For the last 60 weeks, I have consistently (yay for me) been tracking all of our spending through my weekly “Where Did The Dough Go” posts. I had planned to do this quarterly, every 13 weeks, but we get paid bi-weekly. It would be too inconsistent with 6 paychecks one quarter and 7 the next, so I opted for almost quarterly (i.e. 12 weeks) reviews. So, below is the spending review for the last 12 weeks—showing our spending, saving, investing and incoming income. The weekly averages are in italics and brackets.

Weeks 49-60:

Income $7,806.45     ($650.53)
Pre-tax 401K Contributions $891.96     ($74.33)
Savings $516.21     ($43.01)
Groceries $839.81     ($69.98)
Rent & Bills $4,200.00     ($350.00)
Gas $347.50    ($28.95)
Cigarettes $675.56     ($56.29)
Alcohol $215.86     ($17.98)
Dining out $198.04     ($16.50)
Saved 4 car insurance $120.00     ($10.00)
Puppy Stuff $155.46    ($12.95)
Clothing $70.38     ($5.86)
Car Expenses $52.75     ($4.39)
Other Stuff $322.85    ($26.90)
Roth IRA contributions $150.00     ($12.50) 

The listed income is take-home pay, so it’s after all taxes and deductions including the 401K contributions. These last 12 weeks, we didn’t spend any money on Betterment or gifts, so they’ve been excluded from the review for weeks 49-60.

Top 5 Categories

#1  Rent & Bills (53%)
#2 Groceries (11%)
#3 Cigarettes (9%)
#4 Savings (7%)
#5 Gas (4%)

Total for Weeks 1-60:

Income $38,530.37     ($642.17)
Pre-tax 401K Contributions $3,605.48     ($60.09)
Savings $3,690.00     ($61.50)
Groceries $3,858.92     ($64.31)
Rent & Bills $20,080.50     ($334.67)
Gas $1,479.96     ($24.66)
Cigarettes $3,317.15     ($55.28)
Alcohol $1,195.67     ($19.92)
Dining out $1,143.09     ($19.05)
Saved 4 car insurance $600.00     ($10.00)
Entertainment $71.45     ($1.19)
Puppy Stuff $640.35    ($10.67)
Other Stuff $1,288.97     ($21.48)
Roth IRA contributions $651.59     ($10.85)
Betterment contributions $120.00     ($2.00)
B-day/Xmas $590.17     ($9.83)
Car Expenses $123.29     ($2.05)
Clothing $97.03     ($1.61)

Top 5 Categories

#1  Rent & Bills (52%)
#2 Groceries (10%)
#3 Savings (9%)
#4 Cigarettes (9%)
#5 Gas (4%)

Do you track your spending?