2013 Financial Report

  I sat down with my Microsoft Money program and ran the yearly financial reports for Dec.2012-Dec.2013.  A few things struck me immediately. As expected our two largest expenditures are for mortgage and auto loan. Two things I can do nothing about at this point. As mentioned I am upside down in the mortgage so refinancing is not possible and I still need that car to get to and from work. My plan is to finish paying it off ( 2 1/2 years to go), then drive it until it is too expensive to keep then trade it in and get something more economical.
 Gasoline came in 5th but there just isn't much I can do about that. I already keep an eye on the stations with the lowest prices, use fuel perks discounts from the regular grocery store when they add up enough to make a difference, limit my driving on weekends and take the shortest route to and from work. As for auto maintenance/repair I did have to spend $800 on new tires for my SUV, an expense I won't have again for another 3 years judging by how long the first set of tires lasted me. GF does all my regular maintenance and any small repairs that may be needed so the cost there is just parts.
Real estate taxes was my third biggest expense. Also something I am at the mercy of others to control. The one benefit of the recent real estate fiasco is that my property taxes have gone down significantly for the year.
 Our grocery expenses came in fourth. We spent $4231.71 for the entire year, an average of $352 and some cents per month. A mere $2 over budget per month. I am happy with that. I will continue to shop alternate sources for food, plan menus (including weekly menus that are meatless), use planned overs, cook and bake from scratch.

 Insurances. Auto came in 7th ($1868 for the year includes mine and adult son) and homeowners ($740.58 per year) came in 16th. I regularly price compare with other companies on these and although my homeowners went up by two dollars a month for the coming year (the whole tree thing I'm sure) we are still getting the best rates on these. Son's auto insurance portion actually went down this year after he turned 25. And we get the auto/home multi policy discount.

 Utilities: Electric came in 12th. We spent $ 1253.02 for the year. I'm sure this is due to the number of months last fall that the electric company was charging me 'estimated' amounts. Now that we are seeing actual bills the amounts have gone way down. We use energy efficient bulbs, all my appliances are now energy star rated, we use motion detector lights in the basement and the exterior lights so that these lights only come on when needed and then turn themselves off (my kids had a terrible time remembering to turn out the cellar lights). We unplug small appliances and don't leave phone chargers plugged in all the time to save on ambient power usage. And I air dry all laundry except undies and towels in the warm months outside.
Natural Gas:  Came in 14th.We spent $1051.67 for the amount. This is for our heat, stove, and hot water tank. I am actually pretty pleased and surprised by this amount which works out to only an average of around $89 a month. We have a programmable thermostat set for 60 degrees from 10 pm to 6 am and then again from 8 am until 2 pm (when youngest son arrives home from school). The rest of the time it is at a comfortable 68 degrees from 2 pm until 10 pm and from 6 am until 8 am (when the whole family is gone to work and school). We have a wood burning fireplace that we use occasionally, lots of throw blankets, warm polar fleece hoodies, and fleece lined slippers . And in the coldest months our Keurig gets a workout with hot chocolate and tea to warm up the insides. I also have window film over the windows, storm windows, storm doors, draft dodgers, and a curtain hung over the top of our cellar stairs to block cold air from the side door hitting the furnace. We do laundry in cold water with a cold rinse (except for whites which are washed in hot rinsed in cold), run the dishwasher four times a week, and take short showers. In the summer I cook a lot outside on the grill, in the cold months the crockpot gets a workout and I also utilize my microwave and our new Panini/indoor grill more often than the stove and oven.
Water and sewer: $470.44 for the year. I am very pleased with this amount. Short showers, limited dishwasher use, water saving toilets are all money saving steps we've taken. I also refuse to water my lawn in the summer time. It just looks like money going down the drain to me.
Cable: Last year we spent $ 1,011.50 an average of $84 a month with Direct TV.  I am always keeping an eye on this bill and am quick to call when a discount expires and renegotiate to either get it extended or another one applied. We have four receivers, one of which is a DVR, and are big tv watchers. This is actually our main source of entertainment. And since adult son chips in for half the bill each month I am satisfied.
Internet: Here is an area in which I am going to shop around and see if I can do better. Right now we have Time Warner and have the second to the slowest internet speed and still paid $381.53 a average of $31.79 a month. But since they recently increased this cost to $46.46 per month I am determined to do something to save money here.
There are several areas in which I see room for vast improvement. Clothing expenses have been VERY high this year. I admit to guilt in this particular department since I love clothes. It is true we had several special occasions this year which required dressing up and I did invest in a nice suit for youngest son as well as new winter coats for two of us and I did replace several worn out and stained items of work clothing but still this amount is way too high.  A yearly cost of $ 1517.26 is ridiculous. Self control and staying away from Dress Barn and Famous Footwear are the remedies that are
needed.
Gifts were also another area that was pretty expensive this year. We had a couple of weddings (one which included having to travel out of town) and a christening in addition to the regular birthdays and Christmas. Our Christmas spending both last year and this year were exactly what we budgeted but I think that this coming year will have to see a reduction in this area.  I will have a new grandbaby this year which means chipping in for the baby shower (plus gift) and youngest son will graduate in June (another party plus gift). I am starting to save for these now.

Cell phone cost. My cell phone came in 13th. I actually spent more on my cell phone than I did on natural gas. I am taking steps to change this. My plan expires at the end of this month and adult son and I are going to his company, adding me to his family plan, and hopefully transferring my number from my current provider. This will save me $65 a month. I keep seeing those AT&T commercials about unlimited talk/text and 300mbg of date for $49 a month and I laugh. I've been paying over $100 a month for that exact plan once the first year deal was done. They sure make up for that introductory price by sticking it to you later on.

In summary my costs for the last year were mostly on track or under budget on the important things but way over on the others. I will be tweaking this and clamping down starting today.

Update: Just wanted to add how glad I am that I do not have any lingering expenses for gifts/parties etc. since I no longer use a credit card for these purchases. Cash (via my cash back debit card) on the barrel head.