Looking Back: 2022 Money Pie

Well jeez, it is that time of year again! Who wants a slice of money pie? As you know, I always do a debrief with myself at the end of each year (and a check in each quarter although I do not bore you with those details) to see where all my money has gone! You can find past years here.

In 2022, overall I spent about $1,000 more than my average per year. I will detail all of the categories below, but the main culprit this year aside from the obvious elephant (Home) was a combination of Dining Out, Entertainment and Travel. I do keep these separate, but I also like to see what they look like combined, as I consider these three categories discretionary versus necessary. I will discuss more about them in a few. 

Here are the categories in the order of largest percentage to smallest. 

Home: 63.7%. Not surprisingly, this category continues to lead the pack and this year's 63.7% was pretty much the same as last year's 64.1%. This category includes mortgage, utilities, taxes and insurance, as well as other misc. items, such as appliances, stuff from the hardware store, home improvement and furnishings. The bulk (73%) of this category consists of mortgage payments, partly because it is large, but I also contribute a little bit extra to my principal each month. 

I did do a few things around the house like fixing my furnace ($150) but nothing big (like last year's > $1,000 tree trimming). I think with this category, no matter what you do to cut costs, there is always something. This year, due to rising costs, my PG&E (electric and gas) bill was basically double last year's bill much of the time. 

Travel: 11.7%. This category includes airfare, car rental, lodging and any groceries, dining out or transportation incurred while traveling. Although most of my travel consisted of tent camping and eating my own meals, some of the other costs incurred during travel were quite expensive this year. I spent about $500 more on my international flight than I did in 2019 so it makes sense that airfare was about 36% of the travel expense (next highest was lodging at 25%)! 

Transportation: 7.2%. This includes Lyft/Uber, public transportation, car insurance, maintenance, registration, gas, tolls & parking. Although gas prices were through the roof this year, I actually spent about the same as I usually do in this category. I definitely spent less on public transportation because I had some credit left over from 2020 on my transit card, and I did not have to do any major car maintenance. 

Groceries: 5.3%. I guess we all have to eat and I definitely did not skimp in this category (however, my dining out category was basically nonexistent). My weakness is Costco; I cannot get out of there without spending at least $100 (and sometimes a lot more). However, their egg prices are still the best ones in town right now (about $12.00 for five dozen). But I never just buy eggs! 

Entertainment: 3.8%. This category usually includes music, theater, and running & camping expenses. This time I added cycling to the mix and I bought both a stationary bike and a mountain bike, so the bulk of the number is split between running (39%) and cycling (38%). Most of my running number is race fees (three races) and shoes (five pairs - when they are on sale, I stock up). 

Health: 3.5%. This category includes health insurance, out of pocket costs, massages, medicines and vitamins etc. I don't really pay many or any out of pocket fees that don't get reimbursed, but the premium each month is not super low. However, if I had to pay for my own insurance rather than group insurance, it would be about two to three times higher, so I am happy! 

Misc.: 2.4%. This category includes gifts, haircuts, fees for credit cards, tax prep software and education expenses. I only got one cheap haircut and did not pay for any education this year, so most of this was gifts! 

Shopping: 1.3%. This category includes toiletries, clothing, misc. home items & appliances, pet stuff, electronics and books. The majority of this went to the cat (flea treatment and litter ain't cheap!) and the next biggest expense was the bidet! 

Dining Out: 1.0%. This category includes eating out, coffee and booze. As you can see, it was my smallest category, which makes sense as I do not really eat out  much. The bulk of it was really two dinners where I treated, but otherwise, this category was tiny. 

However, don't be completely fooled, as I do categorize any dining out that is done on a vacation as "travel."  This is why I like to look at the combined categories of Dining Out, Travel and Entertainment to kind of gauge where I am with my fun spending items. If you look at them all together, they would constitute 16% of my overall spending. 

I also have two categories that I do not put on here since they are not actual money spent, but I do put some money aside for investments each year and some aside for savings. I think that it is very important to do both, even if the amount is minimal, and especially if you can do it before taxes. You can find more info in this post about how I feel about setting money aside. 

Do you do a yearly review of your finances? Do you have a budget? What is your biggest spending category? 

What I Learned: 22 New Things

Happy New Year! Each year, a goal of mine is to try new things! This can be going to a new place, trying a new restaurant or food or activity or learning something new. I don't really have a certain number in mind, but I thought it would be fun to talk about 22 of them, in honor of 2022. Here they are, mostly in the order that I did them.

1. Emigrant Wilderness in the snow: I usually go to Emigrant in the summer for hiking but this time we decided to go for some winter sports. We stayed near Pinecrest and spent one day skiing and one day snowshoeing and then one day taking a hike around the lake before going home. It was beautiful and we liked it so much we may go back this year and do a longer snowshoeing trip! 

2. I threw out all of my instruction manuals. I know this is not that exciting, but I finally decided that if I need to, I can look up product information or instructions online and I do not need to keep the heavy booklets for everything I have ever bought in my life. It freed up my file cabinet a lot and I have not even missed them! I did take photos of some of the more  pertinent details but otherwise I am basically manual-free! 

3. I added a few new travel destinations to my list, which also added a LOT of new things which I will not list separately. Austin: Texas BBQ, kayaking on Lady Bird lake and live music! Lost Coast trail: many miles of hiking in the sand, cool shells and creatures and the rising tide! Amsterdam: bikes and canals and legal drugs, oh my! Slovenia: this deserves a post of its own, but hiking and dragons and sausages abound! Mt. Hood: circumnavigation on the Timberline trail. Washington: Enchantments (a must see!) and section L of the Pacific Crest Trail (the most northern of the PCT). 

Lost Coast

4. I tried some new foods. Shakshuka. This is something that never appealed to me since it involves cooked tomatoes, which I did not really like as a kid. However, as an adult, and when REAL tomatoes are used, I realized that they can be pretty good actually! And this includes my favorite breakfast item, the egg! I would eat it again. Cioppino. Same story regarding the tomato, but this is also pretty good. I would still rather have a bowl of creamy New England clam chowder however. Homemade yogurt. This is so easy and so delicious; I actually prefer it to store bought and it is way cheaper. It does take about 24 hours to make yourself, but I think it is worth waiting for!  

Yogurt

5. FODMAP elimination diet. This deserves a post of its own, but the short of it is that I was having some gastric issues and was put on this diet which consists of several weeks of elimination and then several more of reintroduction. I am still not 100% sure what is ailing me, but have a better idea than I did a year ago. 

6. Ran through Harvard Yard. I have looked at Harvard from the other side of the Charles but had never been on campus. While visiting friends in Sommerville, I took a run and went and explored Harvard. What a beautiful place! I thoroughly enjoyed it and it also gave me a chance to go inside and use the bathroom! :) 

7. Participated in a 30 day fitness challenge. This was a good way to reset my fitness plan, which sometimes gets a little blah. I did this with a few friends and I don't think that any of us actually finished it, but it was really fun trying to! The issue for me was not the exercises themselves, but the regularity of doing it every day. I would find myself forgetting or while in bed at the end of the day realizing I had not done it so then I would tell myself that I would just do two of them the next day....etc. 

8. Chopped off and donated my hair. This is not a new thing but I did send it to a different charity than I normally do as I was told that Locks of Love, the one I have sent hair to before, actually sells their wigs! Shame on them! So this time I sent it to Wigs for Kids, which I was told does not profit from my donation. They make it really convenient too; you print out a barcode so you can track where it is in the process after you send it. 

9. Tried to sell shoes on Ebay. Total and complete failure. I started with only a few pairs but I did not even get a nibble. I even lowered the price, but still nothing. And then I lost hope and kind of gave up on that project. However, I have a bunch of barely or never worn shoes that I really did not want to just give away. Does anyone have any tips for me about this? 

10. Did an almond croissant challenge. While in Brooklyn, I tried all of the almond croissants at all of the bakeries within walking distance from my hotel. I tried about 7 or 8 different ones! Some of them were just meh, but there were a few that I liked and my favorite was from Julien. Shortly after this, I learned that wheat may be a contributor to tummy issues that I am having, so my croissant days may be limited, so I am glad that I lived it up while I could! 

11. Went camping at Lake Sonoma. This is so close to where I live, yet I had never gone camping at the lake until 2022. You do have to hike or boat in to some of the spots, but we did both and had a great time. Plus, you have to love the California coast, where you can camp outside in April and even get a little hot! 

12. Tried to summit Mt. Whitney in the snow. In April, my brother and I tried to summit Mt. Whitney but there was a late spring snowstorm and we decided to be safe rather than sorry and we turned around early. However, it was really beautiful to see some of the normally bare places covered with snow. 

Photo Rock

13. The year of the bike! In 2022, I waited until everyone who bought a bike during COVID got tired of it and then I bought a used stationary bike. I have used it a handful of times, but now that it is winter and raining, I think it will be getting more use soon. I also bought my first mountain bike and am still dialing in the adjustments and I can't wait to go out on my first ride! I also completed my longest bike ride ever (to date) of 42 miles, surpassing my 2013 record of 40 by two miles! 

14. Cowboy camped in the NV desert. On a road trip to Wyoming, we stopped outside of Reno and lay down by the side of the road under the stars! It was a little windy and dusty, but I actually slept great! 

Somewhere near Reno, NV

15. Backpacked in Grand Teton NP. Although permits were a little difficult to get (you have to get online on a certain day at a certain time and know exactly the dates you want and the campsites you want to stay at) once we were there, this was a great experience. It was beautiful and not as crowded as I expected and the views just kept on coming! I have been to Wyoming a few times and this park once before but I have never done any overnights and it did not disappoint! 

16. I got a new job. This probably deserves its own post, but basically my whole team went from one firm to another. We are still learning some of the rules and systems and things like that, but we are pretty satisfied with how the whole transition went overall. 

17. Summited Mt. Elbert. While not my first Colorado 14er, this is the second tallest mountain in the continental US and the highest in Colorado, so it was fun to check it off my list. Also it was fairly easy (as the 14ers in Colorado sometimes are) logistically. We were staying in Twin Lakes so I just hiked up to the top of the mountain and back down again to our AirBnB! Easy-peasy! 

The Collegiates as seen from the summit of Mt. Elbert

18. Discovered Octowordle. If you love Wordle, you will love Octowordle. You do not need to download an app and it is free and you can play games from the days before, so if you feel like more than one, you can have it! You have to solve eight Wordles at the same time and it is super fun. 

19. Got a bidet. I will not go into too much detail here but I bought a Tushy and I love it. The end. Seriously, it is easy to install and it does the job. 

My Tushy

20. Cross country backpacking Emigrant. I always wanted to do this cross country route near Cherry Creek in Emigrant but it was never on the way or convenient and we finally did it in October. It was great because the water was low so we could basically walk on the creek bed which made cross country travel very easy. Plus it was beautiful and we had the place all to ourselves since it was so late in the season. 

21. Went to a David Sedaris reading. I have never been to a book reading before and I do love listening to Sedaris books as he is a good narrator, so this was the best of both worlds! I also brought my brother and his girlfriend along, and although neither of them really have read Sedaris, they both enjoyed it. 

22. Finished my Death List. Maybe this needs a better name, but it is basically getting all of my "affairs" in order just in case something happens. I have had most things pretty dialed in (advanced directive, POA, beneficiaries) but wanted to put it all on one list so that people can access it easily. I started working on making a more detailed list last year when my grandmother died (nothing like a dose of reality to get you moving, eh?) as her list made it so easy to take care of her affairs after she passed. 

Wow, I did not mean to make the last one so dreary, but it is the most recent! Also, happily, I did a lot more than 22 new things in 2022, but I like the sound of 22 in 22 so I will leave it at that! Here's to many more new things in 2023! 

What new thing did you learn, place did you go or experience did you have in 2022? 

Best of 2022: Books

Just like that, another year has gone by...Although each year brings many changes, one thing that remains the same is my love of books. This year I only beat last year's number by about 3%! The slight increase could be due to the fact that audiobooks continue to play a more important part of my life. I listen to books while cleaning, cooking, driving, running, hiking...you get the picture. Of all the books I read in 2022, about three quarters of them were audiobooks. 

Here are my recaps from prior years: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011. 

This year I gave the coveted five star rating to nine books. I am trying to be a little more generous with my stars, as some years there are less than a handful of five star reads. Without further ado, here are my favorite reads from 2022, in the order that I read them. 

Remember: The Science of Memory and The Art of Forgetting by Lisa Genova: This is not the first of Genova's books that I have had in my top picks. She is a neuroscientist who has written about many neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's and ALS. In Remember, she talks about the brain in general and how many of the things we worry about, like that the fact that we cannot remember where we put our keys, is not necessarily a sign of aging but perhaps just of our brains prioritizing. 

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn: Based on a true story, this is another WWII novel by Quinn, but this time its from a different perspective. Kiev native Mila is a bookish mother until Germany invades the Ukraine and then she becomes Lady Death, a feared Nazi sniper. She tallies up so many deaths that she gets invited to the US by Eleanor Roosevelt. However, things go south while she is in the US and she has to battle both inner and outer demons to survive. 

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe: I was a bit hesitant to begin this book, as I had to put down one of his other books, Say Nothing, due to it being an overload of information. However, he went from zero to five stars with this story of corruption and greed in the opioid industry. The Sackler family is one of the richest in the world and the producers and marketers of the highly addictive opioid OxyContin. When asked about the addictive properties of the drug and clear signs that it was being abused they were in strict denial of either point. 

Pony by R.J. Palacio: By the author of Wonder, this was another YA novel with an underlying message. When horsemen steal his father away, 12 year old Silas and his imaginary friend set out on a rescue mission. On the journey, he faces many fears, but with his friend and his pony, he not only survives but learns a lot along the way. 

Blindness by Jose Saramago: This book really made me feel very emotional. I put it on my to read list during the pandemic, as it was supposedly "pandemic related." Then a friend of mine gave me the physical book this year and I was going to read the first chapter to see how it sat. After that I could not put it down. It was like a car accident; it both disgusted and fascinated me. In the story, a man is struck blind out of the blue. Soon after, another man becomes blind, and then another. Not knowing what is causing this, they are isolated in case it is contagious. Soon more are "infected" and things start to become messy, literally. They are in confinement with only one meal a day and nobody to clean up their waste. There are no rules and nobody to enforce them; it becomes like Lord of the Flies. It is disturbing and thought provoking and there are many parallels to the pandemic that we have just experienced. I recommend it but just know that you are going to feel lots of things when you read it. 

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy: When I first read the title of this book, I knew it was going to be interesting. I was not familiar with the author, but this story still sucked me in. She becomes a child star fairly early, but is subjected to her mothers ideas of beauty, including calorie restriction and at home makeovers. Not surprisingly, this leads to eating disorders, abusive relationships, shame and addiction. 

The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin: A story of a 17 year old girl and an 83 year old woman who meet in the terminal ward of the hospital and become fast friends. Since their combined years add up to a hundred, they decide to do an art project honoring the stories they have had over these years. Although one has had a short life and the other has had a long life, they learn that who you share it with is what matters. 

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid: This is the third book by TJR that I have had on my end of year Best Of list. I have now read seven of her books and have given five stars to two, four stars to two and three stars to three of them. Almost everything I have read of hers has been entertaining and interesting, especially the more recent ones! This story details a tennis star who at 37 years old decides to try and reclaim her title after a six year hiatus. She is definitely the old kid on the block, and she struggles both mentally and physically to try to live up to where she was in the past. 

These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham: Cooper and his daughter Finch live in an isolated cabin in the woods. It's just the two of them and this is how Cooper likes it. However, when a girl turns up missing in the woods nearby, they cannot maintain their isolation any longer. Cooper has to face up to his past, including coming clean about it to Finch. 

Have you read any of the above and if so, did you like them? What were some of your favorite books this year? 

On Being Uncomfortable

As adults, we become fairly stuck in our ways at times, doing the same routine or same tasks over and over. Having kids definitely gives people a new outlook, new tasks to do, new people to meet. For example, for the last couple of years I have been helping a single mom friend shuttle the kids to soccer and lacrosse practice and games. Not only have I learned about pickup and drop off (did you know that only a couple of the parents get out of the car? I always get out of the car. Am I doing that wrong?), but I have been learning how to play lacrosse (this is not a sport we had available when I was a kid). I am learning how to listen to and to give advice to kids; I am learning some bad (but very fun) dad jokes. 

Aside from that though, what do we do to put ourselves out of our comfort zone? Last weekend I took a bike ride with Bertha (that's my bike). This may seem easy enough, but my plan was to take my old bike all the way around the bay. Here is my CalTopo map. This would mean crossing two bridges and going into towns that usually I only fly by on the freeway. It would mean riding in the street, sometimes on roads with little shoulder and across two bridges with various rules and strange entry points. It would mean not knowing where I could use the bathroom or whether or not I needed to lock up my bike or where I could lock it up. It would mean riding further than I ever had before. It would mean being out of the house for an unknown period of time, in the cold and the wind. My bike could break down; I could get a flat; I could get lost; I could encounter all manner of things. 

But. I could have fun, learn something I did not know yet, stretch my ability and see new things. Which is what I did. I started at my house and rode to a bar in uptown Oakland to watch the World Cup final. After watching Argentina get a much deserved win, I got back on the bike and started riding toward the Richmond bridge. Luckily, there is a bike path that goes all the way from Emeryville to Richmond, which is about 10 miles long and sticks to the shoreline so there would not be too many cars to contend with. 

I followed that for about 10 miles and then had to go on the streets to get to Point Richmond, which is usually easy to get through. However, they were doing construction and there was a detour and instead of going on a flat street through downtown I went nearer to the coast and the hills and got quite an unexpected work out. Once I recovered from that, I went toward the bridge, but I didn't realize that when it said right turn it meant right after the street, not ON the street, so I almost went on a freeway entrance until a guy rolled down his window and told me that the bike path was just up the street. Oops! 

Bay Area bikeways

Next was the approach to the bridge and then a four mile stretch on the bridge, which always seems flat when I am driving on it, but I swear was uphill the whole way on the bike. Plus there was a cross wind that did not make it any easier. This was the point that I decided that my 50 mile circumnavigation of the whole bay may be a little ambitious and I should start thinking of a plan B. Luckily, depending on how long you want to wait, there are three ferry options that go into San Francisco as well as several bus options. So I got off the Richmond bridge and cruised into Larkspur where there is a ferry. Unfortunately, the next ferry came in about an hour and a half, but I did not want to just sit around and wait, so I decided to press on to Sausalito where I could catch the ferry from there if I hurried. 

Approaching the bridge

Richmond Bridge

Of course from Larkspur to Sausalito there were about 17 different turns and it did take me a while to make sure I was going the right way. Also when I got on the bike path that goes into Sausalito, which I have run on before, it was a lot more miles than I remember to get from there to the ferry. Of course the headwind did not help and I was passed several times by cyclists with large strong thighs, which really made me realize that I need to train more for this sport. However, it was a beautiful sunny day and there were people out enjoying it and it really was a great day to be alive. 

In Sausalito, I literally walked onto the ferry and it left, so if I would have been 5 minutes later I would have missed it and had to either wait another couple of hours or climbed the dreaded hill and crossed the Golden Gate bridge. Instead I had a great ride, ate a snack, enjoyed the view of the city and Alcatraz (if you have never taken this ferry, I highly recommend it. It is much cheaper than a proper bay cruise) and the all of the bridges. 

From San Francisco, I took the BART back to Oakland where I had about a four mile ride to get back home. I will admit, but this time I was super hungry despite my snack on the boat, but my butt was definitely not as sore as I thought it might be after such a long ride. This actually is now my longest ride ever! 

So, after this long story, what is my point, you are asking!? I would say the moral of the story is thus: first of all, you can teach an old dog new tricks...just kidding. Seriously, get out and try new things. Maybe it is embarrassing or unusual or uncomfortable or HARD, but you won't know until you try it and if you hate it you don't have to do it again, because you know what? You are an adult! However, I have found that many of those hard or uncomfortable things often become my favorite new thing to do.  Did I learn from this one? Yes. Did I have fun? Most certainly. Was it hard? You bet it was. Will I take another long bike ride? Definitely.

Total miles: 42
Time taken: 4 hours
Bridges crossed: 1 (Richmond)
Modes of transport: 3 (bike, boat, train)
Map of my trip: https://caltopo.com/m/G96UB 

What uncomfortable thing have you done lately? Have you ever taken a long bike ride? If so, what tips can you impart for my next ride? 

Best of 2022: Travel

This year, I made up for two years of lockdown and scheduled all kinds of weekend shenanigans. Most of them involved the outdoors but I also visited some cities and had some delicious food. I also finally knocked some places off my long time wish list. Here are a few of my favorites! 

Snowshoeing and skiing at Dodge Ridge. In January, Broski, Bunny and I took a long weekend for some skiing and snowshoeing near Pinecrest Lake. It was the perfect weekend; it was sunny but not hot and the runs are short and sweet but so were the lines. I even did a few (tiny) jumps, which gets my blood going! 

Pinecrest Lake

Music, BBQ and kayaking in Austin, TX: In February, KB and I finally made it to Austin after years of wanting to check it out. It did not disappoint and we had a great time running around the lakes, eating BBQ, checking out some live music and kayaking. And did I mention eating? There was a lot of eating. Also KB's sister and friend came from Houston to join us, so it was a fun girls trip all around! 

Could not leave without getting a picture of this. 

Grandma's memorial on Cape Cod: Although not the happiest of occasions, it was good to see the family and to spend time on the Cape. In March, we rented a big house for the entire family and spent time eating, walking on the beach and even enjoying a springtime snowstorm. I also tacked on a visit to some friends in Boston who I haven't seen in a few years and we went out for a seafood feast and had a great time catching up. 

Cape Cod

Wedding weekend and croissant eating in Brooklyn: My favorite pastry is a bear claw/almond croissant and Brooklyn has plenty of options to pick from! Aside from a fabulous time had at my friends wedding where there was dancing and lots of cheese, I spent the rest of my weekend in Brooklyn on the quest for the best almond croissant. From Park Slope to Green Point, my favorite was the Julien Boulangerie, but of course I will have to keep trying to see if it can be beat! 

Bikes and croissants, oh my.

Backpacking in Yosemite: I spent a couple of different weekends doing cross country backpacking trips in Yosemite and both of them were great. There was still a lot of snow at times and this made for some slow going, but it just gave me more opportunities to enjoy the scenery. 

Snow on Vogelsang pass

Teton adventure: In July, Broski, Bugsy and I took a road trip to Wyoming where we did a 5 day hike around the Teton range. It was absolutely beautiful, although it was still a bit snowy and some of the passes were still a bit slippery! 

Hiking near Death Canyon Shelf

Road trip to Washington and Oregon: I finally knocked a couple more of my hopefuls off the list and tackled the Timberline Trail around Mt. Hood, the Enchantments and the northernmost section of the PCT in Washington. 

PCT - Section L

Hiking and dragon hunting in Slovenia: After years of wanting to go see this tiny jewel of a country, I finally made it and it did not disappoint. From wine to beaches, from mountains to cities and lots of good food too, Slovenia has a bit of everything. I spend a good time hiking the Slovenian Mountain Trail and then supplemented that with some relaxation, good food, and fun sights! 

Ljubljana

I also had some fun CA trips to the Lost Coast, Mt. Shasta and Castle Crags, Emigrant Wilderness, Mt. Whitney (x 2!!), and the Hoover Wilderness. 

What was your favorite trip this year?