2006 Year in Review - Finances Edition
I did this last year as well and it turned out to be informative.
- Topping the list this year…food. That includes all trips to the grocery store. Not bad considering last year tops was Best Buy (yes…it stood alone at the top, even above more general categories).
- Electronics came in a very close second. This included purchases at Best Buy and Fry’s, among other stores. I’m guessing this number is high because I, once again, bought a laptop this year.
- My vehicular expenses came in third this year. That includes things like gas and routine maintenance. I expect to see this category of expenses plummet in 2007 given how much I’ve been riding (and enjoying) the train since I moved.
- Expense number four is my “home” category. This number should have been higher, but I only tallied up the expenses on my personal Visa card. We actually spent a lot more on the house (before selling it) that wasn’t accounted for in my audit. These expenses included trips to Home Depot, a down payment on our new La-Z-Boy furniture.
- Jumping down the list, my ISP tallied in at number nine on the list, down from number six last year (although I’ll admit I didn’t use the same categorizations). Internet access was more expensive this year and that number doesn’t include the few months I was using Comcast (in addition to my DSL) before moving.
- My cell phone, once again, robbed me of about $1,000 last year. Comcast, consistent as ever, also robbed me of about $1,000.
- A new category I tracked was “work food”. That’s basically how much money I put on my work badge to pay for breakfast/lunch/etc. while I’m at work. I managed to pump $800 into that. I’m not sure if that’s high or not. I’ll have to track it again next year and see.
- My TiVo, which I’m not even using at the moment, pulled down about $150 out of my pocket.
Anyway, another interesting yet unsurprising year financially for me.
