Some of you may have heard of mint.com. It’s brilliant! It tracks your finances, both through your bank and credit cards, and even keeps tabs on things like retirement plans (like 401k plans) and just about anything else financial that you can access through the Internet. (Depressingly, it also keeps track of the value of your house. My net value goes down every week.)
It’s also a little…uhmm…distressing. I always tried really hard to budget my spending on books and other such things, but, since December of 2007, I’ve apparently managed to spend $685 on books, $1200 on yarn, fabric, patterns, and craft projects, $313 on web hosting, $1100 on eating out, and a whopping $2,147 on gas ($5,791 total on my car, including service, repairs, and insurance). Sadly, since my bank isn’t supported, NONE of this includes things I bought with my debit card. Which I used to use all the time and still do for grocery shopping.
I was happier not knowing, but at least I know where my problem areas. I mean, seriously, I spent $2400 in two years on hobbies? Yikes! At least I’m single!
July 21st, 2009 at 7:43 am
Actually, I don’t think that’s bad at all for a year and a half. Other people have expensive hobbies (*cough*LikeCurtis’sgadgetaddiction*cough*), or going to concerts or sports games, etc etc. At least yours are constructive!
But yeah, it’s always shocking to see all those little numbers add up. Bleh!
July 24th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
That does look like an awesome site. But I’d be somewhat scared to know how much I spend on things – I think I’m happier right now living on in blissful ignorance!
Although, honestly, that’s not really too terrible spending on your party. Considering how much raw income goes into everything from taxes to cars to homes, that’s a pretty small fraction overall – and given the simple joys of hobbies are what help keep us sane, it’s probably well worth the cost…