I don’t do well with spare time which these days provide. I need work to keep me in a healthy schedule. Getting black out drunk on a Tuesday night throws a wrench in that. So instead of doing nothing, I’m going to provide the audience with a post that took me an entire year to write and this is the best day to do it.
My Money
I make a good amount of money. It’s well earned lest anyone say otherwise. I don’t have a family so I’m free to do whatever I please with it. This year I tracked every single purchase I made and how I spent my money. Here are the results of interest:
Money Spent on Alcohol – $8,975
Money Spent on Breakfast – $1,653
Money Spent on Lunch – $2,575
Money Spent on Dinner – $2,619
This means I spend more money on alcohol throughout the year than food. That’s not true because another category pertains to my supermarket trips, but this is money spent out at restaurants.
Another fascinating track I keep is how many alcoholic drinks I consume throughout the year. The answer is 1,693. I’d guess this is more than you.
Those drinks are offset by the 896 miles I ran during the year. I’d also guess this is more than you.
Curious how I did betting? I managed to lose $1,650 on Draftkings and $681 dollars betting on sports. I also lost around 4k at casinos while winning 2k betting among my friends in various pools such as fantasy football and NCAA brackets. Note that I’m better than my friends, not better than the books or casinos.
Still with me on the small numbers? I spent $22,403 on what I labeled as things. This category would include a country club membership, golfing, trips, supermarket, clothes, and any other general category.
The final category is my monthly fees such as auto payment (finally paid it off this year), maxing out my Roth, mortgage, cable, phone, subscriptions, and insurance. This totaled $39,970.
Considering I have zero debt, these numbers amount to $82,526 of after tax dollars.
What I Learn
Is this number alarming? I need to make a lot of money is what that means. This exercise puts it all into perspective though. I know I won’t win in Draftkings. If I can only lose $500 dollars next year, that would be a win. If I can drink 800 drinks next year and only spend 4k, that would be better. But would either one drastically change what I’m doing? Not really. I would save a few extra dollars. Saving money is for the birds. It doesn’t come with you to the next life. I’m on a fine pace of saving money and I expect my retirement will be planned accordingly. Of course I don’t have a family which is why I’m capable of doing this and my finances are as easy as possible. I don’t think I’d write this post if there was anyone else involved. I share this because transparency is important and if you know anything about me, it’s that I’m honest. Hopefully this post can make you feel better about how you spend your own money.