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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlaGator 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robnplunder 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yarnstormer 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlaGator 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athena53 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 43210 Wow! I don't think we'd use $1,000 of actual cash in a decade!

+1

Last year I used $200!

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh +1 Last year I used $200!

$200 by 10 years would be $2000

[Danmar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 43210 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]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar 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).