Tracking Expenses from Year to Year. Where's Our Money?

According to a 2024 Debt.com survey, nearly 94 percent of households noted that they have a budget. And yet, Americans are struggling with their expenses. With higher-than-average inflation, low wages, and high revolving consumer debt, it’s time to modify your behavior.

Tracking and managing your expenses is the difference between barely making it and becoming wealthy. As you may know, the TNFG household reviews our expenses monthly or as often as needed. It’s a great opportunity to make cash flow changes instead of unexpected changes. Life happens.

I repeat Negative Financial challenges will happen just as often as Positive ones. Know that they are coming and learn to adapt and shift with them. It also helps not to internalize the issue as life conspiring against you (specifically). Life’s confrontations are often sudden and indiscriminate. For example, last year, we fixed an electrical grid issue for $7,000. Back in 2022, we ran into an AC replacement cost of nearly $8,000. This doesn’t include getting robbed for our tires and rims twice. The unexpected is just par for the course.

Being financially prepared is a lifesaver.

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Do you know how much you are spending?

If not, double-check. Most households are spending as much as $61,000 per year.

On average, most households are overspending roughly $7,500. Even $500 invested monthly ($6,000 per year) over 40 years is worth $1.6 million. Considering that most American savings are less than $100,000, it pays to be mindful of your dollars.

High credit cards could be a culprit. As of Q2 2024, the total credit card balance for Americans was $1.142 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. This is the highest balance since the New York Fed began tracking in 1999. To put it mildly, the American consumer was not originally designed to understand revolving interest compared to instant gratification.

The median credit card interest rate is up more than 27.99%. Any item you purchase today on credit would end up costing up to 61% more than you paid for it.

To get ahead of your expenses, you have to tap off the spending app. Find a new addiction like fitness. You have to slow down as much as possible to reduce your monthly fees. Additionally, keeping tabs periodically can help mitigate weaknesses like Amazon Prime and overzealous charitable giving.

Going out costs us as much as $150 per outing. If we did it weekly, it would cost us almost $10,000 annually. We started leaning into ways to have a great time without breaking the Tipflation piggy bank. The secret is to don’t go outside.

Tracking Your Household Expenses Is Crucial

If you want to break the paycheck-to-stress habit, keep track. While it may seem that tracking monthly may be too much, it cuts down anxiety and financial stress considerably. Additionally, it helps to ensure that you can absorb unexpected financial leaks. Or at the very least, it offers perspective.

Budgeting is still an important part of your financial strategy. Align your budget with your true values, so that you aren’t conflicting with your goals every year. There are a bunch of apps that can help. Many of which are free. Check out Nerdwallets.com’s 11 Best Personal Expense Tracker Apps.

We highly recommend free stuff like the Empower app (formally known as Personal Capital). See how our expenses are compared below, and most importantly start tracking your expenses. Travel for us is a priority, so it’s always higher than most households.

That’s the cool part about all of this, you get to choose where your money finds more value. Also, don’t forget to invest in your future. It matters most.

Here's Our 6-month Recap for 2024 compared with Total Annual Expenses for 2023:

	Total 2022	Total 2023	1^st Half of 2024	Percentage Of Prior Year’s Expenses	Notes (If Any)
THE BIG THREE EXPENSES
2x Housing Costs (Interest, Insurance, Tax, HOA)	$35,996	$36,030	$11,349	31.50%	Moving Fee and +$40k Q4 Renovations Pending
Auto & Transportation	$3,874	$14,992	$10,698	71.36%	Damn Car Payment $900/month
Groceries and Dining	$9,064	$10,411	$4,938	47.43%	Tipflation Costs

OTHER EXPENSES
Health & Fitness: Medical and Dental	$3,466	$6,959	$3,989	57.32%	More Medical Surgeries + IVF treatment
Bills and Utilities	$2,731	$5,693	$3,644	64.01%
Personal Care	$583	$707	$489	69.17%
Pet Care and Related Services	$4,071	$3,000	$1,803	60.10%	Higher Cost
Education and Certifications	$205	$352	$0	-	Certification Fees in Q3

WANTS
Entertainment	$2,673	$3,014	$1,739	57.70%	Varies
Travel: Domestic and International	$25,248	$24,566	$8,510	34.64%	+$5k additional cost for the 2nd Half of 2024

MISCELLANEOUS
Shopping *Mainly Amazon.com	$6,797	$4,967	$3,089	62.19%	Wait what's up?
Gifts and Charitable Contributions	$4,763	$1,783	$2,123	119.07%	More babies are being born so more gifts
Fees and Service Charges	-$1,272	$1,486	$528.75	35.58%	Reducing our fees
Business Services (Net)	-$28,501	$976.43	-$7,093	-826.42%	Incomes is offsetting expenses, for now.
Taxes: Federal, State, and Local	$9,578	$6,788	$1,761	25.94%	Incomes are offsetting expenses, for now.

TOTAL SPENDING	$82,410	$108,809	$48,835	44.88%	We are generally on track

Comparing expenses helps provide context and perspective for future financial planning.

At this rate, we will likely spend a total of $90,000. Of which, 60 percent is for Housing, Transportation, and Food. Our travel could cap at $12,500 since we moved additional trips to 2025.

In contrast to our after-tax income, we will slide to around $30,000 for cash flow maneuvers. For anyone who wants to know what our investment portfolio looks like in nearly real-time, we have a Google Excel sheet called TNFG Holdings (Quarterly).

We started with zero investments back in 2013. With any luck, we will close out the year with a total of $1M by year-end. For now, the best thing to do is to hope for fewer unexpected expenses as we move to Florida in 2025. This includes new carpeting, furniture, and electronics at the in-laws.

We are this close to million-dollar investments! What a ride. With all that said, remember this quote from USA's Suits TV show, "Whoever is trying to bring you down is already below you."