As I entered our expenses for December into my expense tracker all I could think of was ‘thank goodness 2021 is over so I can’t spend any more money!’. 2021 has definitely been a more expensive year than usual for us thanks to renovations, but even without the renovations I couldn’t help but notice that just living has cost us a whole lot more than previous years. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s experienced this thanks to record-high inflation and disruptions to supply impacting on food, petrol, consumer goods, housing, and utility costs.
To view all previous expense review tagged posts click here.
Top 5 Expenses – December 2021
- Mortgage= $2,574.55
Notes: December was the first 5 week month since we refinanced, and this resulted in our mortgage being the biggest expense for the month. Our loan was recently refinanced and we have a variable rate of 1.99%.
- Renovations = $2,451.06
Notes: The majority of this month’s renovation expenses are made up of one large bill for the electrician ($1000) and lots and lots of little trips to Bunnings, IKEA, and the paint shop. But the good news is we have finished our Airbnb renovations and have listed the space on Airbnb (read more about it here).
- Food and Alcohol = $1,551.85
Notes: Our food bill increased substantially in December thanks to hosting Christmas for 20 people. My working hours also increased by a day and so we’ve had to rope in some additional help in the form of Hello Fresh to make it work. After a month of Hello Fresh we’ve decided to keep it until I go back down in hours, and I’ll be honest it’s been a godsend. If you would like to try it for yourself feel free to use my code here and get $100 off your next box. We continue to shop at Aldi for the basics and shop at other places depending on the specials available. We shop online at BWS to make use of cashback rewards (If you want to sign up use this affiliate link – You’ll get a $10 bonus once you make your first transaction).
| Shop | Amount |
| Aldi | $775.69 |
| Hello Fresh | $368.46 |
| Costco | $214.22 |
| Bakers Delight (Bakery) | $62.50 |
| Foodland | $52.84 |
| BWS | $43.99 |
| Coles | $22.15 |
| Market | $12.00 |
| Total | $1551.85 |
- Utilities (Phone, Internet, Water, Gas, Electricity) = $1,041.82
Notes: A very average month here. Our utilities include our mobile phones (4 phones @ $104.95 per month), Internet (MyRepublic @ $59 per month), Water, Gas, and Electricity (We use Reamped – link here for $50 referral code).
- Health and Medical Items = $962.03
Notes: Thanks to needing an annual scan and two specialists visits this month was more expensive than usual for our family.
Year to Date Comparison
We spent $10,726.80 in December and $11,869.05 the previous month which is a decrease of $1,142.25. We spent $346.02 per day in December which is down from last month’s $395.64 per day.
Other Expenses (% of total expenses) – December 2021
New Expenses (December)
We officially started an Airbnb expenses bucket which we will be interesting to track as we start earning income and seeing how profitable our little side income is.
Changes we’ve made this month (December)
No changes.
Changes to expect next month (January)
A reduction in renovation expenses as the majority of our renovations are now paid for in full.
Year to Date Expense Overview ($)
Total Spend 2021 (To Date) = $109,522.99 or an average of $9,126.92 a month for 2 Adults and 2 Children (Aged 13 and 10).
Investment Rate 2021 (To Date) = 41% – no change (includes wages and side hustles. All dividends/distributions we receive are automatically reinvested via DRP)
Our goal investment rate at the start of the year was 60%, but we created this goal before I took a 30k (after-tax) pay cut in March. Given the pay cut and the renovations we are doing this year I’m happy with where we are at. More importantly, we are still tracking to our goal of hitting financial independence by January 2029.
Notes: I track my Income and Expenses via my tracker available on my Etsy Store Link Here.
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Frank on FIRE 