December 2018 Expenses & Financial Update
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This is a new series I started a few months ago, sharing a report of our monthly expenses. At the end of the year I shared a recap of our 2017 spending, which showed graphs and percentages that we spent in each category. I decided to take the transparency up a notch and start sharing some monthly numbers. You can check out last month’s expenses here.
Sharing our expenses involves vulnerability, but after contemplating it for quite some time it seemed important. The goal with these expense reports will be to keep ourselves accountable as we continue on the road of being mindful with our spending. It’s also my hope that it will help spark conversations and encourage others to examine their own budgets.
We use Mint to budget and track our expenses. If you’re struggling with starting a budget, be sure to join my email list at the bottom of this post to receive my brand new PDF, “A Beginner’s Guide to Overhauling Your Budget.”
Without further ado, here’s where we spent our money this month:
December 2018 Expenses
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $2463.49 | Includes rent + water/trash/sewage. The price of living in a high-cost of living area. |
| Utilities | $15.94 | The benefit of living in an apartment! |
| Auto Insurance | $259.00 | |
| Gas | $88.47 | |
| Mobile Phone | $90.03 | |
| Internet | $39.99 | |
| Entertainment | $61.50 | |
| Groceries | $281.11 | |
| Restaurants | $108.21 | |
| Pets | $100 | Dog-sitter |
| Shopping | $201.62 | Mostly home supplies, clothing |
| Travel | $274.64 | Flight, Lyft ride |
| Misc Expenses | $36.54 | Laundry, razors |
| Fun Money | $81.10 | |
| Gifts | $306.88 | Christmas presents |
| Total | $4408.52 | Doesn't include savings, investments, and giving. |
- Dividend Income: $718.99
- Interest Income: $29.88
- Side Hustle Income: $30.00
These past few years on our financial journey we’ve challenged everything and trimmed down our expenses, but our spending is still a work in progress.
With each paycheck that comes in, our investments and cash savings continue to grow, as we put the systems in place and now they just run in the background automatically. Once you get your money mapped out where you want it to go, it becomes a game of patience as your wealth grows.
We continue to look to cut back on the areas that don’t matter as much, so that we can put money towards the areas we truly value. Mindful spending is a big focus for us and we continue to improve at it.
Other Financial Updates
Another month in the books! We continue to love the freedom of having no debt, and less monthly payments. It’s much easier to save and invest more when less of our money is allocated towards payments and subscriptions.
This was a very normal month for us, with not much out of the ordinary. Some categories of note:
- Gifts – Christmas meant a good amount of spending in the gift category. Overall, I think
wemy wife did a great job of finding thoughtful gifts that our families enjoyed without breaking the bank. - Pets – One of our friends watched one of our dogs while we were out of town visiting family for Christmas, so this was a thank you for them. We also booked a sitter through Rover for our other dog, but that was paid for in November’s expenses.
- Travel – This was our flight down to Southern California, plus a Lyft ride returning home from the airport.
In total, (travel + dog-boarding + gifts) we spent over $800 for Christmas break. While expensive, this is some of our favorite memories of the year, getting to be with both of our families.
We brought in $719 of dividend income, which is our highest amount so far! This is money that is being generated by our investments, and then gets reinvested right back into those investment accounts. As our investments grow, eventually we’ll reach the point where this dividend income will be used to pay for some of our living expenses. Even though the market has been down recently, our net worth still continue to increase. When you’re early on in your journey, savings rate matters much more than your investment returns. It’s all about making a plan and sticking to it for the long-term.
Looking Ahead
We’re planning a two-week trip to Europe in March, using travel reward points for the flight, so you’ll start to see some of those costs appear in next month’s update. While it will be an expensive month, the travel spending will be offset by money we’ve been setting aside in savings.
Thanks for reading this month’s expense report, and stay tuned for my upcoming post detailing our 2018 yearly spending!
Related Reading: Reviewing Our 2017 Spending
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