It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
No, I’m not talking about the holidays. I’m talking about my annual financial health check-up!
I get unreasonably excited about this—it’s my Super Bowl!
It consists of three parts:
- I pore over bank statements to see how our household spent every single penny.
- I calculate how much I saved for retirement and the percent change from the previous year.
- I calculate our household net worth and compare it to the previous year.
1. So, where did the Davis household spend its money this year? Here’s a tiny snapshot.
Mexican Food (Dining, Take-Out, or Delivery): $71.89
Pizza (Dining, Take-Out, or Delivery): $248.92
Sub Sandwiches (Dining, Take-Out, or Delivery): $56.44
Travel: $0
Electronics: $0
Clothing for Myself: $0
To put this in perspective, my wife and I donated substantially more money to charity (philanthropic and political) than we spent on travel, electronics, clothing, and eating restaurant food combined. We also spent less on groceries than we ever have before.
2. Without going into specifics, I’ll just say we saved more for retirement this year than we ever have in a single calendar year. Our total retirement savings climbed 30.44%.
3. Your net worth has nothing to do with your actual worth, but it is indicative of how much shit you have to take from the man. We saw our household net worth climb 25.71% in 2020.
How did you spend your money in 2020? Are you provisioning for the future? What can you do differently in 2021 to improve your overall financial health? I suggest you perform your own financial health check-up and set some goals. Your future self will thank you.
Frugal Tip: Want to sleep better, save money, and help the environment? Drop the thermostat one degree in winter before you hit the hay.
The Frugal Fight 