What I Spent In 2021

Another year done and dusted, and that means another spending report.  Although I’ve been blogging for over 4 years now, this is only my second annual spending report.

I did one for 2020 because I was curious about my lower spending from the pandemic.  You can read my 2020 report here, but if you want to skip and just know the number I spent $34,763 in 2020. 

As I mentioned in that post, doing it basically doomed me to do it again.  Because the pathetic competitor in me is hoping to have a lower number. 

But I lived my life like I normally would have in 2021 and wasn’t trying to beat a number.  So I wasn’t on a mission to cut any spending or take any joy out of my life for the sake of spending less than last year.  I’m frugal by nature and already live pretty lean.

That said, I just think it’s fun to see how 2021 will stack up.  So let’s get to it.

 

The Books

It was pretty easy for me to get my spending total because I put virtually all of my spending on credit cards, and I only have two cards.  My mortgage is the only thing I can’t charge, and that’s a known entity and easily calculated. 

Here’s my spending chart for 2021:

 

My total of $36,478 is $1715 higher than my total for 2020 for an increase of 4.9%.  So my spending increased less than the inflation rate!  Everything went up except my mobile phone bill which stayed the same and my car insurance which went down.  

Like in 2020, my big three expenses were housing, health care, and food in that order.  Food almost overtook health insurance for me in 2021 however.  For the average American household, the big three are housing, transportation, and food. 

My healthcare expenses are pretty high because I only work 20 hours a week at my government job and thus have to pay 50% of the costs that my employer normally pays.

Of note, the mortgage number includes my escrow which includes property taxes, homeowners insurance, and garbage disposal.  My mortgage total went up from 2020 because my property taxes went up as the value of my home continues to increase.  I guess there are worse problems to have.

What unnecessary purchases did I make this year?

 

I Still Buy Stuff

I bought a new Garmin GPS watch (<–affiliate link) because my old one is getting near it’s lifespan.  The old one (a Forerunner 15) still works but the battery has been charged and depleted so many times it only lasts about an hour now.  Most of my bike rides and many of my runs go longer than that and I got tired of it shutting off. 

I still plan to use the old one on shorter runs because I want to get the most out of it.  I didn’t reach financial independence by tossing out stuff that still works 🙂

My biggest purchase of 2021 was a new desktop computer.  I didn’t want to but it had to be done.  My old Gateway PC purchased in 2011 still works fine but was simply hampering my business too much.  I spend lots of time in Adobe Photoshop and Inkscape to do graphics and while my old computer was fine for smaller jobs she was choking on bigger jobs and not able to run other programs simultaneously. 

I was worried that it was the wrong time to buy a new PC after hearing about the worldwide chip shortages, but in reality found plenty of good deals out there.  In the end I got a pretty sweet new PC for $539.

 

Dave You’re Still A Pig

Yes my grocery spending is a bit high for a single dude, but I explained that at length in the 2020 post.  In a nutshell, an active life that includes over 5600 miles of cycling and 425 miles of running demands lots of calories. 

I ate more than ever this year, and I also got down to the lightest weight of my adult life in July when I was in peak form.  Funny how exercise works magic like that. 

I did all of my grocery shopping at Aldi’s and Trader Joe’s, but for the first time started favoring Aldi.  It comes down to crowds.  My local TJ’s is just too crowded too often, even at odd times.  Being semi-retired I can try to avoid crowds by going when others supposedly don’t.  More and more however I find that TJ’s is still kind of a shit-show, even at say 11:00 a.m. on a Tuesday. 

Aldi however is gloriously empty on weekday afternoons and I zip in and out.  Time still matters to me even though I only work 20 hours a week.

 

Sundries

So what’s in that big “other” category? 

Besides the PC and Garmin watch mentioned it includes my blog hosting fees, music and book purchases, my annual National Parks Pass, dues to the American Alpine Club, charitable donations, and a few hundred dollars worth of home repair supplies for some DIY projects I did. 

I made special note of my music purchases in 2020 which totaled $271.45.  My total in 2021 for music was $249 for a slight decrease.  Professional musicians are still struggling to earn money during the pandemic, so I try to do my part.  I especially support small indie bands and artists as I frequently highlight in the “Lyrically Speaking” section of my bi-weekly T.G.I.F. Friday posts.

I also bought new running shoes for $58 (<–affiliate link) and I generally spend about $100 – $150 on bike chains and tubes since I ride a lot. 

That’s about it folks, you’ve seen the books.  I spent $36,478 in 2021.  My part time W2 job covers my costs easily, but I increasingly don’t need that income.  I have a business that covers a sizable chunk of my yearly expenses. 

How much?  Stay tuned…