2017 Spending Summary and Analysis

[FlaGator]

Already fessed up that my spend rate was >5.5%, new car was a big part of that.

Was was interesting to see how the spending was tied to specific things, like a girlfriend. I dropped $1,000 to refresh my wardrobe after several years of getting by with fishing shirts and nylon shorts. She was right to push me on that. Should be good for another 5 years, especially since.....

That GF is no longer in the picture. Had a great time with the $5K+ I spent with her. A few local trips, and lots of days at beach bars, dinner and cocktails. Great memories and no regrets.

Taking a break to regroup, so that category won't be nearly as high in 2018.

 

[cranberryjoe]

Was was interesting to see how the spending was tied to specific things, like a girlfriend.

Ahhh, that reminds me of when I met my current GF. She lived on the far side of the nearby big city. My gasoline expenses tripled until she moved closer.

 

[Danmar]

What and how others spent their money can be interesting but not enough to ask questions about it. That's me. I'd rather focus on how I spent, and will spend in the coming year.

Agree. What you spend on and how much you spend in total is very personal. Each person has their own spending “style” and “spending utility” function. My motto is “spend and let spend”.

 

[W2R]

I use a category called “cash”. It includes groceries, wine beer and ,liquor, anything paid by cash(eg ATM withdrawals). Very consistent year to year and under 5% of total spend. In my opinion there is diminishing marginal utility in tracking small items or items paid by cash. Also, no real need or interest in trying to reduce these type of expenses. Well, I guess it would be healthier to reduce alcohol consumption.

Believe me, I understand. I used to have an "ATM" category when I was working. I had no idea where it went, other than lunch and lawnmowing, although it wasn't much. Still, in 2012 I decided to make some changes, and keep track of everything to the penny (even my small cash expenditures), inspired by one of these threads and also by hearing F talk about how he was doing this.

To my great surprise, I discovered that keeping track of every penny (including cash) was such fun! I have done this for six years by now, and really enjoy doing it. My guess is that most people would not feel that way, but I do. If it became no fun, I would quit.

In 2017, my ATM withdrawals (which are now accounted for specifically in my records) added up to $4800. That's not huge! But recording what it is spent on, gives me a sense of completeness that I enjoy. I even record cash that is lost or found during the year ($22.03 lost in 2017, recorded specifically and also categorized under "miscellaneous).

 

[Winemaker]

My cash expenditures are well below $575/month; I have one tenant that pays me in cash every month. The cash gets recorded on my Quicken rental account, and most generally the cash goes into my wine making till or gifts. All other expenses are paid via credit card to get reward points, and bills are paid online. The checking account had a surplus on Sunday night; it was another good year.

 

[Yarnstormer]

So amazed by the low grocery/eating out numbers here!

 

[W2R]

So amazed by the low grocery/eating out numbers here!

Me too! Especially for those members that include all the grocery store non-food items like alcohol, paper towels and detergent. That stuff adds up. But even if those items are not included, still some of the grocery/restaurant numbers are impressively thrifty.

 

[OHjosh]

Funny, I just did my analysis and found this thread. I track via the (disliked) Quicken. In the first two years of retirement, I spent $4200 per month, including taxes, insurance, and pay off on LOC. I was surprised that 2017 per month amount was within $100 of 2016 expenses.

In March I go off COBRA and on to ACA (I hope) and then expenses will shoot up closer to what I originally projected, about $4,700 per month.

 

[socca]

Was was interesting to see how the spending was tied to specific things, like a girlfriend. I dropped $1,000 to refresh my wardrobe after several years of getting by with fishing shirts and nylon shorts. She was right to push me on that. Should be good for another 5 years, especially since.....That GF is no longer in the picture. Had a great time with the $5K+ I spent with her. A few local trips, and lots of days at beach bars, dinner and cocktails. Great memories and no regrets.

My new GF said that her old BF spent only $5k on her, which was completely unacceptable. She expects me to spend triple that in 2018 to keep her happy. Could it be ... nah ... must be a coincidence.

 

[LastOfTheBoomers]

Well I was on track to hit our budget of 90K yearly spend - but then I prepaid our property taxes for 2018 - so we ended up over by $500 rather than under.

So I guess I have to lower my spend for 2018?!

 

[athena53]

I use a category called “cash”. It includes groceries, wine beer and ,liquor, anything paid by cash(eg ATM withdrawals). Very consistent year to year and under 5% of total spend. In my opinion there is diminishing marginal utility in tracking small items or items paid by cash.

I don't track cash at all; I might get $200 out of the ATM every couple of months, if that, so not worth it to analyze. I put everything I can on credit cards to get the 2% cash back.

 

[audreyh1]

I don't track cash at all; I might get $200 out of the ATM every couple of months, if that, so not worth it to analyze. I put everything I can on credit cards to get the 2% cash back.

I have cash and travel:cash which is money pulled from and ATM. If the cash is pulled out for a specific purpose then I’ll attribute that. Otherwise just leave it cash.

At home we use very little cash. In fact I don’t think we visited a US ATM in 2017. Our Costco rebates covered our cash needs for the year, LOL. We used a lot of cash when traveling - some of that went to pay for lodging or tours and were attributed to those categories.

 

[Danmar]

I have cash and travel:cash which is money pulled from and ATM. If the cash is pulled out for a specific purpose then I’ll attribute that. Otherwise just leave it cash.

At home we use very little cash. In fact I don’t think we visited a US ATM in 2017. Our Costco rebates covered our cash needs for the year, LOL. We used a lot of cash when traveling - some of that went to pay for lodging or tours and were attributed to those categories.

We probably only use about $1,000 of actual cash a month. I think it’s mostly for cleaning staff, tips, small purchases. Most of our “recorded cash” is for groceries and liquor. We put these on CC’s

 

[43210]

We probably only use about $1,000 of actual cash a month.

Wow! I don't think we'd use $1,000 of actual cash in a decade!

 

[Meadbh]

Wow! I don't think we'd use $1,000 of actual cash in a decade!

+1

Last year I used $200!

 

[audreyh1]

+1

Last year I used $200!

$200 by 10 years would be $2000

 

[Danmar]

Wow! I don't think we'd use $1,000 of actual cash in a decade!

Car jockeys (in Arizona) are everywhere. $5-10 each time, maybe that’s $100-200 per month. Cleaning staff maybe same. Car washes maybe $50-100 per month. Public transit (in Toronto) maybe $50 a month. Maybe I should track it like W2R and report back?

 

[W2R]

Car jockeys (in Arizona) are everywhere. $5-10 each time, maybe that’s $100-200 per month. Cleaning staff maybe same. Car washes maybe $50-100 per month. Public transit (in Toronto) maybe $50 a month. Maybe I should track it like W2R and report back?

It would be interesting! I haven't had to pay car jockeys, but in 2017 I paid my lawn guy a total of $1,295 in cash that I give him when he mows the lawn. I also paid $3,396 in cash at restaurants when we eat lunch out each day. I had $18 more in my wallet at the end of the year than I had a year prior. Since I got $4,800 from the ATM in 2017, the remainder ($91) was for things like haircuts, stamps, and occasional small local purchases like lightbulbs, a cell phone case, and so on, all of which I have recorded and categorized.

 

[Ronstar]

Its not that tough to keep track of cash if I do it daily. I've been at it for 4 days now and all $51 in cash that I spent is accounted for. Pizza and beer, McDonalds, Taco Bell and a $4 car wash. Maybe keeping track of cash better will kick start me eating better.

 

[NW-Bound]

All this talk about cash makes me curious again. So, I looked in Quicken to see how much cash I spent. Just a couple hundred bucks, mostly for tips like Danmar said, although we are homebodies and do not go out much. No need to track that.

My wife withdrew several hundred bucks. Come to think of it, that's the cash gifts we give to teenage nieces and nephews during the holidays (older nieces and nephews of 30-40 years of age of course get nothing, and they even bring us token gifts).

 

[W2R]

Its not that tough to keep track of cash if I do it daily. I've been at it for 4 days now and all $51 in cash that I spent is accounted for. Pizza and beer, McDonalds, Taco Bell and a $4 car wash. Maybe keeping track of cash better will kick start me eating better.

It helps me in that respect, too. I am one of the very few who actually likes fast food but I know it is not healthy for me. If my spreadsheet tells me that I got fast food too recently (like, in the past month) I am more inclined to make other choices. I got fast food a total of 10 times in 2017 (4 times in October. What happened? ). Anyway it could be worse.

Very good price on that car wash!

 

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

Cash

We've been married 34 years and have each gotten $100 bucks each week in cash that we don't track. That's $353600 WOW and no raise in 34 years. Hmmm I know I've spent mine on travel, massages, ukuleles, gifts. I tend to hoard mine. He spends his on cigars...and what else, hmmmm?? We've made it 34 years, guess I better not ask.

 

[Ronstar]

It helps me in that respect, too. I am one of the very few who actually likes fast food but I know it is not healthy for me. If my spreadsheet tells me that I got fast food too recently (like, in the past month) I am more inclined to make other choices. I got fast food a total of 10 times in 2017 (4 times in October. What happened? ). Anyway it could be worse.

Very good price on that car wash!

I'm going to create a separate fast food category for the sole purpose of trying to limit fast food consumption.

Yep - the $4 car is a manual car wash where you have to power wash it yourself. The automatic bays were backed up. Only 1 guy at the manual bays (1 bay was frozen and didn't work)

 

[W2R]

I'm going to create a separate fast food category for the sole purpose of trying to limit fast food consumption.

Yep - the $4 car is a manual car wash where you have to power wash it yourself. The automatic bays were backed up. Only 1 guy at the manual bays (1 bay was frozen and didn't work)

Brrrr. I can't even imagine washing my car myself in the recent cold weather at one of those manual bays. OK, $4 sounds about right.

It helps me to write down the details of everything I buy, including the restaurant or store. Then at the end of each month I add up the categories. So, whether I have a fast food category or not, I can go back and figure it out or re-categorize it if I want. Also I can figure out how much I spent on average at each of our regular restaurants over the year, which is helpful. Another thing I like is going back to see what I ate at normal (healthier) restaurants; I have the incorrect perception that I eat the same things too much, but when I look at my records I seldom order anything less than two months after the previous time I ordered it. Well, except soup.

Thinking back on it, I think the reason I bought fast food 4 times in October was probably due to subconscious stress after Hurricane Nate (which didn't hit us after all, but the news media was whipping up great panic about it around here). So that tells me that when I am going through stressful times, I should be much more vigilant than usual about fast food creeping into my life.

 

[robnplunder]

2017 was a crazy expensive year for us - many items 2X or 3X normal - way over the top vacations, and more. We are 59 yo retired couple with two recent college grads living nearby, one with boyfriend. So we still have groceries and restaurants and entertainment often for four or five people, not just two. Despite what you see, we are not extravagant. We eat at home most days, I cook dinners - chicken, ground beef, etc. not high-end things. OTOH, we don't deny ourselves much; my wife has cancer and so to the extent she is able, we like to do nice things.

(sorry about the formatting)

HOME EXPENSES
Real Estate Tax 8,700
Electric 2,400
Gas 800
Water 1,200
Cell Phones 2,100
Cable - TV, Internet, Phone 2,800
HOA 500
Furnishings/Appliances 900
Lawn 2,700
Home Supplies, Repair, Maintenance 6,400
Other 600

DAILY LIVING
ATM 8,000
Groceries 11,400
Costco-Target-WalMart 3,100
Personal Supplies / CVS 1,000
Clothing 6,300
Restaurants 7,000
Dry Cleaning 200
Salon/Barber 800
Massage/Pedicure 200
Other 11,400

TRANSPORTATION
Fuel 1,400
Repairs/Maintenance 4,600
Registration/License 200
Personal Property Tax 300
Other (including local Uber and EZPass) 1,100

HEALTH
Travel 700
Doctor - not cancer 2,700
Doctor - cancer 4,300
Prescriptions 1,100
Dentist 700
Labwork 300
Exercise, Yoga, PT 900
Other 600

INSURANCE
Auto 1,300
Health 21,000
Homeowner's 1,800
Umbrella 600
Life 1,100
LTC 3,500

RELIGION/CHARITY/GIFTS
Dues 3,300
Charitable Donations 3,200
Other 200

ENTERTAINMENT
Netflix 100
Movies 800
Concerts 5,300
Theater 4,700
Books 1,300
iTunes 200
Other 500

PETS
Pets 2,500
Other 600

SUBSCRIPTIONS
Newspaper 1,100
Magazines 100

VACATION
Playa del Carmen 9,900
Cruise Spring Break 10,400
Pittsburgh 400
Coeur d'Alene 8,800
Other 6,700

MISCELLANEOUS
Postage 100

Total: 186,900


Additional, not included (one time expenses)
Funeral Prepaid: $10.800
Perpetual Care: $11,700
Cemetary Plots: $7,000
New car graduation gift: $27,500
Apple Mac laptop graduation gift: $2,300
Earrings: $8,300
MIL hearing aid: $3,550

Loved it! Looking forward to your 2018 spend analysis.