Saturday, May 30, 2015

May Numbers Are In

I'm shooting for a no spend day tomorrow and officially wrapping up May. Here's my spending rundown for the month with average daily spending for each category. I honestly didn't try that hard and still this month was SO MUCH better than April.

Average daily spending for 2015: $17.76 < yep, back under that dreaded $18 mark


May Spending
$11.45 a day on Groceries. Total $355.16
$1.23 a day on Toiletries. Total $38.25
85 cents a day on Gifts. Total $26.22
$1.71 a day on Food out. Total $53.16
10 cents a day on Pets. Total $2.99

Average daily spending for May: $15.34
9 NO SPEND days

Once again the average daily spending for food is sticking around the $12 a day mark. My average daily spending for the year on groceries is $11.95
Jan. $11.36 a day groceries.
Feb. $11.53 a day groceries.
Mar. $12.83 a day groceries.
Apr. $12.56 a day groceries.
May $11.45 a day groceries.

My spending goals for May were: to get the average daily spending total for the year under $18 a day. Mission accomplished; WOOHOO! And to be in the low $16 a day range for the month of May, also a win. And to only spend in four categories. I spent in five categories but I'm currently tracking eleven categories (I add new ones when I find that I need to) and I only went one over my goal of four. I'm happy with that. I did not do great with no spend days but I am not going to start complaining about that. Financially the month of May is a total win.

We had mother's day this month, and there was a birthday for one of my nieces and for one of my nephews. I've never been great at planned gift giving but I'd bought a birthday gift for both of the birthday cuties this month back in January during the after Christmas toy clearance so I had pretty decent gifts for both of them AND didn't have to spend any money for that this month. A good friend gave birth to a beautiful little girl this month and little Abe and I picked up an inexpensive gift for our visit to meet her. I did buy my mom a very inexpensive on sale hanging basket of flowers for mother's day. And I have a $5.99 toy listed in my spending this month as a gift but I can't for the life of me remember what that was for.

Granted my food out spending is a billion times better than it was five years ago but when I look at the fact that I spent $1.71 a day on food out this month, I feel like I can do way better than that. One of the biggest culprits has just been picking up a snack here or there while working. If I just planned a little bit better for work or refrained from having a snack during my 5 hour shift I could spend way less in that category.

I will be needing to purchase dog food in June. We're out of laundry detergent. I know my spending is going to be higher in June then it was this month so my goal for June is simply to match what the current average daily spending for the year is. I'm not looking to spend $15 or $16 a day but if I can keep all of June at the $17.76 a day average that I'm currently at then I will be very happy.

There you have it folks. Another one in the books.

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May 2015 Total: $475.68
NO SPEND day 48    5.31
NO SPEND day 47    5.30
Horse riding?/ Toy for little Abe $15.99    2.29
$2.18 coffee and a york    2.29
Hot dogs and squirt $4.98    2.29
Groceries $32.88    5.28
Lunch $4.26    5.28
Groceries $7.98    5.27
Groceries $15.54    5.26
Groceries $7.39    5.25
NO SPEND day 46    5.24
A gift and wrapping paper $10.87    5.23
(yep, I bought wrapping paper)
Groceries $29.10    5.23
Groceries $8.28    5.22
Groceries $6    5.21
Lunch and coffee $6.05    5.20
Joint medicine for dog $16.83    5.19
Groceries $18.28    5.19
Toilet paper $30    5.19
Groceries $22.58    5.18
deodorant $4.76    5.18
NO SPEND day 45    5.17
NO SPEND day 44    5.16
Coconut oil $12.98    5.15
Toiletry item $3.49    5.15
Groceries $32.94    5.15
Honey and beeswax $10    5.15
Groceries $5.78    5.14
Lunch sandwich $4.99    5.13
Dog treats $2.99    5.12
Toy $5.99    5.12
Groceries $27.64    5.12
The expensive vet dog food $47.99
Groceries $28.27    5.11
NO SPEND day 43    5.10
NO SPEND day 42    5.9
Groceries $26.13    5.8
Groceries $16.28    5.7
Newborn baby gift $9.36    5.7
Breakfast $3.05    5.6
Groceries $17.16    5.5
Lunch $7.76    5.5
NO SPEND day 41    5.4
Culvers $24.87    5.3
Groceries $24.97    5.2
NO SPEND day 40    5.1
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4 comments:

  1. Hawaii PlannerMay 31, 2015 at 10:20 AM

    Congratulations, because those are some amazing numbers! Our grocery bill in May was the highest it's been in *a long* time. Still haven't figured out why, but yikes!

    Your numbers look great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. rivuletMay 31, 2015 at 2:14 PM

      Thank-you! I'm really proud of my spending this month and I don't normally say that. I am hoping the best for June because my spending does usually follow and up and down pattern month to month.

      I hope you can figure out what caused the spike in your grocery bill. It's not necessarily bad when spending goes up but it's nice to know why it went up :)

      Delete
  2. JillMay 31, 2015 at 12:48 PM

    Great job! It seems cutting costs is a never ending challenge some days doesn't it? Our summer gets busy with visitors etc, so getting creative to save$$ takes some thought...lol. Have a great day!

    Blessings,
    Jill

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. rivuletMay 31, 2015 at 2:16 PM

      For sure! I have to pretty much work on saving/ spending less daily. It seems when I don't focus on it for say a week or something then my spending gets crazy. I'm really happy that I did not focus as much energy towards spending as I normally would need to to get my numbers where they are. I think that means I'm getting better and better at this spending "game."

      Thank-you!

      Delete

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