Luckily now there are many different ways to do this, the easiest probably would be by putting everything on one credit card and then just looking at their breakdown at the end of each month, quarter or year. However, I love Excel and pivot tables and so I continue to do my recap by using Fidelity Full View to aggregate my spending, downloading that to Excel and then playing around with it in Excel a bit. You could just use Fidelity alone, but I like having some extra info, like what country I was in and whether my meals were breakfast or lunch. That is just me though and most people don't need this level of detail.
2024 was a strange year for me though, as I was only in a permanent place for the first three months of the year, and then I sold my house, which cost me an arm and a leg, and also made this the year that I spent the most in one year that I have ever spent before. This was despite the fact that once I started traveling, my average spend per month was about $2,600 a month. So this year's recap will be a little different; first I will show you the pie with the home costs included. Ridiculous, right?
Also, here is a chart showing month by month. As you can see, I sold my house in May, and also had to pay for an (expensive) plumbing job in Octotober.
Next, I will talk about the costs excluding the home costs, since when I have them in, they make all the other slices way too tiny and skew the data too much.
From most to least, excluding the home category, here is where my money went:
Accommodation: 32.31%. This includes Airbnb, motels, hotels, camping, a subscription to the Warmshowers (cycling accommodation swap) network and a subscription to the Trusted Housesitters (pet sitting) network.
Shopping: 15.85%. This category includes toiletries, clothing, misc. home items & appliances, electronics and books. I also put any cycling related items in this category, which is why it is so high. I spent a lot of money on bike maintenance, bike accessories and gear, and I also got a new laptop. I probably should have put the bike mainenance in the transportation category, but...I didn't, and in 2025 I won't really have to worry about that as much.
Dining Out: 11.86%. This category includes eating out, coffee, booze and ice cream. This one is crazy, and way higher than normal for me, probably because I had 19 breakfasts, 43 lunches, 42 dinners, 48 coffees and 10 ice creams out, plus various drinks and snacks, bringing my total number of times dining out in 2024 to 192 times or basically once every two days! Yikes!! As a comparison, in 2023, this number was 52 (6 breakfasts, 16 lunches, 12 dinners, 16 drinks including coffee and 2 desserts), so I nearly quadrupled my normal amount.
When I stayed with or met up with people I often bought them a meal, so the dollar amount is a little higher than it would be otherwise. However, time spent with friends is priceless and so many of them (you!) were willing to put me up, and I appreciate that!
Groceries: 10.05%. Despite being on the road for much of the year and therefore having to buy groceries in smaller (more expensive) quantities, and more often (I went to the grocery store 162 times in 2024!), I only spent about $700 (or $58 per month) more in 2024 than I did in 2023. Go figure! I would have assumed it would have been a lot higher. I guess only being able to carry so much on the bike kept me from overbuying! Also I definitely dined out more than I normally do, so much of my food cost probably went to that.
Utilities: 8.95%. This cateogry is a new one for me, as I was putting some of these items in the Home category before, or the Misc. category, but now they bascially cover most of my fixed costs, aka non travel costs, such as computer security, credit card fees, phone, computer software, cloud storage, and subscriptions. I do pay a lot in credit card fees, but I used the bonus points from these to pay for four tickets to Germany, so I think it is worth it for the time being. I will reevaluate at the end of 2025 and will cancel any that are not worth paying for anymore.
Health: 8.59%. This category includes health insurance, out of pocket costs, massages, medicines and vitamins etc. I did most of my medcial stuff before I quit my job, which did cost me a little bit out of pocket, but the bulk of this is from my monthly insurance premium.
Transportation: 7.40%. This includes airfare, Lyft/Uber, public transportation, car insurance, maintenance, registration, gas, tolls, car rental & parking. Most of the cost here was gas, trains (I took Amtrak three times and Via Rail Canada once) and ride share, because when we were done riding from Canada to Mexico, we were in the middle of nowhere and it cost $250 to have someone pick me up and take me and my bike to El Paso.
Misc.: 4.83%. This category includes gifts, haircuts, legal fees, tax prep software and education expenses. I had to pay some taxes out of pocket. The biggest expense here was gifts by far; the second biggest was my CFA yearly fees, which cost about $300 per year.
Entertainment: 0.16%. This category includes music, theater, sporting events, museums, tours etc. However, the only thing I did was one "free" walking tour in Seattle, but otherwise, my entertainment in 2024 was mostly riding through or past places, walking around in towns, or eating, which is covered in a different category.
So, 2024 was a little unconventional and I am looking forward to seeing what 2025 brings. Just for fun, if I took what I spent for the year minus the home category and prorated it then adjusted it to be over a year again, I would have spent about 67% of my normal spending for the year at home in the Bay Area. This seems a little high so I am wondering if I will spend less for a year of international slow travel than I did for a year of moving every day but camping sometimes.
What do you think? Do you think I will spend less or more in 2025 than I did in 2024?
In 2025, I will give actual dollar amounts per month and will also break down which country I am in so that I can compare these at the end of the year. I know that some places I plan on being are known for being cheaper, but I am also curious to find out if some of the places that we (I) assume are more expensive end up being cheaper than I thought.
Do you track your spending? What was your highest spending category? How many times do you think you went to the grocery store and/or dined out last year?
This is interesting, I wondered how things would shake out with you travelling so much. You seem to be able to do so much on such a small budget - I'm impressed! 67% is pretty great!
ReplyDeleteOh I always hit publish before I answer your question. Highest spending category was definitely groceries. How many TIMES did I go to the grocery store, oh god, weekly at least, often more than that if you include Costco.
DeleteYeah, food cost is up there. Mine were only "lower" because I spent a lot on my bike, which kicked the shopping category up above the food category. But my number one is definitely accommodation, whether I was living in Oakland or traveling, then food is a close second most of the time! However, I don't think I spend close the amount that you do at Costco, but you are feeding a lot of people and going through a lot of bananas and kalette! :)
DeleteYou need to spend more on ice cream--only 10 ice creams out! That seems low to me. Ice creams at a shop are one of the best treats in life. You only live once.
ReplyDeleteI go to the grocery store weekly and take advantage of sales and get fresh produce. I don't track spending, but my husband does. That's his (one) job. I've always been good at being mindful of spending; we started married life practically penniless. That's something that stays with you.
Nance, don't worry. If I counted my store bought ice cream, I would guestimate that I probably bought ice cream every third day, so at least 100 times! However, I can't really justify paying like $5 for a scoop when I can get an entire half gallon for that amount, so I usually don't buy ice cream out.
DeleteMy parents had their own business and I would not say that we were penniless, but every dollar went back into the business. This definitely taught me to mind my money, which has stuck with me!
Aw yiss, that sweet, sweet money pie...taking a look without the house spending makes sense because it skews the numbers too much.
ReplyDeleteWhat Nance said - you only went out for ice cream 10 times last year????? Only once for every 800 miles that you biked? Check your numbers girl! The reason I'm questioning your number is that I'm not that into ice cream but I remember drooling over your pictures and descriptions, plus our trip to King Condrell's (I would be very much more into ice cream if I lived closer to them).
My big spend items were: 25% travel (yay), 25% "roof over our head" stuff (mortgage, utilities, yada yada), 10% "stuff" which is a catch all for Amazon/Costco/Walmart/etc, 10% pets (yes it's a lot and if we didn't have the money there would be less doggy day care but we do have the money so I don't give it a second thought), and 10% groceries. I don't include savings in my spending, but I maxed out my 401k and fattened up my FU fund, so everything is where it needs to be on that side of things.
Happy spending/living your life in 2025!
Yes, I only went OUT for ice cream that many times, but If I counted my store bought ice cream, I would guestimate that I probably bought ice cream every third day, so at least 100 times! Come on now; you know I can't pass up a good half gallon of mint chip!
DeleteI don't include savings either in this chart, but if I did, savings would be a huge chunk of the chart, like probably over 50% in most years. However now that I don't have money coming in from a job, I would have to think about how I would track that.
Pets were the highest. I love them dearly, but just think of the bathroom I could have if didn't have a cat and a dog!
ReplyDeleteI think you need more ice cream in your life, too!
I think I had enough last year. I probably ate 50 gallons of ice cream last year, no joke.
DeleteI am so impressed you classify what your "dining out" entails. Especially love all the ice cream stops :)
ReplyDeleteOur biggest expense was auto (buying a second vehicle) and then household (paying off our mortgage). Both Auto and Home should be wayyyyy lower next year, so I'll be interested how other categories fill out the pie!
Your year over year comparison is going to be weird next year that is for sure. When I bought my car, I did put it in the year that I bought it, but I kept a running average so that I could be more accurate when I was trying to do a forward projection for my finances. It does make sense that we will have big purchases like that every five or ten or whatever years, so it is nice when you end up having enough years worth of data to be able to estimate more accurately!
DeleteI do not track spending, but like Nancy we started married life penniless, I was putting Coach thru PT school, and I was raised REALLY frugal . . . So we tend to be careful with our funds. I am laughing at the possible number of trips to the grocery store. My guess is food and travel would be our highest spending area. Travel basketball and college trips make up most of our travel with the occasional fun trip.
ReplyDeleteYour pie chart is impressive as is your ability to spend so little. I am sure I would learn a lot about our spending habits if I put in the effort, but at this point I don’t think I have the energy. I love the votes for more ice cream shop visits. Great advice!
Dang it- that was me above. Sorry. Stupid phone.
ReplyDeleteHaha! As mentioned above, and I am so sorry I was not clear, but I probably bought ice cream at at least half of my grocery store visits, so I was definitely not short on ice cream last year! I like tracking and getting into the details, as it kind of makes it into a "fun" game for me. I am guessing with all the kids that your food bill is very high and would be curious to hear what you normally spend on a month of groceries!
DeleteI'm very impressed with the detail you put in but so fun to see the results in details!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about your health insurance. Who/where did you buy since I imagine you bought it on your own after you left your job? I have a new interest in HSA because it's one of 2 things offered at my son's job: a HMO and HSA. Isn't HSA something you can set up when you have a high-deductible health plan? Have you ever heard of companies just offering HSA without a health plan? I did a bit of Googling -- but not a lot since I didn't have much time to give input when my son was picking plans.
LOL about everyone saying you should go out for more ice cream! I like ice cream but I don't like a lot of ice cream....so I can see how what you had was just fine. I also seem to remember you bought packaged ice cream and gelatos. Now I just made myself crave some Talenti gelato!
I had to buy private insurance. You can go for ACA, but since I worked for part of last year and I have investment accounts, the amount (which is based on income) that I would pay each month was higher than just getting it on my own. So I went with Cinga global, which offers insurance that can be used anywhere in the world.
DeleteAs far as your son's new job, likely if he had any advice from anyone about picking a plan, he probably DID pick a HDHP because he is young and the premium is normally lower for a higher deductible, so naturally he would probably want a lower premium since he will likely not be needing to go to the doctor much. I think the limit for 2024 was a minimum of $1,650 with a max out of pocket of $8,300 or less. Also, likely his qualifies as the employer usually does not offer an HSA if they don't have HDHP.
HOWEVER, you can get an HSA on your own without your company offering it. But it sounds like he doesn't need to worry about that. Also, you can pay into your 2024 HSA until April 15 of 2025 so it may be worth looking into whether he qualifies and then putting in a lump if that is possible. If it is not, he should definitely still put in as much as he can. If he can save ~ 25% of his salary in either his 401k and/or HSA, he will be off to a good start!