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!
I will chime in and say that even as a person with extremely high healthcare cost due to some chronic illnesses and HSA has been far more affordable than a traditional health plan. My company allows us to compare the cost of the plans they provide based on past medical expenses, and even when factoring in all my expensive drugs and procedures, HSA has been the best approach for us. Plus, it’s like an investment account so it’s a great way to build up some assets from a young age.
DeleteThank you so much, Kyria and Lisa! (Hi, Lisa!) I really appreciate it! I never looked more closely at all the plans offered by my company so I never had experience or much knowledge of HSA. It's so helpful to have both your perspectives since you have/had experience with it.
DeleteThere must be something my son is missing because he said his choice is either the HMO plan or the HSA. So if the HSA is for high-deductible health plans, then there must be a health plan that he's also choosing (automatically?) when he's choosing HSA -- and maybe it's in the fine print so he didn't see it? His and the company's share of the cost for the HMO is about the same as for the high-deductible HSA. I've heard good things like what Lisa said about HSA and I've read articles about how good it would be to be able to save some money for future medical expenses in an HSA so I advised him to take that....but then, I thought -- so what HDHP do you have? And he didn't know. :-) So that's his goal this week, to find out what exactly he signed up for. LOL
He's excited to finally have a job that offers all these benefits! Since he's at home and has no rent expense (we are making him pay for his car insurance now that he's a working man! LOL) other than his lunches out and shopping and going out with friends (but he's not a spender), he said he wants to save 75% of his pay. He is signed up for the company's 401K plan (for a bit more than to get the full match), a Roth IRA (he used all of his first paycheck to fund his Roth IRA) and now a HSA, so he's on a nice path to financial stability, I hope!
Thanks again! I will also keep in mind the health insurance plan for those who may need to buy their own!
Good for him! 75% is awesome. May as well save it while you can!
DeleteI think he may be a little confused, and rightfully so, as the acronyms are SO CONFUSING. Likely his option is between an HMO and a PPO (and possibly an EPO), but any one of those may be eligible for an HSA if they are within the HDHP guidelines (at least $1,600 deductible etc) so he should definitely find out what he signed up for, and also he should look at his plan docs to find out --> what is his deductible and what is his out of pocket max? If his decutible is more than $1,600 he probably can put money into an HSA. The only problem may be that they only allow you to elect to do this once per year. However, if they allow you to do it when you want, he may not be too late for 2024. Good luck!
Yes, he has no expenses so we told him he should save while he can! We bought him a new car in late 2023 and we recently got the charger installed at home so he has no car or gas/charging expense -- just the $200/mo car insurance we said he should pay. He's very good with saving and has been putting money away in a Roth IRA and a brokerage account for a few years now from his summer jobs. And after his short stint with NVDA, he's a bit hands-off and only wanted to buy VOO -- so it just kinda manages itself! LOL Since I have been helping him maximize his Roth IRA when he was only working summer jobs, I got to choose the stocks I wanted in his Roth, too...so he has individual stocks as well as his beloved VOO (he as a little GSEW, too, but that has not done much).
DeleteI'm glad you mentioned this other scenario. I think maybe they have HDHP HMO; maybe HMO offering by Aetna but they could choose one with high deductible or the regular non-HDHP. I didn't realize that a HMO can be a HDHP until you mentioned it. He opted for the high deductible of $2,500 (the lower option deductible is $1,700) but I didn't ask the max out of pocket expense. I'm very curious now if this is really what the case is. I couldn't imagine what it was like when he was telling me about it! LOL He also signed up for hospital, accident and critical illness indemnities, which I am not familiar with, either! (Blush...) I guess we will know more and he can change his choices next open season if this was not the right choice.
Thanks for the discussion! It helps a lot!
It sounds like he has a good head on his shoulders! If he wants to "branch out" he could start nibbling into VTI, which is the total US market rather than the S&P, so also has some mid and small cap stocks.
DeleteThanks -- yes, he does...he's a good guy. And yes, he also has a little VTI since it's what I have in my Roth IRA (instead of VOO) since my 401k is heavily in a S&P fund. And a bit of ONEQ for Nasdaq.
DeleteI am here for the money pie posts! We spent less in 2024 than we did in 2023, but that was only because we did not buy a car in 2024 like we did in 2023 thank God! I was surprised by how much we spent on dining out compared to our grocery spending but I haven’t dug into the data yet to figure out what drove that. I love that you know how many times you ate out got ice cream, etc. My number of coffees certainly increased in 2024 because we’ve gotten into a habit of taking the boys to Starbucks or Caribou for a treat on a weekend morning and I always get myself a latte as a treat too.
ReplyDeleteYou are here! Did you do a voice recording for this? Yes, the dining out does add up, doesn't it! I mean, you saw how many coffees I got! And it felt like I only did it when it was really cold or rainy out, which was not that often, so what the heck happened there. It just sneaks in sometimes. As for knowing my numbers, pivot tables baby! Those things are the best. Also I use subcategories (dinner, lunch etc) so that I can dig into the details later. I found that I would rather have extra info and not need it than wish I knew but not have it.
DeleteWe don't track our spending (should we? Just kidding... we should.) Groceries are a huge expense for us, but home is a big one too. And auto insurance, ugh. We need to sell our cars and start cycling everywhere.
ReplyDeleteHaha! You should! Even if you just look at your credit card recap at the end of the year, it is good to get a look at where the money is going. I definitely agree with you re cars. Could you cycle to work if you wanted to? And if not, what would stop you? Are there good bike lanes in Broward? It's been a while since I have been there and I don't really remember what the infrastructure was like.
DeleteIt’s fun to see your spending breakdown in a pie chart! My highest category was health care, meeting our high insurance deductible. Thank goodness for insurance though. Our next highest would be unexpectedly having to replace our furnace. We also have a good ice cream budget!
ReplyDeleteThe house stuff adds up fast, doesn't it? When I first moved into my house, after obviously putting money down and paying closing costs and all of that, my water heater broke. It was like $1,300 to fix it, right out of the gate! That one hurt a lot! Good luck with your furnace.
DeleteI love this! It's even more interesting considering you weren't working for most of the year and were traveling around the world! I'm so impressed that you broke down how MANY times you ate out/went grocery shopping. My numbers would be... so high. It would be ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteFood is always my highest expense after bills and such. I want to lower how much money I'm spending on food, mostly online takeout.
Those online takeout fees and tips and such can really add up! I think if you make it a goal to maybe just do it 1x less per week at first and see how you go, you may be surprised. Also, it may make sense to try to figure out (for that goal) how many times you are doing it, just so you can then try to lower it.
DeleteI export all of my numbers from Fidelity Full View to Excel and then subcategorize them, but if you are mostly using UberEats or whatever, it should be fairly easy to export your credit card yearly recap and count how many times you have a charge on there. Good luck!
Give me all the pie charts!!!
ReplyDeleteWe tried tracking our spending in Excel for about a year and I was terrible at it. Now, just recently, we splurged on Monarch app- it tracks everything for you, and I can't get enough. Our highest spending is probably...house? Or, house, childcare, and travel?... We are minimal when it comes to groceries, no car payments, and little shopping.
I see people lamenting how expensive groceries are, and that's true. But I am not really feeling the crunch. We mainly eat the fridge, and make do with what we have, and try not to waste food. Our kids don't eat a lot, I wish they did honesty, then T and I are not big eaters either... I bought a nice, long piece of salmon the other day, it was about $40 and that was divided into 6 pieces that were then frozen and will be eaten at a later date. I don;t know where I am going with this. Our grocery budget for 4 is probably around $800 per month?..
When I was living in the Bay Area (pre-travel), my grocery bill + dining out was about $350/month for one peroson, but the majority of that (around $250-$300) was groceries in most cases. Last year, since I was on the road a lot, it was higher than that. I haven't tallied up a month in Europe yet, but I think it will be lower! I am not really feeling the crunch either, but I do think that last year, prices were higher in Canada, plus I could only buy a few items at a time, so I did not save on bulk for sure!
DeleteI am surprised by your eating out numbers. I would have assumed it is more being on the road all the time.
ReplyDeleteDid you cook on the road? Or just go with sandwiches and such?
It will be interesting how spendings will shake out during your Europe travels and which country actually is going to be different from what you expect.
As always, I enjoy the money pies! I am all about the stats! I have not tallied up our spending from 2024 yet but I am planning to do so. We definitely had a spendy year last year... I am curious how it all shows up in a chart. I can see how your year was very unusual and probably hard to compare it to the previous year. I am curious - but you don't need to answer: did you lose money when you sold your house or why was it so expensive?
ReplyDelete