Gardens, and a big chunk for my 2026 planner.
Pets ($243.30, 10.4%) - Zelda food and Hannah probiotics.
Groceries ($652.97, 27.9%) - I say it every month and it continues to be true, but we gotta eat.
Gifts ($663.95, 28.4%) - This is more complicated than it might seem. Here's how it broke down.
Christmas gifts for my husband are about half
Secret SANta gift and shipping
Gifts for student workers, janitorial staff at school (cash)
Retirement gift to the lady who used to organize yoga at school
Books for the two nephews we got in the holiday draw
Gifts for the mail lady (cash)
I don't think your grocery spending is high. That works out to be about $10 per day per person. Given you have some very strict dietary restrictions in your home, you're doing well. Your car insurance is so low! And that includes a new car? I need to do some shopping around for a new policy.
ReplyDeleteI find these really interesting, as I buy for a small horde of children and adults. Very direct lifestyles, but some things are similar. I didn't spend more on Chrismas presents than food, but the food bill makes yours look miniscule.
The grocery numbers are drastically deflated because my husband did TWO Costco runs last month while I was at work, so overall household expenses for groceries are probably closer to $1000.
DeleteYou're going to be very upset with me, but that's our home AND auto insurance. We live in a LCOL area and have never made an insurance claim. We also shopped around like crazy.
Groceries, omg, so expensive. And now it's chocolate! Well, it used to be vanilla so I guess things even out in the baking department.
ReplyDeleteI can't even really find vanilla beans anymore. I'm almost out and I might have to resort to buying some *online.* I don't want to do that!
DeleteWell, I always find it interesting to see how other people are spending their money. I DEFINITELY spent more on gifts than groceries last month, and our grocery bill was a lot more than yours. Eesh.
ReplyDeleteWell, you were feeding 3.5 people! That's a lot more than us. I'd expect you to spend more!
DeleteI like them. Gives me a comparison. Hope you keep doing them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input. Duly noted!
DeleteHmm. I like reading these posts because I am nosy. However, I think the decision really needs to reflect your own goals -- like, is it important/useful that you track this data? If yes, and posting it here helps keep you accountable, then I would keep doing it. If your main goal is increasing engagement on your blog, and these posts don't generate much engagement, then maybe you stop posting them?
ReplyDeleteThis is a good framing of the situation. I mostly do them because they are helpful *to me.* I just don't want to bore readers, although I guess they could just skip the post if they hate them. I feel like I will keep doing them just so I can have the accountability.
DeleteI enjoy these posts! I can't really do a direct dollar to dollar comparison with my budget obviously, (different geographic areas for one) but I do like looking at the percentages and seeing how they compare with mine. I don't usually leave a comment though...
ReplyDeleteThis is such good feedback! I'm glad to know folks like these posts.
DeleteOh, I'm positive we spent more on groceries than gifts last month. Not only did we pare our gift list way down, we still bought extra groceries for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day gatherings, as well as a few things for my candy making.
ReplyDeleteWe don't spend as much monthly as you do on groceries, but we don't have the dietary considerations you do, either. And I swear that we both have diminished appetites anymore. There are days that we almost force ourselves to eat dinner; we simply aren't all that interested. Winter doldrums, you know?
I am so hungry all the time, Nance, I can hardly fathom having to force myself to eat! LOL. I am always thinking about my next meal. *sigh* Maybe someday I can aspire to not thinking about food all the time.
DeleteI enjoy these posts a lot and always think that you are generous/thoughtful towards others. :)
ReplyDeleteI don’t comment because it feels weird (to me) to comment on someone else’s spending, but I thoroughly enjoy reading each month! :)
-Steph
Thank you for the feedback. People seem to like them, so I'll keep them going. It's good for me to do them anyway!
DeleteI enjoy reading these posts but don't always comment. I tend to do one budget breakdown a year (tracking what proportion of spending was on each category) on the blog, but I do it privately each month in a spreadsheet I maintain!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to do my yearly expense report tomorrow! Fun! (*sigh* It's the opposite of fun.)
DeleteI like seeing what other people spend, so I like these posts! I think the lack of engagement is likely because there is not always a lot to say about what someone is spending, or maybe people don't want to offend. I like talking about money but some people feel weird about it. So...let's do it! I feel like that is a lot for groceries, but only compared to me, but I don't really buy much. I am going to talk about my yearly spending next week so you can lay it all on me then! Haha. I also didn't realize you were still spending so much on the pets, but am glad to hear that it is for food for the cat and not more treatments! Poor kitty. And lastly, I think you are very generous! This year I bought a couple of tangible gifts, but mostly just took people out for meals, which I will probably just keep in the "dining out" category so they will not be segregated out. So I will look a big Grinchy in my actual "gift" category! :)
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