2017 Year to date spending report

Another year is in the books, and it's time to do our annual what we spent in 2017 post!

I don't have an itemized list (the year got away from me), but we did categorize our spending at the end of each month so I do have some good data and last years numbers to compare it all to!

Groceries:

In 2016, we spent $4,790.00 on groceries. If memory serves me well, we shopped at Aldi only 6 months out of the year (the latter half) and 2017 marked our first full year shopping primarily at Aldi. You'll notice our grocery bill is lower still when compared to last year, AND that was with us stocking up on goods in November and December.

(We wanted enough pantry staples to have a 1-month supply of food that we regularly eat. So we bought dried beans, oats, rice, flour, seasonings, etc. over a 2 month period, trying to work it into our budget the best we could. We accomplished this by rotating in a few cheaper meal options each week and kept a pretty basic menu.) 

• We have a month's supply for 3 people of :
• Oatmeal with ample amounts of brown sugar and raisins, which we can do for breakfast.
• Canned soups; peanut butter and jelly; and bean and cheese burrito supplies, which we can do for lunch (I learned how to make tortillas from scratch!)
• Enough supplies to make "Mexican Sandwich" -- a bean and rice based Mexican dinner mix which I plan to add to my Recipe Savers feature. Some of those recipes don't come up as often as we have gravitated toward other flavors and toddler tastes :)  

• 2016 - $4,912.79
• 2017 - $4,137.70 ($775.09 less!)

Our monthly average was $344.81 and we budgeted $332 a month so I'd say we were pretty solid. Sure some months were more, but others were less. Our most expensive month was $435 -- our cheapest was $239!

Automobiles: 

• 2016 - $10,380.63
• 2017 - $8,603.06

Gasoline / Toll Fees / Car Washes:

These numbers do not include any gas or toll fees from traveling, as we just pull that amount out of  our vacation fund, but those covers $5 car washes, family toll fees (our family is on our toll road account for when they come visit us so they don't have to remember to pay online), and gasoline for both our cars to and from work and our adventures.

• 2016 - $2,825.72
• 2017 - $3,091.72

I think our additional gasoline came from more work travel (which I didn't include any reimbursements for (I will in 2018) and my weekly trips to fountain valley to shop at Aldi, which I won't need to do anymore now that we have a local branch just 10-15 minutes away.

Our monthly average was $257 and we budgeted $268 a month, so again, pretty solid here.

Car Maintenance:

This year we tracked how much maintenance we did on each car in 2017, compared to just cars in general.

• 2016 - $6,040.38
• 2017 - $1,459.13 (Camry) +$2,202.86 (Escort) = $3,661.89
• Camry: breaks | Filters, AC Fix, Transition Fluid flush | lights, valve gasket cover, wheel rotation, oil change, fluid check
• Escort: Battery and other stuff we didn't track... it was after we spent $2k we started keeping track

Car Insurance / Smog / Registration:

• 2016 - $1,514.53 (Insurance only)
• 2017 - $1,849.45 (Insurance plus smog and car registrations)

Eating Out / Date nights:

Generally, if its fast food, a quick bite out, or an actual planned date, it comes out of here. We were a bit higher this year then last year in large part because we moved and had to show our home, which meant more eating out, plus bribery for those who helped us move once we got our new place. 

• 2016 - $1,020.40
• 2017 - $1,433.28

Our average was $119 a month and we typically budget around $100 a month, so a little high, but not too bad considering our overage came from moving.... and the fact that I was taking our audible and net-flix dvd rental out of this account... in 2018, these will have their own line items because they should just have their own line items.

Clothes:

If it wasn't for a "gift" like mother's day or me shopping with my fun money and we bought clothes, it's listed here. Hubs spent more because we switched his clothing company of choice from Dickeys to Deluth. Their clothes are made better, and they will last him longer in the long run, so we were happy to shell out more initially for a superior product. This also includes shoes, under garments, etc. 

• Me:
• 2016 - $445.09
• 2017 - $482.89
• Hubs:
• 2016 - $376.96
• 2017 - $547.07

Considering we only budget around $50 a month for clothes, we over spent in this category, but we used overtime and other budget hacks to cover it at the time... but I think 2018 will finally get us more normal numbers now that I've picked up enough clothes to create a "business" wardrobe and comfortable clothes for my "mom bod" as I like to call it for time around the house. 

Tithe:

We are latter-day saints (Mormon's) and pay a 10% tithe to our church and also contribute a fast offering each month to help support those in our area who may be in need.

• 2016 - $9,216.87
• 2017 - $9,480.00

Gifts:

• 2016 - $1,489.61
• 2017 - $1,659.85

Little Dude:

• 2016 - $1,635.10 + $10,607 for Daycare
• 2017 - $1,240.27 + $11,800 for Daycare
• Clothes, diapers, poop helpers, toys, books, etc.

Dr. / Dentists / OTC / Prescriptions

We had a lot of dental expenses from hub's lack of regular dental visits. He got one quadrant done, we have three to go :( 

• 2016 - $1,910.54
• 2017 - $2,587.37  ($2k is dental) 

Roxy:

We experimented with some pricey allergy shots for her this year, to help her not lick her feet so much which increased her line item here. I'm also going to admit, that we probably stuck some dog food in the discretionary amount out of laziness this year. 

• 2016 - $384.17
• 2017- $729.34

Cell Phones:

We switched to trac-phone some time ago and have never regretted it, but this year my work stopped paying me for data service... but we still kept that option on our trac-phones because its included in our minute cards since we had already purchased "smart" phones. This "cell phone" account includes power cables, covers, screen protectors, and the new phone hubs bought this year. We plan to replace mine next year since it's super old... but I can't find a small narrow screen for my child like hands... #shortpeopleproblems.

• 2016 - $996.44
• 2017 - $602.87 

Fun Money

We each get a little mad money each month. For most of the year, we covered our basic net-flix out of this account, sometimes and extra audible book, but we moved those to their own accounts. Our fun money is money we can spend each month without asking the other person. Everyone needs to have a little mad money to grab a soda or a video game without any questions.

•  2016 - $840
• 2017 - $856 (we increased this slightly towards the end of 2017 when hubs got a raise. We get $39 a month.

Utilities:

Electricity:

• 2016 - $956.84
• 2017 - $946.23

Propane: (BBQ)

• 2016 - $18.58
• 2017 - $0 (our newer BBQ rocks.... but we'll need to fill up our tanks soon)

Internet:

• 2016 - $695.88
• 2017 - $780.43

Vacation:

This year we took a single trip down to Utah. This covered gas to and from Utah (including staying at his brother's house and driving 2 cities over every day for the clan gathering), Groceries and food up there, plus activities and shopping :)

• 2016: $563.00
• 2017: $640.85

Housing:

We moved... and we renovated... and we are still renovating so this is just a lot of money.

• 2016 -
• Mortgage (P&I, Property tax, extra principal): $13,651.85
• HOA: $4,150.00
• Repairs / Maint: $581.60
• Insurance: $330
• Earthquake Ins: $153
• 2017 -
• Mortgage: $11,450.98
• HOA: $3,850.00
• Insurance: $182
• Moving & Renovation: $22,125.43 (Closing Costs, moving, and home improvements)

Discretionary:

This is our other category, and with the renovation, we spend a lot less on other stuff then we did last year.

• 2016: $5,605.87
• 2017: $2,287.42

Here's to a great 2018!

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