Here are the figures for what we spent in 2006.
$5000 new car down payment
$4848 mortgage payments
$3108 groceries
$2645 401K contributions
$2408 car payments
$2398 amount added to savings account
$2168 property taxes
$2002 special purchases, donations, vacation/travel
$1894 car insurance
$1597 gifts
$1388 car maitenence, gas, registration
$1018 clothes
$979 electric
$977 extra mortgage payments
$956 entertainment
$911 natural gas
$879 medical;prescriptions, copays,deductibles
$804 pocket money/kids allowances
$668 home products and minor improvements
$551 water/sewer
$411 education/books/classes
$394 phone/internet/cell phone
$341 personal products/beauty supplies
$279 extra car payments
$256 home insurance
? paycheck withholdings, medical premiums and taxes(I'll know this number on Thursday)
=$38880 spent plus whatever was taken out of DH's paycheck

After studying the numbers I figure that we've made a $15600+interest slide to the positive. We've built our savings by $6366+interest and decreased our debt by $9251.
In 2007 I have plans to increase our savings by $10200+interest and reduce our debt by $6000.
I was also surprised to see how much I spent on gifts, food and clothes this year. I'm going to work on those this year.
And finally, we spent more than we earned this year. We dipped into the savings account to put a down payment on DH's car. I had been saving $350 a month for over a year since we'd finished paying off DH's SUV so that where that $5000 came from.
I'm half proud of what I accomplished this year and half sad for the debt we've taken on and overspending in certain categories. I hoping that by putting my numbers out there I'll be inspired to spend less and save more.

nuisance26..... I think you did a great job!!

Of course Dave Ramsey would say you should have never purchased a new car.

How brave of you to list your numbers....that's definitely a step in the right direction. I think you did well.

Wow, that is impressive being that organized. Congratulations, you definitely know where your money has been going. I need to do that too. Good job!!! You have inspired me to be better organized with finances.

You did a great job! Good luck with the coming year!

It is great that you are so on top of things and really know where your money was spent. This will help so much going forward in the new year and challenging yourself. Great organization and good job! :thumb:

You are so organized, I'm totally impressed! At least you have a clear idea of what you did, what you don't think you should've done and what you'd like to do in the new year. Good going!


--michelle

I'M NOT WORTHY!!! Wow, you did great keeping track. do you use software to do it?

~Thanks for the encouragement ladies! I was really scared to post this because I have no place to hide some of our poorer choices. But I am proud of how I did in many of the areas. It's also heartwrenching to see so much spent on income taxes, property taxes and car insurance. Those things are 24% of DH gross income! Mortgage, utilities and home insurance are 21%. Transportation was 10%. Medical was 2%. 13% went to savings. 3% went to debt reduction. So only 27% of DH's income was available for everything else. I find myself wishing to live somewhere cheaper....BUT DH likes his workplace and what he does and the company has been VERY good to us. I'm really thankful for what we do have and where we are financially. It could be a lot worse!~

I'M NOT WORTHY!!! Wow, you did great keeping track. do you use software to do it?

~Now you've made me laugh! No software. Just a passion for stats and a streak of perfectionism. I use paper printouts that I designed after months of seeing what worked and what didn't. I write down every purchase and categorize it. At the end of each month I add up the totals in each category and note them on a chart. At the end of the year I add those up. I'm :screwy: enough to actually enjoy money management.~

i think you did an awesome job! now how did you keep track of all that? in your checking account?

Congratulations! You have made a lot or progress last year.

DH and I figure our net worth every August 31st (our aniversary), but this year we also looked at a lot of end of year numbers.

Go you!

:cheer4:

the organization alone is awe inspiring ~

Wow that is some system you have there! I think it is great!!!

Wow, I am totally impressed. Great job.

Wow! You are the woman! You totally just inspired me to go start an Excel sheet for 2007! LOL

That's impressive.

I just downloaded pearbudget from pearbudget.com yesterday and hope that will help me keep better track of where it all goes. Hopefully this time next year I will be able to look back on the year like you did.

Thank you for sharing this. You did a great job of tracking your expenses. I fell behind last year with tracking mine, but have started up again. I also like to figure my expenses as percentages of my take home pay, it gives a different perspective on where my money is going.

Great job! Keep up the good work!

great job!! I too am impressed withj your organisation!!