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Tech (<1%) - I did need to pay for storage on the cloud. *sigh*
Donations (1%) - Okay, this is embarrassing. I can afford to do so much better. I already wrote a check to my alma mater to support low income students this year and will continue to make donations/send money regularly.
Miscellaneous (1.1%) - It's not too big of a category!
Fitness (1.3%) - Fitness classes and some new yoga equipment this year. I have no regrets.
Entertainment (2.5%) - I have a Spotify subscription and this is occasional other fun outings. I think this is reasonable and will probable see this go up this year since my goals are MORE FUN.
Eating out (3.4%) - This isn't too bad. I don't actually eat out much.
Cars (3.9%) - Gas, the occasional oil change. This is a bit misleading because we bought a new car in November and took out quite a bit from our savings for a down payment (basically, we'd been putting into savings what our car payment was when we paid off our VW and used that as a down payment).
Personal care (5%) - Remember how there was that study that said the average American woman spends $877 on her appearance every year? Hold my beer, average American woman. It takes a lot of money to look like this average Midwestern lady.
Clothing (5.6%) - I'm quite proud of this. I buy quality clothes and try to buy ethically, whatever that means. But I do have a job that requires me to dress professionally, so I did buy some clothes this year.
Travel (5.8%) - Most of this was not fun travel, so the less we speak of it, the better.
Bills (6.5%) - I really only pay for home/car insurance and water/sewer.
Savings (6.8%) - Grr.
Gifts (8.1%) - Gift giving is my love language. I can't help it.
Health (9.5%) - Between physical therapy, tortuous gynecological procedures, and my periodontist appointments, this added up quickly.
Pets (14.6%) - And this was a year with nothing major KNOCK ON ALL DAMN WOOD. (Last year, I spent over $10K on my girls, so I'm super duper okay with this number.)
Groceries (24.5%) - I mean, this is okay if you ask me. We have special dietary considerations and I rarely eat out, despite that 3.4% thing above. I also bake a lot and butter is expensive, yo.
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What was your greatest expenditure in 2025?
I bet groceries are the highest category for me. Probably followed by insurance ( teenage drivers!) Medical wasn't too bad this year ( sleep studies, routine visits, a few specialist visits for a family member who is a bit of a hypochondriac when he's not distracted by work)and at least we have a HSA to help with that. and I spend almost nothing on personal care, so I'm below average for that. I do spend too much on diet coke, but I'm working on that.
ReplyDeleteI spend too much on Gatorade Zero, so solidarity in poor beverage choices!
DeleteLol when I was telling Rob what I spent in 2025, I was like "most of that is groceries and Rex." When we travel especially, Rex's boarding is expensive. But just generally pets are expensive!
ReplyDeleteYES! There is probably about $1000 of boarding for Hannah included in this. It's expensive to have a dog!
DeleteI'm very proud that my biggest expense last year was travel. That's exactly what I want the top category to be.
ReplyDeleteSo how much did I spent on one pet? Just about as much as you spent on two pets. Doggy daycare and boarding, additional training, and vet bills for the tummy bug that she had last fall. With any luck those expenses won't be repeated this year.
The first few years of having a dog are so expensive! I sort of forget the years of training classes and doggy daycare for Hannah. We used to take her to the groomer regularly, too! Ha. I'm too cheap for that now.
DeleteYep, food is expensive. What are we going to do? We have to eat. And- pets. We had a big year for pet expenses, but it was still nowhere near $10K, EGADS. I know that was your total from 2024, not last year... but still, yikes. Here's hoping for an UNEVENTFUL pet year for all of us!
ReplyDeleteThe thing is that we have multiple $10K years, so having pets is $$$. Oh, well. They bring immense joy and you can't put a price on that.
DeleteIn 2025 we basically held open the vault door and ushered out thousands and thousands (and thousands!) of dollars. We helped our youngest son buy a house on short notice, and I'm grateful beyond words that we could do so.
ReplyDeleteSadly, there was zero spent on travel this year, and our wine cellar shows it.
Yes, our thousands and thousands (and thousands) went to the car. It was hard to write that check, but I am glad to have two reliable cars again.
DeleteHere's to fun travel for both of us in 2026!
I’m impressed by your gift giving percentage!
ReplyDeleteHoping your budget skews more FUN in all the ways that are meaningful to you in 2026!
-Steph
Yes to more travel and entertainment purchases in 2026!
DeleteGroceries are my biggest expense, if you separate out the rest of the bills into individual (like mortgage, insurance, taxes) If you bundle ‘keeping a roof over our head with lights, heat, and water’ all together, then that category would be higher than groceries. Geez, just staying alive is expensive, right?
ReplyDeleteOur mortgage is certainly our largest expense, followed by car payments. I don't know what our utilities shake out to be, but I'm starting to suspect I better thank my lucky stars about our home and car insurance premiums!
DeleteMy biggest expense was medical stuff. Not fun. I have a high insurance deductible, so ended up paying for a lot. Human care and pet care are so expensive!
ReplyDeleteThe healthcare system in this country is barbaric. That is all.
DeleteOurs is childcare. It's always childcare and it will be childcare for the forseeable future. The next highest category is charitable giving. I'd like it be higher personally but it's something I have to negotiate with Phil. It increased in 2025 so I feel good about that, but I'd be ok with like doubling it and he's like 'whoa, Nelly, slow down.' But we are very very lucky to both work in a high compensated (but high risk) industry.
ReplyDeleteWow! I'd love to charitable giving to be that high in my list, but I have to eat first!
DeleteThe pet thing is always surprising, but not really surprising, especially when *someone* is having issues!
ReplyDeleteI don't log my spending as I once did, but I'm gonna guess most of our income went to property taxes.
Pets are expensive. LOL. I don't know thing our girls know how good they have it.
DeleteHold my beer! I don't even have a personal care category (I know we talked about this in the past) because it would be just a blip. Does this mean I don't care, hmmm...maybe! Let's put it this way, I DO always wear sunscreen. Full stop. My highest category is always home/accommodation, and depending on the year, is generally about 30-50% of my total! I am so glad you report these numbers, as it is making me realize all of the hidden costs of pets! It's not just pet it and forget it, people! Also, food can add up, especially when the price of eggs keeps skyrocketing!
ReplyDeleteHousing is probably our #1 expense, too, if we combined things. We each value our privacy to tell each other how much we spend on things, though. LOL. As long as the bills get paid, we don't need to know the details of how the other person spends money. Shelter is expensive!
DeleteI'm guessing if I combined Entertainment and Eating Out, that would be our top expense...but it's probably groceries.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed when housing and/or transportation aren't the top expenses because I can't imagine our combined finances will ever been something other than that.
DeleteHousing is our number one expense, no doubt. We live in an expensive state and rent has just gone up and up and up... but I am also so happy we moved to our new house. I have never lived in such a well insulated house (here in the States, Germany is so different) and I am so glad I don't live in an old, drafty building anymore.
ReplyDeleteYes! Housing and transportation are definitely are actual top expenses. And now that you bring it up, it would be good if we did some sort of additional insulation in our house...
DeleteIf we take out things like housing/bills, then food would be my highest category. Groceries are expensive and I like to eat out! Second would be travel since I did a lot of great travel in 2025. No regrets!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think housing/bills and transportation would be the highest. *sigh* Why is LIVING so expensive?
DeleteI have no clue what my biggest expense would be. Probably rent. Or maybe not since my health insurance is almost as high as my half of rent and I have few more insurances. Do I really want to know. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteI wish my travel and fun category is increasing in 2026. I want to have more experiences.
Yes!! Let's increase travel and fun!!
DeleteI really hope that, after April, I will be up for more fun. Handy, then, that it's just about when the weather turns. Prepare yourself for the Hamilton Type Museum. Handily enough, it's near the lake. We can dip our toes. Ta da! :)
ReplyDelete