2019 is in the books. As always, I like to look back on the year that was, and take stock of our spending. Anyways, for better or worse here is what happened.
I had so much fun doing going through the numbers that I decided to do the work twice!
Narrator Voice: He did not have “so much fun”.
The Truth… some Excel demon reared its ugly head and deleted most of my transaction data. It was the weirdest thing. At any rate, I feel doubly confident that these numbers are as accurate as can be.
The Numbers
Welp, here it is… the Heartland on FIRE spending for 2019. Drumroll please…
| Category | Amount | Per Month |
| ATM/Cash | $655.50 | $54.63 |
| Automotive | $16,754.86 | $1,396.24 |
| Booze | $1,392.80 | $116.07 |
| Checks | $688.90 | $57.41 |
| Clothing/Shoes | $4,072.59 | $339.38 |
| Daycare | $13,142.36 | $1,095.20 |
| Dining Out | $4,945.92 | $412.16 |
| Donation | $500.75 | $41.73 |
| Dues & Subscriptions | $485.24 | $40.44 |
| Entertainment | $1,620.44 | $135.04 |
| Gasoline/Fuel | $2,223.84 | $185.32 |
| General Merchandise | $8,945.44 | $745.45 |
| Gifts | $237.71 | $19.81 |
| Groceries | $9,869.94 | $822.50 |
| Grooming | $254.71 | $21.23 |
| Healthcare/Medical | $1,264.91 | $105.41 |
| Hobbies | $1,767.18 | $147.27 |
| Home Improvement | $3,022.43 | $251.87 |
| House Cleaner | $635.50 | $52.96 |
| Insurance | $1,093.68 | $91.14 |
| Mortgages | $34,632.34 | $2,886.03 |
| Pets/Pet Care | $982.99 | $81.92 |
| Phone | $1,444.79 | $120.40 |
| Service Charges/Fees | $194.68 | $16.22 |
| Taxes | -$3,550.53 | -$295.88 |
| TV | $1,348.66 | $112.39 |
| Utilities | $3,833.05 | $319.42 |
| Vacation | $3,242.26 | $270.19 |
| Grand Total | $115,702.94 | $9,641.91 |
That there is a bunch of numbers… let me point out a few oddities and some key takeaways.
Worth Noting
- We bought, and paid off, my wife’s new car this year. This is all reflected in the automotive category. I replaced mine last year. Let’s hope we are done with vehicle replacement for a long, long, long, long time.
- Taxes includes state income tax we, our refund, and personal property taxes.
- We had to replace our water heater this year which bumped up the home improvement category to the tune of $1,200.
- Mortgages includes both our primary residence and our rental home.
- That rental home mortgage ($768 a month) is covered by the tenant’s rent.
- We’ve been purchasing our groceries primarily from Walmart. However, a portion of the general merchandise category comes from Walmart as well. Further complicating the matter: most of the General Merchandise comes from Target… but we also occasionally get some groceries there too. Other than saving and going through each receipt, it is very tough to properly sort this. In the end, I am punting and calling it a wash.
Key Takeaways
Our monthly spending year to date is $9,642 which is down from $11,970 in 2018 and $12,175 in 2017. That’s a trend I like to see! It appears the biggest drops in spending are in the automotive, daycare, home improvement , and vacation areas. Unfortunately, these are mostly due to one off expenses like the new car, home remodeling costs (I redid a bathroom in 2018), and structured daycare cost reductions.
In 2018 we went to Disney which was pricey. However, we didn’t skimp on travel this year with a week in Gulf Shores, a trip to San Francisco/Sonoma/Napa, and a long weekend in Fort Collins and Estes Park Colorado. We significantly reduced our travel costs by using credit card rewards points.
Unfortunately, it looks like we won the battle but are losing the war. The war on lifestyle inflation that is.
Most recurring expenses actually went up.
- Last year we were paying about $287 monthly in utilities. This ticked up about $32 a month. Is it due to weather or usage? I think a bit of both.
- We are slipping a lot on the Dining Out/Fast Food category to the tune of about $57 per month. In particular, Fast Food is up from $137 per month to $155 per month. In unrelated news, my waist line is still larger than I would like. Hmmm.
- Spending on booze when up $714 for the year. A large chunk of that was due to buying wine during our vacations to Napa/Sonoma and Fort Collins, CO. (see previous comment about my waist line).
- Healthcare costs went up $1,834. I had two rounds a chiropractor treatment for shoulder and hip issues. There was an urgent care visit for one of our daughters’ sprained ankle and both of them having a bad case of the flu.
- Gasoline is also up about $200 compared to 2018. I attribute this to generally higher gas prices and a skew in the data from our road trip to Gulf Shores. We just traded in my wife’s Acadia in the middle of the year for a more efficient CRV which should drop our spending eventually.
- We refinanced the mortgage on our primary house into a 15-year loan term. As such, mortgage costs for the year are up about $4,000 compared to 2018.
- Hobbies (mostly activities for the kids) went up about $700. Our youngest now does two activities and the oldest is doing dance year-round in addition to seasonal sports.
- Spending on general merchandise and clothing/shoes went up approximately $1,000.00. Our two kids are growing like weeds and seemingly need new wardrobes every other month.
We even added a spending category: House Cleaner
Had you asked me this time last year if there was anyway in hell we would hire a house cleaner, you would have heard a resounding NO WAY. However, over the course of the year our house was getting neglected as our schedules filled out with increasing kid activities and work demands. One day, Mrs. HoF took matters into her own hands and brought a cleaner in.
And folks… it has been great. She comes in once or twice a month and does a deep clean. Our stress levels drop dramatically when we come home to a clean house. While financially it looks like a terrible idea, the value this service brings to us makes it absolutely worthwhile.
FI Number Estimate
Now if I back out a few expenses that we don’t anticipate having in “retirement” I can gauge what our spending would be when we are financially independent (FI). I would cut out daycare, most of the automotive costs, pet costs (I don’t see us getting another pet after this one… but who knows) and rental house costs (these are covered by the rent check), and reduce general merchandise and clothing to account for our kiddos growing up and moving out then our spending is:
- $5,814 monthly or $69,770 annually.
- Using the 4% rule of thumb (or 25X your spending) would give us a FI number of $1,744,252*.
If our mortgage is paid off:
- $3,714 monthly or $44,570 annually
- Based on the 4% rule our FI number would be $1,114,243.
*I’m targeting $2 million as our FI number currently. The higher number is to help with other expensive life goals such weddings/college, etc… or continued lifestyle inflation, apparently.
Wrap Up
In all honesty, it felt like we took our foot off the gas a bit this year when it comes to watching spending, so I am not shocked to see the increases.
So, what do you think about these numbers? Do you see any categories that are way higher or lower than yours? I always welcome suggestions on how we can improve!
In my next post, I will take a look at our savings this year to date.
Thanks for reading!
