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We’re 75% done with 2017. Madness. Let’s check in on my goal to decrease my spending from $22,491.86 last year by $4,491.86 to $18,000 this year.
This is getting long so strap in. These are my averages up to this point:
- 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
- April: $961.44
- May: $880.77
- June: $993.92
- July: $860.59
- August: $1,003.92 – Our rent increased and we seem to have new neighbors that don’t understand recycling and a landlord who doesn’t care 🙂 so I suspect our waste removal costs include heavy fines as well. Seattle takes this stuff seriously. I guess that’s the cost of living in an apartment and not having fixed utilities costs (like in NYC).
- September: $931.99
- Average: $922.83 – This is slightly above last year due to our rent increasing.
- Groceries:
- January: $155.99
- February: $69.80
- March: $112.97
- April: $155.53
- May: $166.98
- June: $127.48
- July: $130.86
- August: $86.81
- September: $134.85
- Average: $127.04 – 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 was also eating out a lot more last year. I increased my target grocery budget to $150 a month this year 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
- April: $61.20
- May: $54.30
- June: $95.16 – My NYC bestie moved to Seattle so we’ve been showing her around
- July: $41.25
- August: $35.96
- September: $56.79
- Average: $54.56 – So far way below the 2016 average of $138.73 per month. WOAH! I’m surprised this was the case throughout the summer. Very happy with these numbers.
- 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
- April: $80.24 – I drank out twice and that added up quickly. I also bought lots of alcohol for our house that was shared
- May: $42.03
- June: $93.23 – Same deal as eating out: NYC bestie moved to Seattle and we’ve been exploring happy hours and taking her to parties. I also had a few networking happy hours
- July: $54.65
- August: $79.59
- September: $0 – Even though I only made it halfway through my no alcohol month I just drank what I already had at home!
- Average: $47.71 – Way below the 2016 average of $78.38! So far doing great on my goal of spending less on alcohol though my $30/month goal doesn’t seem to reflect reality. If this trend continues I’ll increase my budget to reflect reality for 2018.
- 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!
- April: $4
- May: $25.44
- June: $48.41 – Same deal: showing NYC bestie around, buying steak to make on a boat, drinking alcohol to parties etc.
- July: $3.25
- August: $0!
- September: $13.30 – 2 Homemade Steak Dinners with friends and contributions to a rooftop potluck
- Average: $13.82 – 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
- April: $0
- May: $0
- June: $0
- July: $0
- August: $0
- September: $0
- Average: $27.58 – Under the $34.37 average of last year!
- Household Goods
- January: $7.99 – Lightbulbs
- February: $3.83 – TP
- March: $8.60 – Compost Bags and Seran Wrap…so detailed! Maybe too detailed…
- April: $13.88
- May: $4.59
- June: $38.64 – a new non-stick pan that will save me a million years of time and bug killing spray
- July: $9.50
- August: $54.25 – Ikea chairs, new wallet AKA living large!
- September: $17.14
- Average: $17.60 – Over the $8.39 from last year, but we’ve been upgrading our apartment. Worth it
- Personal Products
- January: $0!
- February: $0!
- March: $2.72 – Lotion
- April: $0!
- May: $0!
- June: $5
- July: $3.50
- August: $73.49 – $60 for my first hair cut in many years
- September: $0
- Average: $9.41 – Below the average of $12.65 last year!
- Entertainment
- January: $11.81 – Netflix and Moana matinee
- February: $11.81 – Netflix and John Wick 2 matinee
- March: $6.64 – Netflix + 1 Redbox
- April: $5
- May: $13.15 – Netflix + Guardians of the Galaxy 2 matinee
- June: $17 – Netflix + Wonder Woman at fancy theater with a bar in it
- July: $17 – Netflix + Atomic Blonde at my favorite theater
- August: $57.42 – 3 hours at RockBox karaoke, Terracotta Warriors Museum ticket, Logan Redbox
- September: $41 – Kayaking on Lake Union and Lake Washington
- Average: $20.09 – Slightly above last year’s average of $18.48. Worth it.
- Medical
- January: $5
- September: $11 – Fancy dandruff shampoo
- Average: $1.78 – Much less than $45.26 last year!
- Dental
- August: $21.96 – Somehow have another cavity so bought an electric toothbrush on sale
- September: $128.60 – Cavity filling
- Average: $18.70 – Less than $38.98 last year (less cavities). Let’s keep it up!
- 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
- April: $72.50 – Vancouver weekend
- May: $269.35 – Maine Wedding, Vancouver, Friend Visit
- June: $0
- July: $130.05 – Long weekend camping in Olympic National Park. Worth every penny!
- August: $78.96 – Weekend campsite fee on Blake Island for another weekend camping trip and $63.96 of camping gear we don’t have to rent anymore
- September: $0
- Average: $90.03 – 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
- April: $0!
- May: $0!
- June: $0!
- July: $0!
- August: $0!
- September: $195 credit card fee to get a free $1,112 round trip flight to Ecuador for two weeks in May 2018. Worth it! $917 saved!
- Average: $214.08 – Way under the $407.17 a month I spent last year and I’m done buying all tickets through June 2018!
Q3 AVERAGE MONTHLY SPENDING: $1,613.11
– Minus flights: $1,398.30
After all the awesome things I’ve done this year I thought I was not going to make my $18,000 spending goal and instead be closer to $20,000. It turns out I was wrong. If I keep up this level of spending (which I think is lavish) I’m on track to spend around $18,712, which will have reduced my year over year spending by $3,779 or 17%. That’s huge and awesome since I don’t feel a difference in my lifestyle. I guess the 4 months of almost continuous cross-country travel that I did last year for $4,491.86 is not a bad trade either :). Unlike I thought, summer hasn’t come with an explosion of spending. Our new cheap hobbies of camping might have something to do with that. Let’s see what the rest of the year brings!