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Oooh maybe I should get another ledger like this.. And yes I’m that girl that always gets an itemized receipt 🙂
It’s 3 months into 2017 and we’re already 1/4 done with the year. Woah…that was fast. I wanted to check in on my goal to decrease my spending from $22,491.86 last year by $4,491.86 to $18,000 this year. Let’s see how it’s going:
These are my averages for the first 3 months of 2017:
- Monthly Bills: (including Rent, Utilities, Internet, Phone and Transit)
- January: $861.70
- February: $937.38 – Our large utilities are paid in alternating months
- March: $873.78
- Average: $890.95 – So far this is $16.82 below the 2016 average, but I’m going to call it a wash especially since our rent will most likely increase in August (hopefully by $3 again!)
- Groceries:
- January: $155.99
- February: $69.80
- March: $112.97
- Average: $112.92 – This is way above the $39.54 average for 2016, but I completely expected that. My job last year offered a lot of free (but unfortunately unhealthy) food which I totally took advantage of. I’ve increased my target grocery budget to $150 a month and decreased by eating out and alcohol budgets to make up for it. It looks like it’s working!
- Eating Out :
- January: $12.34 – All time low!
- February: $70.05 – Though I was in Thailand 1/2 the month
- March: $95.40 – This includes an old credit card reconciliation of $31 so I actually spent $64.40 this month
- Average: $48.93 – So far way below the 2016 average of $138.73 per month. WOAH! I doubt this is sustainable as the weather gets better and I want to explore more, but that’s very cool!
- Alcohol:
- January: $12.41 – All time low!
- February: $19.62
- March: $38.22 – I went out to drinks twice, the rest is alcohol and chaser for home
- Average: $23.42 – Way below the 2016 average of $78.38! Let’s see if I can keep it up. So far doing great on my goal of spending less on alcohol
- Parties:
- January: $0!
- February: $0!
- March: $29.97 – This includes two networking lunches I had with colleagues, wine we brought to a house party and steak we bought for a dinner party. Frugal get-togethers for the win!
- Average: $9.99 – Wonderful for all the fun hang outs we’ve had and below the $22.17 per month of last year
- Giving
- January: $240.02 – Disneyland Bachelorette. Don’t ask.
- February: $0
- March: $8.21 – Also associated with the above bachelorette/wedding
- Average: $82.74 – Above the $34.37 average of last year, but I won’t be doing something like that bachelorette again so one time expense!
- Household Goods
- January: $7.99 – Lightbulbs
- February: $3.83 – TP
- March: $8.60 – Compost Bags and Seran Wrap…so detailed! Maybe too detailed…
- Average: $6.81 – Under the $8.39 from last year
- Personal Products
- January: $0!
- February: $0!
- March: $2.72 – Lotion
- Average: $0.91 – Way below the average of $12.65 last year. Let’s keep it up!
- Entertainment
- January: $11.81 – Netflix and Moana matinee
- February: $11.81 – Netflix and John Wick 2 matinee
- March: $6.64 – Netflix + 1 Redbox
- Average: $10.09 – Below last year’s average of $18.48
- Vacation Spending
- January: $183.34 – Disneyland Bachelorette all in
- February: $0
- March: $163.36 – May Maine Wedding Accommodations for 3 nights, a moorage fee for a weekend of sailing and spending around another wedding weekend
- Average: $115.57 – Despite having a trip every month I’m below the $122.07 average from last year. Woohoo!
- Travel
- January: $0
- February: $934.90 – May Wedding and Christmas Flights (SEA to BOS RT, SEA to ATL, ATL to ALB, NYC to SEA)
- March: $818.82 – Flight to Singapore in Feb 2018, an Amtrak ticket for that May wedding, the $11.20 fee for booking a travel hacked flight home this summer
- Average: $584.57 – Despite buying all of my plane tickets until March of 2018 in the first three months of the year I’m not insanely over the $407.17 a month I spent last year
Q1 AVERAGE SPENDING: $1,898.89
– Minus flights: $1,319.48
– Minus vacation spending $1,200.08
If keep up this level of spending (minus the vacation stuff since it’s all already paid for) I am on an awesome track to spend $1,200 a month and finish out the year with $16,400 annual spending (including the above). I doubt that will happen, but let’s see :). I suspect that I’ll end up hitting my original goal of $18,000 in spending. Overall I’m really proud of how low I’ve been able to unconsciously keep my spending after the Uber Frugal Month ended and am excited to see what the rest of the year brings!