We celebrated the end of 2020 by spending on gifts, just because we can. I’ve been tracking our spending every month and was pleasantly surprised of the number. We have some surplus from our budget so we decided to spend some more in December.
We spent $7,315.39 this December. Whoa!
Here are some unusual / top line items.
Gifts – $5,353.57
We celebrated Christmas with my family, my 3 siblings and my Grandma. Celebration starts on Christmas eve at my parents house and continued on at our house for Christmas Day. This year, my older sister suggested that we do Secret Santa which I happily oblige. Apparently, my family thought that Secret Santa was addition to other presents. We still receive presents from each member of the family and the kids received A LOT – toys, clothes and envelope (with money). We on the other hand only bought presents for our Secret Santa and a check for my parents for $5k. It was unusually large this year. My father was furloughed because of COVID and I can tell that this pandemic affected them. We were fortunate enough that our finances were not affected at all, so why not. I’m really happy that I can do this for them.
Aside from my immediate family, we also bought gifts for my godkids. I procrastinated on this and Mr. MMD have to drive an hour to their house to drop the presents. Both kids got some Legos from us.
Groceries – $619.78
This is probably on a high end of our grocery spending, but we have to eat, right? Groceries are purchased in Costco and Winco.
Electric and Gas – $245.18
This was for 2 months worth of electric and gas. The company finally started accepting credit card on auto pay instead of one time payment. They made a mistake of charging me twice. I did get the credit for the next month, so it is not a big deal.
Clothing – $252.07
This is for my winter boots, winter jacket and MBP’s winter jacket. I got the jackets on ebay and the winter boots at Nordstrom. I specifically want a down jacket that will keep me warm and water resistant so I can use it while working at MBP’s cooperative preschool. I also needed some boots since the school is outdoors. I bought a Soia and Kyo jacket that is 70 percent down-filled from e-bay. I have a wool jacket from the same brand that I got as a gift and I love it. It really keeps me warm. I already tested the jacket and it worked really well. I also bought a $100 gift card from REI. I got 10% discount on the gift card and I used it to purchased MBP’s jacket.
Auto and Transport – $126.45
I renewed the registration of my 2011 Volkswagon Jetta S. We haven’t used this Jetta for over a year. I am giving the car to my older sister as a gift and she is reimbursing the cost of the registration. We also put gas on our Prius this month.
| Description | Grand Total | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Christmas Gifts | 5,353.57 | A big chunk of our spending this month is a cash gift - because, why not! |
| Groceries | 619.78 | We probably bought more snacks and junk food |
| Clothing | 252.07 | Winter clothing for me and MBP |
| Electric and Gas | 245.18 | 2 months of electric and natural gas. It's high because it is getting colder |
| 529 College Fund | 200.00 | |
| Auto & Transport | 126.45 | Registration and Gas |
| Water | 92.01 | |
| Garbage | 75.21 | |
| HOA Dues | 68.25 | |
| Sewer | 60.16 | |
| Household Supplies | 48.38 | Some stuff from Ikea |
| Internet | 45.00 | |
| Furnishings | 44.45 | |
| Fast Food | 30.67 | KFC? |
| Christmas Cards | 28.88 | Stamps and some pictures for our Christmas Cards |
| Mobile Phone | 16.31 | Our very cheap mobile plan for 2 lines!! |
| Subscription | 6.55 | Amazon Prime |
| Electronics & Software | 2.47 | Cost to host this blog from Google Cloud Platform |
| Grand Total | 7,315.39 |