We wrapped up 2022 with more travel as a family of four and a dog. We visited Disneyland in the beginning of the year. We went camping last summer and visited the midwest last fall. We visited friends in the city with the boys. I was also able to see my friends in person this year.
There were also some not so fun days like spending our spring break dealing with a car accident and spending the next month finding a car when car supply were basically zero. I spent 3-4 months dealing with the car accident aftermath with some PT sessions and chiropractor visits. We also had COVID last summer. MBP and AHP went to school this fall and spend the first 3 months, coughing. Viruses came back full forced, but luckily the boys were able to handle it.
Travel and car accidents require spending and this year we spent $77,048.33
We spent $24,987.12 more this year compared to last year – a 48% increase. Looks like we lived it up, right? Let’s see where our money went this year.
Taxes – $27,224.42
We sold our rental property in 2021 and took a tax hit of $20,686.00. The other $6,538.42 was our property tax from owning our home. We no longer own any rental property and expect our tax to be immaterial for 2022.
| CATEGORY | Spending |
|---|---|
| Federal Tax | $20,686.00 |
| Property Tax | $6,538.42 |
| Total | $27,224.42 |
Food and Dining – $10,483.75
Surprisingly enough, our food and dining only increased by $293.96 from $10.189.79 in 2021 to $10,483.75 in 2022. Despite of inflation, spending 5 days in Disneyland, 2 days in Chicago and various camping trip, we manage to keep our food cost mostly consistent. I am impressed myself! We are still eating mostly plant food base diet with loads of fruits for snacks. The boys can’t get enough of cosmic crisp apple.
It looks like we ate out on restaurants more and drink more. I want to say we ate less junk food, but that is probably not true. I just neglected to categorized it as junk.
| CATEGORY | Spending 2022 | Spending 2021 | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groceries | 8,126.20 | 8,528.07 | Groceries went down? |
| Restaurants | 1,696.62 | 993.70 | But we ate out more |
| Fast Food | 394.46 | 428.27 | |
| Alcohol & Bars | 252.97 | 121.92 | And drink more |
| Junk Food | 11.00 | 101.40 | |
| Coffee Shops | 4.00 | 16.43 | |
| Food Delivery | (1.50) | - | This was a credit from Instacart |
| Total | 10,483.75 | 10,189.79 | |
Kids – $7,517.24
This category increased by $2,219.93 from $5,297.31 in 2021 to $7,517.24 in 2022. I expected this. MBP and AHP have a 529 plan. We contribute $200 per month in the plan in total of $400 per month. This is an automatic deduction from our checking account, total $4,800 annually. The boys tuition also increased since AHP started attending his 2’s class and MBP started attending preschool 5 days a week. Next year, MBP will be in kindergarten. If it works out in our local public school, the tuition should decrease. Kids gadgets, supplies, activities and toys are all combination of items specific for the kids. This can really be more in line with shopping and entertainment for adults.
| CATEGORY | Spending 2022 | Spending 2021 | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 529 College Fund | 4,800.00 | 3,200.76 | Normal and will continue on the upcoming year |
| Preschool Tuition | 2,028.86 | 1,228.04 | This should decrease next year |
| Kids Gadgets | 236.88 | 149.43 | |
| Baby Supplies | 182.53 | 158.25 | You think that this should go down since it's mainly diaper |
| preschool expenses | 175.60 | 57.07 | |
| Kids Activities | 64.76 | 371.68 | |
| Toys | 28.61 | 14.30 | |
| Hair | 61.90 | ||
| Entertainment | 55.88 | ||
| Total | 7,517.24 | 5,297.31 |
Gifts and Donations – $6,114.8
We spent $213.47 more on gifts this year, increasing from $5,901.33 last year. The charity portion was the fundraising for the boy’s preschool. The holiday card included a photo session from JC Penney with 3 digital images and one print for $27. A shipping fee for the said print and 3 more complementary prints because the photographer was late was $10.45. I printed 50 copies of the Holiday card at Canva for $38.50 and I bought stamps for $12. I enjoyed sending and receiving holiday cards. I make my own design using Canva and find that the prints from them was the cheapest and I’m happy with the quality of the prints.
| CATEGORY | Spending 2022 | Spending 2021 | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christmas Gifts | 5,675.98 | 5,404.27 | |
| Gift | 250.87 | 497.06 | |
| Charity | 100.00 | - | Donation for the boys preschool |
| Christmas Cards | 87.95 | 55.97 | |
| Total | 6,114.80 | 5,957.30 |
Health and Fitness – $4,743.79
This category decreased by $1,162.1 from $5,905.89 in 2021 to $4,743.79. I thought that this will decrease more, since we received significant health care insurance subsidy in 2022 vs 2021, but our family also visited doctors more in 2022. We switched our health plan from bronze to gold this year based on this data. In 2022, we spent $1,526.86 for copayment of doctor visits.
We also pay for a gym membership at our local YMCA. MBP and AHP were enrolled in swim classes, gym and soccer and those were included as part of the membership. I also visited the Y significantly in the beginning of the year, before the car accident.
Our dental visit total $460. These were for 3 visits in total, 2 for Mr. MMD and 1 for me. This year, we signed up for dental insurance, which will pay for itself with our bi-annual dental visits and a little coverage for other care.
Others were new bench for our home gym, some meds, and my new eye glasses that I ordered online from eyebuydirect.com that cost me $44.88.
| CATEGORY | Spending 2022 | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Gym | 1,633.00 | Gym Membership for our family at our local YMCA |
| Doctor | 1,526.86 | Various doctor visit |
| Health Insurance | 723.45 | This should include the first month of our 2023 health insurance |
| Dentist | 460.00 | |
| Home Gym | 273.49 | |
| Pharmacy | 82.11 | |
| Eyecare | 44.88 | |
| Total | 4,743.79 |
Bills and Utilities – $4,333.6
This category increased by $419.3 from $3,914.3 in 2021 to $4,333.6. Electric and gas increased the most. I’m pretty sure that the reason for the increase were timing of the payment. I paid December 2021 bill in January 2022 and I just paid the December 2022 bill once I got the bill in December. So in theory, this was probably consistent from last year. Sewer decreased? It’s on autopay so I don’t even look at it. Water increase not necessarily because of the usage but the rate increased as well. Our internet rate increase this year. Garbage decreased, again probably because of the billing cycle. We are still using Xfinity mobile for our cell phone. It increased a bit this year because we used more data when we travel. It is still very affordable at $24.75 per month for 2 lines.
| CATEGORY | Spending 2022 | Spending 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Electric and Gas | 1,681.14 | 1,248.37 |
| Sewer | 772.24 | 746.67 |
| Water | 581.27 | 620.50 |
| Internet | 579.51 | 556.34 |
| Garbage | 422.09 | 495.86 |
| Mobile Phone | 297.35 | 246.56 |
| Total | 4,333.60 | 3,914.30 |
Auto and Transport – $3,527.41
This category increased by $810.5 from $2,716.91 in 2021 to $3,527.41. Gas increased. We travelled more this year and gas prices were also at the highest last summer. Auto insurance increased because we added another car. My old sister gave us her car, which she got from me because she bought a new (new to her) car. Service and parts also increased because we added another car. The public transportation included our bus tickets when we were in Chicago. It also included the car service that I booked in 2022 for our upcoming Disney trip in January of 2023. The car service was the big portion of it. Rideshare was for our Chicago trip. Parking increased because we visited the city more frequently this year.
I talked about our car accident that occurred in March 2022. Our 2015 Toyota Prius 4 was totaled. We attempted to get another 2015 Prius with less mileage or a totally brand new car, but there was no inventory in the entire country!! At that time, we only had one car, so we definitely needed to buy a car. We ended up buying a 2011 Toyota Prius 2 with about 103k miles that I found on Craigslist. I didn’t add that purchased here because we used the insurance proceed to buy the car. We think that our Prius 2 will last at least another 5 years and at that time, we should be ready to buy an electric car (or an electric van?).
| CATEGORY | Spending 2022 | Spending 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Gas & Fuel | 1,386.04 | 1,015.23 |
| Auto Insurance | 759.55 | 539.00 |
| Service & Parts | 539.81 | 389.70 |
| Auto & Transport | 428.67 | 440.23 |
| Public Transportation | 214.25 | |
| Auto Registration | 126.00 | 326.25 |
| Parking | 45.44 | 6.50 |
| Ride Share | 27.65 | |
| Total | 3,527.41 | 2,716.91 |
Shopping – $3,102.42
This category increased by $55.62 from $3,046.8 in 2021 to $3,102.42 in 2022. This category is a catch all from our household supplies like toilet paper to electronics to clothing and appliances. Mr. MMD bought a new computer and we bought a new modem. AHP “accidentally” spilled his water to our modem and we were not able to resurrect it. We figured that it was time to say goodbye to this modem, after 7 long hard years of service. In tech world, I’m pretty sure she was considered ancient. We are also now an owner of a pressure washer, which we will probably used once a year.
We also bought some shoes. Actually, I bought 3 pair of shoes while Mr. MMD bought one pair. I have a hard time finding comfortable shoes for my wide flat feet with bunions. I stumbled on this brand, Altra while searching for some camping gear at steepandcheap.com. I won a $200 gift card from steepandcheap and I decided to use it to try out a pair of shoes. These shoes aren’t cheap, but I tend to buy a shoe every 2 years or once the soles were worn out. I like the shoes so much that when it went on sale at REI, I bought 2 more pairs. I went to Rakuten and bought $191 e-gift card from REI and used it to purchased the shoes. Mr. MMD went to Fleet Feet and purchased his shoes. Fleet Feet analyze your feet and take a picture of it before recommending the type of shoes. It was pretty cool. I didn’t buy my shoes there but Mr. MMD did. I did buy toe socks. Alright, enough about shoes. The rest were stuff.
And you will not see the 2021 expenses below. There are tons of category changes and I don’t want to manually add it up.
| CATEGORY | Spending 2022 | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Electronics & Software | $1,252.58 | Computer and Modem |
| Household Supplies | $847.24 | |
| Shopping | $395.20 | |
| Shoes | $389.21 | |
| Subscription | $89.42 | Amazon subscripiton |
| Sporting Goods | $38.85 | |
| Clothing | $38.67 | |
| Camping Gear | $25.34 | |
| Hobbies | $22.86 | |
| Christmas Shopping | $3.05 | |
| Total | $3,102.42 | |
Home – $3,046.01
This year, I separated the property taxes and include that as part of taxes. Overall it is consistent from last year. Home insurance and HOA Dues increased. We had our HVAC cleaned. We also have to hire a plumber because our pipe freeze. Our built ins can get some repair, but I’m really waiting until the kids no longer have the need to draw on our walls before making some changes in the house. Hopefully in a couple of years. We didn’t buy any furniture this year but at some point we will most likely buy a new couch and a dining table.
| CATEGORY | Spending 2022 | Spending 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Home Insurance | 941.50 | 707.22 |
| HOA Dues | 919.80 | 876.00 |
| Home Improvement | 687.61 | 286.66 |
| Home Services | 489.45 | 834.83 |
| Home Supplies | 7.65 | - |
| Furnishings | 1,183.57 | |
| Total | 3,046.01 | 3,888.28 |
Travel – $2,405.73
This is low, considering we spent 8 days in Anaheim, with 5 days in Disneyland, 2 days in Chicago and about 11 nights camping this summer. The biggest expense was our 5 day tickets to Disneyland for January 2023. Our camping site was for 11 nights of camping last summer. Our rental car was for the “extra insurance” that we purchased for the rental car when we had a car accident. The insurance company didn’t reimburse us for it.
Hotels were for 2 nights in Fairfield Inn in Chicago, 1 night in Sheraton in Seattle to celebrate Mr. MMD’s 40th and a $20 tip at Howard Johnson for our 2022 Disney trip. We get an employee rate through Marriott and the rate was really low. We paid $52/night in Chicago including breakfast for 4. The Sheraton hotel was about $81.
Our air travel were all book with points and these were for taxes and fees for 4 round trip tickets to Santa Ana for our Disney trip. Our tickets to Chicago were reimbursed by family so we didn’t include it here. The rest of travel were train tickets and probably other little things.
| CATEGORY | Spending 2022 | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Vacation | 1323.33 | Most are 3 5-day tickets to Disneyland |
| Camping Site | 519.26 | Includes 4 nights at YMCA camp which includes food |
| Rental Car & Taxi | 228.7 | The insurance that was not covered after the accident |
| Hotel | 216.31 | 3 hotels and tips |
| Air Travel | 74.8 | taxes and fees |
| Travel | 43.33 | Amtrak tickets |
| Total | 2405.73 |
Pets $1,620.28
Our corgi visited the vet twice this year in addition to her annual exam. We also needed to pay for some antibiotics for her. We paid for boarding when we went to Chicago. My parents typically take care of her, but they were out of town as those weeks.
Entertainment – $1,464.66
A thousand was for our ticket to CampMustache this year. Mr. MMD and I went for memorial day weekend. The rest were for tickets to museums and subscriptions to music and videos.
Fees and Charges – $954.74
These are bank fees. We opened credit cards and used it to pay our taxes (with credit card fees) to meet the sign up bonus. This will continue and I’m ok with that because we get more for free airline tickets and free hotels. Our 8 day hotel stay in Disneyland in 2022 and our upcoming trip in January 2023 were all paid by points. Our tickets were also all paid by points. It already saved us at least $4k, just for our Disney trip. It’s a great hobby that pays for itself.
Personal Care – $468.92
Stuff like toiletries and hair cut.
Business Services – $40.56
Some supplies like markers, stamps and the registration of the domain name.
After documenting all our expenditures, the main contributor of the 48% increase was the federal tax paid for the sale of our rental income. Without the $20,686 federal tax liability our spending goes down to $56,362. This represents an 8% increase from our 2021 spending of $52,061.21
Overall, 2022 was a mixed year. I wished it could be better, health wise, but I am thankful that we were finally traveling again. I’m excited for 2023. We are off to Disneyland this month. I’m looking forward to seeing some sun again and escaping the gloomy PNW weather.