For the last 24 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 13-24:

Income $7,533.40     ($627.78)
Pre-tax 401K Contributions $627.75     ($52.31)
Savings $699.26     ($58.27)
Groceries $721.40     ($60.12)
Rent & Bills $3,821.50     ($318.46)
Gas $279.41     ($23.28)
Cigarettes $664.55     ($55.38)
Alcohol $340.09     ($28.34)
Dining out $159.78     ($13.32)
Saved 4 car insurance $120.00     ($10.00)
Entertainment $18.40     ($1.53)
Puppy Stuff $229.72    ($19.14)
Other Stuff $185.55     ($15.46)
Roth IRA contributions $166.59     ($13.88)
Betterment contributions $70.00     ($5.83)
B-day stuff/parties $21.15     ($1.76)
Car Expenses $20.54     ($1.71)
Clothing $26.65     ($2.22)

The listed income is take-home pay, so it’s after all taxes and deductions including the 401K contributions. There are some obvious changes from the last time I did this. We saved less money this time, spent way less money on dining out, more on groceries, a bit less on cigarettes and spent more on alcohol. The alcohol does include a margarita night and what we bought to take on our vacation to Lincoln City. There are also 2 more categories: car expenses and clothing.

Top 5 Categories

#1 Rent & Bills
#2 Groceries
#3 Savings
#4 Cigarettes
#5 Alcohol

Total for Weeks 1-24:

Income $15,414.94     ($642.29)
Pre-tax 401K Contributions $1,287.07     ($53.63)
Savings $1,756.84     ($73.20)
Groceries $1,326.88     ($55.29)
Rent & Bills $7,829.00     ($326.21)
Gas $602.72     ($25.11)
Cigarettes $1,349.19     ($56.22)
Alcohol $581.45     ($24.23)
Dining out $492.84     ($20.54)
Saved 4 car insurance $240.00     ($10.00)
Entertainment $58.37     ($2.43)
Puppy Stuff $292.67    ($12.19)
Other Stuff $485.37     ($20.22)
Roth IRA contributions $226.59     ($9.44)
Betterment contributions $100.00     ($4.17)
B-day stuff/parties $65.25     ($2.72)
Car Expenses $20.54     ($0.86)
Clothing $26.65     ($1.11)

Overall, things seem fairly similar, but I’d still like to continue tracking a while longer before moving up the budget ranks. I’m still using the Padawan Budget right now, but soon…after tracking my spending for a little longer, I will hopefully be starting the Jedi Budget. I’m so excited and can’t wait. 

Do you track your spending?