January numbers are in

We've two days left of this wonderful first month of 2015 but I'm ready to start wrapping things up. Here's my spending rundown for the month with average daily spending for each category. Honestly anything else I spend this month is going into February only because I actually have the time to add this all up right now.

$11.36 a day on Groceries. Total for January $352.17
64 cents a day on Cleaning stuffs. Total $19.38
$1 a day on Toiletries. Total $30.31
$1.07 a day on Gifts. Total $33.48
17 cents a day on Food out. Total $5.88
$1.90 a day on Pets. Total $58.86
76 cents a day on Clothing. Total $23.94

Average daily spending for January: $16.90
13 NO SPEND days out of 31 for the year
(okay, technically 12 out of 29... I'm shooting for one more this month)

I've been pretty regularly tracking my daily spending for a few years now. I have to admit that it's really neat to see it laid out in categories though. I'm already seeing that I'm spending more on food for our pets than I'd thought. I'm not planning on changing their food but I might try harder to find coupons and shop for their food when there are sales instead of just when they need it. Considering that I hardly ever buy clothes and I bought three things this month I'm pretty amazed with how low our average is.

The one that's really interesting to me is that I spent an average of $1.07 a day on gifts. Who thinks about it that way, right? That's a strange revelation. Truly I spent a pretty normal amount on what I'm calling a "gift" for my mom's birthday that included supplies for her birthday dinner and then I bought three other things for two nieces and my son that were enormously on sale. Still for some reason $1.07 a day sounds like something significant. If that were a realistic average for the year that's almost $400 a year and there's no way that would include Christmas. Christmas needs a category all of it's own. And it wouldn't include a birthday gift for my husband or myself. We usually go between $50 and $100 on our birthdays... if that seems high you must realize we were married for 10 years without any children. The two of us were our only immediate family for 10 years, you know.

I'm pretty proud of the 17 cents a day average on food out. That includes a $3 tip that I left for breakfast my friend bought me and $2.88 I spent yesterday on coffee and a donut while I was working. (I was in a horrible mood yesterday and needed the fuel) Wow, this month was great for not eating out!

Below is the list you will find if you ever click on the "2015 Purchases" tab at the top of the blog. I've been keeping track of my purchases there for years but I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've included the data in a blog post. Ah, the evolution of blogging. The only thing on the list that is not included in my average daily spending is food from the vet for our second dog. She gets bladder stones and horrible urinary tract infections from enzymes in regular dog food. We've had surgery on her once before and now we buy ridiculously expensive prescription food from the vet to keep her healthy and to keep from having her needing to go under the knife again. I do not include our medical expenses in with our spending and I do consider her dog food a medical expense. 

The other thing you may notice missing is vehicle expenses. I also don't include those in our budget as spending. I drive so much for work that I've considered almost everything vehicle related as a sort of work expense for about 12 years now.

January 2015 Total: $524.02
NO SPEND day 13    1.30
Candy and mini toothbrushes $3.83    1.29
Groceries $17.73    1.28
Coffee and a donut $2.88    1.28
NO SPEND day 12    1.27
Cat food $26.10    1.26
Gift for different niece $4.50    1.26
B-day gift for Abe $4.75    1.26
Toilet paper $9.99    1.26
Groceries $38.97    1.26
Gift for niece $4.63    1.25
Groceries $4.89    1.25
My mom's birthday $19.60    1.24
Groceries $3.60    1.23
Groceries $27.48    1.22
coat for Abe & pants for me $9.25    1.22
NO SPEND day 11    1.21
NO SPEND day 10    1.20
Groceries $29.74    1.19
Mini muffin tin $6.70    1.19
NO SPEND day 9    1.18
Tip at breakfast $3    1.17
Groceries $30.88    1.16
Dog food $30.26    1.16
NO SPEND day 8    1.15
Groceries $3.35    1.14
NO SPEND day 7    1.13
Groceries $35.91    1.12
Toiletries $1.39    1.12
Cleaning $11.25    1.12
NO SPEND day 6    1.11
NO SPEND day 5    1.10
Vet dog food $47.99    1.9
Groceries $32.45    1.9
NO SPEND day 4    1.8
Groceries $3.86    1.7
Band-aides $3.67    1.6
Groceries $21.11    1.6
New work pants $14.69    1.6
NO SPEND day 3    1.5
Groceries $29.45    1.4
Cleaning $2.99    1.4
Toiletries $6.29    1.4
NO SPEND day 2    1.3
Groceries $62.22    1.2
Cleaning $5.14    1.2
Toiletries $8.97    1.2
Pets $2.50    1.2
NO SPEND day 1    1.1