2007 Expenses Are In

And boy are they scary. Overall last year, I spent about $12K more than I earned. Most of that amount is spread across credit cards or spent from my savings.

I am hesitant to announce my total expenditures, but suffice it to say they are significant. Doing this annual expense calculation has certainly provided me a snapshot of areas where I could be spending less.

For instance, I spent about $4K on entertainment such as vacation, bar cover charges, and movies. On top of this, I spent $362 on alcohol at bars. It probably is much more than this, since any charge that also included food I counted in my food expenses.

Food expenses last year were about $5,118, or about $427 a month. I think a huge factor in this has been eating out rather than cooking at home. On top of this, I had paid for a few large celebratory dinners when I received job offers.

With these expenses in mind, I hope to decrease my spending and increase my savings.

PS - This year, my total gambling was about a wash, but I am not entirely sure since poker winnings usually were split between 50% for the poker fund and 50% for immediate expenditure.