Every year, I try to track my expenditure over several categories from food, household expenditure, gift buying, home/garden expenditure in addition to personal expenditure on myself and this year has been no exception. As I've mentioned in a previous post, I've had a pretty spendy year this year. I think that having a permanent job again made me feel more financially secure and relaxed about spending money. To be honest, though, I'm not totally comfortable with my spending over the year, as it has increased by around £3000 overall and I feel this is a little on the excessive side. As a consequence, I definitely need to do something drastic to help me get back to being more frugal and considered in my spending habits.
According to my calculations, I've increased my spending in virtually every category, and in some categories way more than others. There have been a few reasons (excuses) for some of this spending:
I lost a lot of weight in 2023/2024 and needed to buy clothes that fitted me, as most of my old clothes were way too big. I bought most items second hand, but I bought probably way more than I actually realistically needed and have continued to purchase more throughout the year as the seasons changed. This is a spending habit that I need to seriously curb in 2025. I need to be more satisfied with what I already have and focus on wearing the items in my current wardrobe, rather than constantly searching out more items. This will probably involve my participating in many fewer thrifting trips to the charity shop, which I will miss, but needs must. I may even try to set myself a maximum thrifting budget for the year and try to stick to it.
Increases in inflation and food prices may have played some part in the food budget increasing this year and as I have very little control over this, I'm not going to beat myself up about this one. We haven't eaten any more indulgently than in any other year, so I can only think that this was a contributing factor, or possibly in part a consequence of stockpiling a little in my pantry cupboard, although this has certainly not been excessive.
We were invited to attend a family wedding in 2024 and I needed to buy suitable clothes for both myself and LB and pay for haircuts, etc. before the day. This accounted for a good few hundred pounds, but it was necessary and many of the things bought will get worn again.
I took up running in 2024 and bought trainers and clothing for running. None were particularly expensive, but I stopped running in the summer and they just sat unused for the rest of the year. I have started running again more recently and hope to continue into 2025, so they should continue to get used going forward.
LB moved into a flat with a friend at the end of the summer and there was quite a bit of expenditure involved in securing the flat by way of a deposit and furnishing/equipping it adequately. As it's her last year at Uni, we were happy to oblige and ensure she had a suitable place to live to enable her to study hard in her busy final year.
Finally, I needed more essential dental treatment in 2024, which cost over £500 in total and was quite unexpected. I didn't have a choice in this regard, well I did, but my choice was the least expensive option available. In addition, LB needed new glasses and and I treated both of us to prescription sunglasses this year, which cost another £250.
Heading into 2025, I'm determined to drastically reduce spending in every category, in an attempt to try to start regularly putting money aside into savings again. I haven't done this for a while now and I think it's important that I get back into the habit.
I'm looking forward to this challenge in 2025. I definitely felt shopped out over the festive season and I am looking forward to shopping as little as possible in the coming year. In addition, my wardrobe is bursting at the seams and I need to stem the inward flow and utilise what is in there and if I don't use items, then I need to donate them. There will probably be a bit of a declutter coming at some point in the very near future, which I will, of course, post about.
How was your 2024 spending?
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