Tag: Personal Spending

Our family had 2 big developments last year. First, we bought a house and completed some major renovations. Second, we became pregnant and welcomed our son Theo to the world in November.

Here’s every dollar we spent in 2024:

Housing – $145,281 total // $12,107 per month // $6,053 pppm¹ (up from $24,590 in 2023, a $120,691 increase)

Big yikes. We lived in Minneapolis for the first 12 days of 2024, and closed on our house and moved to Mora January 12th. This $145k is made up of:

$19k mortgage (principal and interest), property taxes, insurance
$4k utilities (electric, water, gas, trash, internet) and routine maintenance
$114k of renovations/remodeling

Thankfully only the first two lines totaling ~$23k will continue in 2025, so our housing expenses will not continue to be six figures.

The renovations we completed included removing one wall, replacing 9 windows, 7 exterior doors, 9 interior doors, installing 2 new windows that didn’t exist before, excavating and finishing a 400 sq ft crawl space into 2 bedrooms and a bathroom, framing/drywalling the entire basement, and a new combination boiler/water heater. We accomplished all of this as cost effectively as possible (we’d like to think), with the help of our rockstar neighbor Rus, some small town connections, and plenty of pro bono work from our family. And we still spent over $100k in about 10 months.

One could argue that most (or all) of that spending is now equity in our house, but in my opinion it’s still money out the door that is now tied up somewhere where we can’t easily invest it in something like index funds.

I expect our housing spending to be much, much less in 2025.

Cell Phone – $456 total // $38 per month // $19 pppm (up from $335 in 2023, a $121 increase)

This includes 2 cell phone plans for $10/month with 2GB of data each (from our friends at Tello), as well as a Spotify Premium Duo subscription at ~$16/month through June, and $19/month July onward.

Annie continues to use a 6 year old iPhone X, and I’ve said she might be due for a new phone for the last couple of years and it hasn’t happened (one of the many reasons my wife is an absolute legend). My secondhand iPhone 13 mini has been working great for 2 years, and shows no signs of stopping any time soon.

Groceries – $6,523 total // $544 per month // $272 pppm (up from $5,328 in 2023, a $1,195 increase)

We continue to eat as healthy as we can, buying 95%+ organic food, healthy whole ingredients, and making the vast majority of our food at home. We continue to frequent Mike’s Discount Foods, which has tons of healthy, organic options for a fraction of the price that we would pay at Whole Foods or Natural Grocers.

We also purchased a deep freezer in November, which led to an increase in grocery spending in November and December as we stocked up on some basic supplies to have on hand. $500/month is a lot for us, and I expect this amount to be less in 2025.

Dine Out – $1,072 total // $89 per month // $45 pppm (down from $1,469 in 2023, a $397 decrease)

As in previous years, eating out is a social activity for us – all of our restaurant experiences were either dates or meetups with friends/family. I’d hypothesize that the decrease from last year was due to 1) living in a small town with less restaurants to choose from and less expensive restaurants than the major metro areas we’ve lived previously and 2) being busy with house remodeling, so less time to spend going out to eat.

Travel & Entertainment – $3,001 total // $250 per month // $125 pppm (down from $3,262 in 2023, a $261 decrease)

This category has declined the last 2 years, but only slightly. Travel this year included multiple road trips to North Dakota and South Dakota to visit our family, a trip to Austin/Dallas, TX partially for work and partially to see friends, flights to Washington DC and Denver to visit friends in July, a family vacation in La Crosse, WI, and our annual Friendsgiving gathering in Denver in October.

Transportation – $1,465 total // $122 per month // $61 pppm (down from $3,510 in 2023, a $2,045 decrease)

Patty the 2011 Nissan Pathfinder keeps chugging along with over 160k miles on the odometer, serving our one-car household well. This category includes all gas, insurance, and any other car-related expenses like oil changes, repairs, etc. This is the first year that we haven’t had any major repairs to complete, which is why the total is much lower than previous years. We’ve considered upgrading to a newer, more efficient vehicle, but it’s hard to justify when Patty is safely getting us from A to B, and only costs $100ish a month to own and operate.

Gifts – $ 2,683 total // $224 per month // $112 pppm (up from $1,468 in 2023, a $1,215 increase)

Mostly wedding gifts, paying for friends/family’s meals while at restaurants, supporting friends’ causes, and other random donations. This category largely follows the trend of the amount of weddings we attend or are in the bridal party for, and 2024 was a relatively busy wedding year for us.

Child #1 – $4,749 total // $396 per month // N/A pppm²

New category for the year! I had originally categorized all pregnancy/child costs as “Other”, but both Annie and I are curious as to how much it costs to birth/raise a child. So, Theo gets his own category.

Expenses include pregnancy appointments, prenatal vitamins, a tongue tie procedure post-birth, postpartum supplies for Annie, and essentials like clothes, diapers, bottles and wipes. Our spending was heavily subsidized by many gifts and hand-me-downs from family and friends (thank you!).

There are many indirect costs that aren’t captured here (i.e. increased housing spending, getting an Airbnb for Friendsgiving when we would typically stay with friends, the unimaginable toll of lost sleep, etc.), but this should give us a rough idea of how much it costs to have a kid. Promise I won’t hold this over you in 20 years, Theo.

Other – $8,803 total // $734 per month // $367 pppm (up from $4,236 in 2023, a $4,568 increase)

LOTS of Amazon orders and Target/Walmart runs for household items such as couches, rugs, plants, mirrors, etc. Housing-related spending made up the majority of the spending in this category, with the balance supplied by skincare/haircare products, clothes (maternity, nursing bras, Theo clothes, thrifting), and supplements/vitamins. I expect (and hope!) this category will decrease significantly in 2025 as we have most household goods we need.

Silliest transaction of the year goes not to an expense, but to an income stream. I received a bribe in the form of a $0.25 Venmo payment from my friend Mai to vote for her house as having the best Christmas lights in her neighborhood. Thanks Mai!

TOTAL – $174,034 total // $14,503 per month // $7,251 pppm (up from $44,198 in 2023, a $129,836 increase)

The $130k increase this year mainly came from housing (+$121k), Child #1 (+$5k) and Other (+$5k), offset by less Transportation, Travel and Dining Out (-$3k).

My dear reader, spending that much was painful for me. And slightly embarrassing to have to admit to you. $174k is more than my family and I have spent in the previous 7 years combined (~$21k per year over from ’17 – ’23). The $39k we spent in the month of November alone was more than three entire years of my life in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

That said, if we use last year’s housing spending (~$25k) and remove all child-related expenses, the total ends up being $48k for the year (only $4k more than last year), or roughly $2k pppm which seems much more reasonable. So that might be more in line with what to expect in 2025, something like $40-50k spent in the year.

We are also lucky to have that much money to spend, and feel thankful for years of living well below our means to allow us to complete some ambitious home renovations, have a child, and not worry about how to pay for it all. My philosophy has always been that money is a tool, and can be effectively used to get the most satisfaction out of life. I might expand on this in a future post, I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently.

Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions, want to know more, or if there is anything I can help with, feel free to send me an email at hashtagmoneygoals@gmail.com. Happy New Year!

Past years reports:

2023 Spending Report
2022 Spending Report
2021 Spending Report
2020 Spending Report
2019 Spending Report
2018 Spending Report
2017 Spending Report

This was a special year, with the most special moment being marrying my lovely wife Annie in July. While a fantastic development in my life, it does make accounting for this year tricky.

For the purposes of this post, January through June/July includes just my expenses, while July onward includes combined spending for both of us. In reality, we started combining a lot of things in the months before we got married, so the numbers may not be perfect, but close enough. Also, I’ll be calculating an average per-person-per-month (pppm) figure for every month, helping to compare to prior years and illustrate some of the efficiencies of combining finances¹.

Let’s get to the juicy stuff – here’s every dollar we spent in 2022:

Housing – $14,990 total // $1,249 per month // $832 pppm (up from $9,545 in 2021, a $5,445 increase)

Includes rent, utilities, moving expenses and random other apartment fees. Pre-marriage, I lived in the same apartment in uptown Dallas I had been living in for the last 2 years. A 2bed/2bath, ~1,000 sq ft for ~$1,600 all in, split with a roommate. For single Greg, this was an incredible set up.

Then, in August, we moved to Denver. We wanted to live within walking distance of the Barre3 studio Annie is an instructor at, so ended up paying a little more for a prime location. For a ~700 sq ft 1bed/1bath we spend ~$2,000 all in. The sticker price is still a bit shocking to me after a few years at about $800 per month, but 1) we won’t live here forever and 2) per-person-per-month comes out to $1,000 which isn’t too different from my Dallas living situation.

Cell Phone – $705 total // $59 per month // $39 pppm (up from $100 in 2021, a $605 increase)

I bought myself a used iPhone 13 mini for ~$500 in February, and my friends at Tello continued to provide wonderful service for $9 per month. Annie also hopped on a Tello train with a higher data plan for $10 per month, and she had a $10 Spotify membership that we paid for a couple months. Then, we found out that my employer would cover a family Spotify plan for us (thanks RH!) and that expense went away.

I decided to go with the higher data $10 plan towards the end of the year since we were road tripping and using navigation a lot. We’ll probably be at $20 per month for both of us for the time being, but Annie is due for a phone upgrade sometime soon here, so this category may be similar in 2023.

Groceries – $3,665 total // $305 per month // $204 pppm (up from $1,337 in 2021, a $2,328 increase)

This was the second biggest change from last year, going from just over $100 pppm to over $200. There are a few driving factors behind this increase:

1. A greater variety of foods in my diet, including more animal products (mainly eggs and chicken), largely influenced by Annie’s preferences. Turns out normal people eat more than rice/lentils/beans (did you know this?!)
2. Buying organic. In prior years, I stuck to organic options for a few foods, but nowadays 90%+ of what we buy is organic.
3. We have a weekly dinner party with our Denver friends, which we host on average once a month. Our weekly grocery haul is typically doubled on the weeks we host.

I’d categorize all of these as optional luxuries. I’m confident we could live off of $100 per person (or less) still eating healthy food if we needed to.

Dine Out – $952 total // $79 per month // $53 pppm (up from $432 in 2021, a $520 increase)

Mainly date nights and going out with friends. Any meals we shared with friends/family that we paid for were categorized as gifts. This category has consistently increased over the years as I’ve prioritized spending quality time with the awesome folks that make up our family and friends.

Travel & Entertainment – $3,736 total // $311 per month // $208 pppm (down from $3,988 in 2021, a $252 decrease)

This year we’re including entertainment for snowboard expenses. Snowboarding accounted for about half of this category’s total, with season passes, used gear and gas to get to/from the mountain shaking out around $1,900 total for both of us. Other big travel expenses included a bachelor party in Denver (before moving there), flights to SD/MN and road trips to SD/MN for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Transportation – $3,341 total // $278 per month // $186 pppm (up from $228 TOTAL in 2021, a $3,113 increase)

Those $0 months in the front half of the year marked the final hurrah for my lack of car ownership, which lasted almost 8 years. Annie brought Patty the Nissan Pathfinder into our marriage, and while I have enjoyed the freedom a car brings, I’ve also received a 6 month crash course in the financial horrors of car ownership (warning: rant inbound).

Before it takes us a single mile in a given month, we need to pay ~$100 for insurance we hope to never use, $40 for a parking space in our apartment’s garage and it depreciates simply by being an older vehicle. For easy math, let’s say it depreciates $1,200 per year or $1oo per month. Just for sitting there, it costs us ~$240 a month or $2,880 a year. For comparison, I spent $1,869 on cell phone bills, groceries and dining out combined in the entire year of 2021.

Then you add on some variable expenses like gas and the killer, maintenance. That $2.4k in November was mostly from one quick visit to the mechanic. YIKES!²

Gifts – $ 1,119 total // $93 per month // $62 pppm (down from $3,695 in 2021, a $2,576 decrease)

No engagement rings were purchased this year, nor were any Christmas gifts purchased this year. Both of our families are starting to lean more towards shared experiences/spending time together rather than giving physical gifts, which Annie and I are alllll about.

Most of our gift giving this year consisted of wedding gifts and paying for other peoples’ meals while dining out.

Other – $2,064 total // $172 per month // $62 pppm (up from $1,126 in 2021, a $938 increase)

Mainly apartment supplies/furniture after moving to Denver, experiences (concerts, musicals, sporting events, float tank/massages, pickleball gear/court times), clothing and hair/skincare products. Coolest transaction of the year was landing tickets for a Broadway musical called Come From Away for $9 per person.

TOTAL – $30,573 total // $2,548 per month // $1,699 pppm (up from $20,450 in 2021, a $10,123 increase)

The $10k increase this year mainly came from housing (+$5k), food (+$2k) and transportation (+$3k). I expect all three of those categories to be even higher next year, since it will be 100% combined Annie & Greg expenses instead of 50% Greg/50% combined like this year.

Even with the sharp increase in total spending this year, the pppm figure actually went down ($1,704 with just me last year). I’ll make a bold prediction for next year, and say that our per-person-per-month expenses will decrease even further.

In last year’s report, I estimated our spending would land between $27 – $34k, and was right on the money. That was a pretty wide range though, so I’ll give us a tighter range for next year. I think we’ll spend between $35 – $38k in 2023 (roughly $2,900 – $3,200 per month or $1,450 – $1,600 pppm).

2022 felt extravagant. Between dining out more regularly, living in a fancy neighborhood in Denver, buying snowboarding gear and season passes, traveling and road tripping, owning a car, attending concerts, sporting events, musicals, weddings… we did a lot and spent a lot. However, even if we were both earning minimum wage in Colorado³, we would still be able to maintain the lifestyle we are currently living.

If you have any questions, if you want to know more, or if there is anything I can help with, feel free to send me an email at hashtagmoneygoals@gmail.com. Happy New Year!

¹PPPM=Monthly Expenses/1.5 (one entire year of Greg monthly expenses and half a year of Annie expenses)
²I might put together an analysis of whether we’d be better off financially taking Ubers/using shared cars (there are a lot in Denver) since we don’t drive all that often. Look out for a future blog post.
³Minimum wage in CO for 2022 was $12.56 per hour (roughly $2,000 a month pre-tax, $1,650 a month post-tax)

Related Reading:
2021 Spending Report
2020 Spending Report
2019 Spending Report
2018 Spending Report
2017 Spending Report