Finance Travels

Yesterday I had the chance to run our 2008 vs. 2009 expense report.  There were a few surprises, but overall I was happy with the numbers.  The bottom line was that we saved about $2,000 more in 2009 than we did in 2008.  I know that number isn’t terribly impressive, but when you consider the following, it looks better:

• Purchases of major household items – We replaced both our refrigerator and hot water heater in ’09.  Those two items account for about $3,500 worth of expenses.
• We purchased and paid off a new (used) car in ’09.

I always enjoy looking at this report, as I can always find some interesting trends:

• Our vehicle fuel expenses decreased by nearly $1,000 due to the lower prices we experienced in ’09 vs. ’08.
• Our grocery expenses increased about $500, which I guess is to be expected with a growing family.
• Expenses in my “generic” cash and miscellaneous categories increased a fair amount.  This means that I’m not doing a good enough job categorizing expenses.
• One thing that I”m proud of is that our charitable donations increased by nearly 33% when compared to ’08.
• Finally, our childcare expenses decreased about 10% over ’08.  This number will continue to decrease as our middle child starts kindergarten next year.