Frugal November

Wow, 11 months of living more frugally down - just one more to go in 2017! 

Auto & Transport: At first I was astounded at the difference in total expenses between November 2016 and 2017...sheesh, what a difference a car payment makes! Even though gas expenses were twice as high this year (possibly explained by the fact that we stayed home last Thanksgiving vs. driving through Chicago this year), our total spending was 78% less. We also got an oil change on the 6 last year.

Bills & Utilities: Artificially +45% higher this year.  It didn't include the 2016 Internet bill.

Entertainment: We bought our Firestick last year, while this year we didn't have any Entertainment expenses. After having the Firestick for a year, we've definitely gotten our money's worth. Check it out for yourself here: Fire TV Stick.

Food & Dining: 34% lower this year.

Gifts & Donations: Evidently, I was more on top of things last year as I'd already purchased some Christmas presents. I finally made my first Christmas transaction this week, but hopefully spending will be very reasonable this year and primarily funded by survey earnings. I plan to write more about the sites I use in the future.  .

Health & Fitness: HSA account fee.

Home: No change.

Pets: -65% less this year.

Shopping: +456% more this year. Well, that's a big change, but this is entirely due to the vlogging camera that I finally bit the bullet and purchased. You can view the camera on Amazon here: Sony a5100.  I mentioned it in my Thanksgiving vlog where I explained that I ended up buying it used off of eBay. The auction ended at ~$350, but I had ~$100 in my PayPal account from my annual survey cash-out, so all told, I only paid ~$250 for the Sony a5100.  Which is basically half off. Interestingly, when Francisco watched the vlog, he said it made him kind of uncomfortable that I revealed how much we paid for it even though he knows that doesn't make sense [and yes, he knows about this monthly blog series lol].

We often talk about the discomfort people have when it comes to talking about money..  People SHOULD talk about finances more, they should talk about the values they put their money towards. We've made a lot of changes with our finances this year, and there's been a lot of meaningful financial conversations. Even so, we still recognize that there is still some inherent discomfort embedded in any conversation about money. While we've changed a lot of that in our household, I know I'm still guarded about sharing certain financial details - and evidently, he is as well.

Anyways, we returned some clothes as well as a pair of Skechers GoWalk Shoes. I don't know how many pairs of these shoes I've bought and returned, but I just can't find a pair that fits as well as my current ones do. My current ones literally have holes in them, so hopefully I am able to find new ones that work out in the near future. I also did some damage at Sephora this month with three separate orders, plus Francisco needed some more Allegra.

Summary: Down -24% in spending this year vs. last! Francisco recently asked me if I was more excited to open presents on Christmas morning or to look at our year-end financial summary. He knows how big of an Excel nerd I am. I am definitely looking forward to reviewing 2017 spending vs. 2016 in just a few short weeks! 

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