Everything I Spent in December

Every month in 2024, I shared what we spent in our household each month and why. Today’s post is the final installment.

Reasons for sharing this with you all are two-fold.

1) It holds me accountable. Accountability is a very important pillar of healthy money habits.

2) It fosters a community of openness and transparency here on my site, which is my goal. If we talk about money, we all grow more comfortable with it. So I’m putting my money where my mouth is... 😏

We are 40 year old dual income family with 3 kids ages 14, 11, and 9.

Some expenses will be shown as percentages while others in U.S. dollars.

Everything I spent in December

Pivot Expenses & Surprises (the unexpected…)

I suppose the only surprise was that there was no surprise in December… We stayed right on budget for Christmas gifts and had a lovely holiday. We spent a bit more than usual on gas because of some extra traveling, but we’d planned for it.

Planned Expenses

Home: Mortgage + Utilities = 19% of spending

We were just under budget here. Utilities lately have been trending below expectations — a delightful surprise that we hope continues.

Home: Repairs & Services = 2%

No repairs to report this month. My husband got a few parts for one of the vehicles, but we were still under budget.

Home: Supplies = 4%

We went a bit over budget on home supplies, which is somewhat unusual in our household. A few extra trips to Home Depot and Tractor Supply overflowed us a bit, but we were well under budget for the full year, so I don’t have concerns.

Home: Subscriptions = 1%

Nothing unexpected in this category this month.

Insurance = 1%

This is just our life insurance policy. Health insurance is paid before my paycheck gets to me, and our auto policy is now paid just twice a year.

Food = 14%

We went about $150 over on groceries and dining out, mostly on groceries. Nothing crazy, but we’re working on reigning in the grocery bill, as usual.

Auto: Gas = 3%

We did some additional traveling for the holidays, but it was accounted for in the budget. We actually clocked in at $150 under budget, so we made up for the food category’s overage here.

Giving = 5%

Last month we decided to give to a person who is very special to us as an extra holiday gift.

Family: Kids = 6%

Braces, pay days, and the monthly saxophone payments are now budgeted here, and you may remember this category has been a budget buster several times this year. I’m pleased to report that we came in under budget for the second month in a row! This time it was by nearly $200! We will gladly take that win!

Family: Health = <1%

Nothing unexpected this month, so cheers to good health at the end of a big year for our family health!

Fun Money = 7% of income

My husband and I each have our own guilt-free budgets for stuff we want. Each is tight enough that we do have to keep an eye on them but also loose enough that we’re not stressing over every single dollar or discussing every expense. It’s a good balance for us.

My Fun Spend - Specifics:

I didn’t spend much at all this month. This an accomplishment that’s important to me because I struggle to resist spending on myself when I shop for others. I’m hyper aware of this, so this year I promised myself that I would not fall prey to the trap. As I stumbled across items that tempted me, I added them to a list of the things I needed/wanted for when friends and family asked. It worked out great! I didn’t overspend, and I got holiday gifts that I actually wanted.

As for what I did spend for me, I supported an author I love by buying his newest release (I’m all about some preorders), and my younger kids and I went to see Wicked. Books and experiences — I love when my spending matches my values so well!

Savings & Investments

Short term Savings:

$915 for Vacation Fund

$200 for Repair Fund

We bought the majority of our Christmas gifts this month and used our dedicated fund. I cannot explain what peace it brings me to arrive at this time of the year and not even bat an eye at all the holiday spending! Instead of worrying about where we’ll get the money, we can focus on the joy of the season!

We also socked away a few hundred dollars into our Big Dream fund.

All these funds are all kept in HYSAs, so that saved money earns interest!

Long Term Investments = 18%

$1,166 for 2024 ROTH IRAs (mine + my husband’s).

{For those who qualify, the 2024 max ROTH IRA contribution is $7,000, which is $583 each month. My husband and I each have a ROTH account, so $1,166 per month is our plan.}

The rest of those investment dollars went toward our kids’ 529 investments for post-high school education. Because our overall spending was under budget, we had a couple hundred extra dollars to add to our kids’ college funds.

That’s all, folks! 2024 is a wrap!

We’re proud of the work we did this year — I’ll be detailing a final wrap-up of the year soon for some specific numbers and final annual percentages. Because loud budgeting is what I’m all about around here!

Please remember — It has taken us a decade of ups and downs to get on the same page with our budget, and while we’re nowhere near perfect, we are making steady progress and keeping our overall direction on track.

Budgeting is a marathon not a sprint, so take it easy on yourself if your numbers didn’t add up the way you’d expected. Allow for grace. Reflect, learn, and adjust.

How did your December spending go? Let’s all learn from the surprises and celebrate the wins!