Thursday, January 8, 2009

Where My Money Went in 2008 (Since March)

I already did my 2008 Year In Review and I'm looking forward to a much much better 2009 financially (even despite current job insecurity) but I thought it would be a great time to review where exactly my money has gone since I signed up for online banking. Figures are only available from March 19th on.

Between March 19th and December 31, 2008 I earned $23,459.64. Plus $600 in President Bush Money, for a grand total of $24,059.64 after taxes. Not bad.

I spent $6,884.50 in rent. Can't wait until I move in with Boyfriend officially and get to ditch my landlord!

Student loans took $4,935.68 of my money, which is kinda crazy considering I didn't start paying them until May. This includes the money I am paying towards Defaulted Student Loan.

I took out $3,601.50 in cash, which seems like a lot, but I use cash for everything.

I repaid $2,775.00 in loans, a vast majority of them being Payday Loans. Yikes, what a friggen nightmare that was!

I paid $1,836.20 towards credit card debt, most of it going to my long delinquent credit card account, aka Nice Collection Agency.

I paid $1,244.11 in Utilities for this time period, including money towards paying off Overdue Utilities (almost done with!).

Between the Evil Overdraft Monster, returned check fees and "regional ATM withdrawal fees" I managed to hand my bank $1,029.45 during this same time period. Yup. Gulp. Never ever again!

I spent $1,066.00 on travel, most of it to attend an out-of-town wedding. I have no regrets - I love to travel!

I spent $825.53 on my cell phone, which seems like an awful lot, but this number includes money I owed Sprint prior to March 19th (because I used to pay my bill late all the time). Now I am paying Sprint only around $60 a month after I changed my plan.

I bought $458.50 in gifts (at least!) owing to the fact that I had two weddings to attend this year.

I spent $285.91 on groceries (maybe a little more out of cash too) but don't worry, I didn't starve. Need to chip in more towards our joint grocery budget.

I transferred $204 to savings but then I transferred most of it back. Savings fail. Must do better.

I spent at least $131.78 on health care including doctor copays and prescriptions. Probably more but I didn't keep good records this year. Wanted to start a FSA but now it's too late (unless I get a new job!). Oh well.

I bought $41.08 in clothes. I bet it was more than that but that's the money I know was spent on clothes because that's what I labeled it in my online banking. The rest came out of cash.

All told, between March 19, 2008 and December 31, 2008 I spent $938.69 more than I earned. Total Fail. Will definitely do better in 2009 as there's no way I can be that irresponsible again!

7 comments:

FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com said...

I'm glad you keep such good track of your expenses!!

This is my year for perfect expense keeping so I can set really start comparing everything since I started the year debt free

Fabulously Broke in the City
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver...

Anonymous said...

You are totally different person since then. It is great! Also congrats on quitting smoking. :) Yopu dont still smoke right?

Sallie's Niece said...

Thanks! Yes I am Cancer Stick Free for 6 months now!

Shtinkykat said...

You're totally going to do better this year since you've kicked those nasty payday lenders to the curb. You've come a long way girl!

Jim ~ mydebtblog.com said...

Just for clarification, the $600 check you got is an advance (deduction) off your 2008 income taxes. Government decided it could give us back our own money, and then tell us to spend it. Interesting numbers you have listed here though. The 1k on bank fees though has to hurt. I'm glad you got the 2.75k in payday loans gone now too. Hope you have a good 2009.

Sallie's Niece said...

Thank you Jim, I miss your blog. :-(

Believe me I kick my own butt every time I think about the days when bank fees and payday loans were my living hell. But at least it is better now.

Miss M said...

I've never done detailed tracking of my spending, yours is very interesting. Those bank fees are painful, that's a lot of money right there. Good luck with '09.