Spending
| Category | Amount | % change compared to 2012 |
| alcohol | 20 | -80% |
| baby | 1034.7 | -47% |
| blog | 40.13 | -65% |
| business | 72.55 | 28% |
| car jeep | 1975.94 | -63% |
| car mazda | 2289.22 | -17% |
| cat | 483.94 | -26% |
| cell phones | 1229.93 | -8% |
| charity | 167 | -59% |
| clothing | 387.92 | 0% |
| dental | 1892.95 | -12% |
| electric | 966.52 | 84% |
| electronics | 297.73 | 149% |
| entertainment | 509.33 | 7% |
| food - groceries | 3413.48 | 10% |
| food - other | 2881.59 | -12% |
| gardening | 50.91 | 264% |
| gas | 787.37 | 56% |
| gifts | 580.99 | -23% |
| Peanut hobbies | 473.36 | 105% |
| house | 23248.78 | -48% |
| household | 1235.06 | -23% |
| hygiene | 367.02 | 28% |
| insurance | 560 | -43% |
| internet | 797.5 | 57% |
| medical | 178.94 | -93% |
| LMM hobbies | 107.73 | -88% |
| taxes | 96.99 | |
| therapy | 204.8 | |
| transportation | 350 | -42% |
| Water & Trash | 812.34 | 25% |
| yoga | 160 | -32% |
| Total | $47,674.72 |
Student Loans
Student Loan Payments $19,163.53
PAID OFF!!!
Things of Note:
Our spending this year is within the realm of normal for us, despite dropping to one income. If we didn't have the giant furnace expense at the end of this year, though, it would have been a bit lower than previous years.
We spent a bit less eating out than years past, although the difference went into the grocery category. (And that's despite my getting better at couponing!) I guess this is just how much we spend on food, whether we eat in or eat out.
I'm trying to get a handle on what we spend for transportation - two cars and a bus pass - but it hasn't been easy. In 2011 we bought a car and in 2012 we bought a car so this is the first year that we've only been maintaining vehicles instead of purchasing them. I feel like the expenses are reasonable here - both vehicles needed some work done (and both will need more in 2013) but they are reliable and fully paid for. Bus fare is also a bargain (Peanut drives his jeep with no top or doors, so it's not a four-season vehicle here in Minnesota - he takes the bus to work about half the year).
Our medical expenditures are an absolute bargain. We spent just a few hundred dollars out of pocket for prescriptions and therapy, while our health insurance company picked up the tab for more than $250,000 in expenses incurred by Baby M. I am so, so, so thankful that we have good insurance.
Lately I have felt like we are just spending and spending - between the furnace and the basement renovation and some other big purchases that happened to come at the end of the year, I have felt like we are just bleeding money everywhere. But looking at the year as a whole, it hasn't been bad. Peanut and I are fairly disciplined with our extraneous spending and we have been able to achieve our goals - paid-for cars, paid-off student loans, no debt but the mortgage. We'd love to be maxing out retirement savings and paying extra on the mortgage, but right now it's more important to forego the second income and have me stay at home with Baby M. We could be stricter and more frugal but we believe it's important to enjoy life as we live it as well, and I would say that our spending reflects that.
I'm hoping that our spending in 2014 shows a similar pattern to this year - but without the use of the emergency fund!
How was your 2013 spending?
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