December. A month of family, holidays, a wedding, and absolutely reckless gambling.
My savings rate ended up at a catastrophic -108%. I spent more than 2 times what I brought in this month.
If I adjust my savings rate to ignore my gambling, we’re at a healthy 28% rate of savings this month.
But that’s not too helpful is it? It’s just a convenient “what if”.
What if I wasn’t so ridiculously reckless? Oh, I would’ve saved a good chunk of cash this month. But that didn’t happen.
I spent an insane $4600 on gambling this month. That’s $55,000 per year, $150 per day.
My ‘spending’ on material items is under control. My gambling on a political candidate is bonkers, and I just keep doubling down. Here are my categorized monthly expenses for the month:
Home/Rent – $1180
Rent – $1083
Internet – $40
Utilities – $57
Auto – $28
Gasoline/Fuel – $28
Filled up a family member’s car
Transit/Travel – $259
Metro/Bus – $145
Uber/Lyft – $114
Back in March or April, I signed up for automatic reloads on my Metro Card. Finally, almost a year later, that $100 auto reload happened.
Additionally, I spent some extra cash on public transport relating to the wedding I went to!
$10 getting to and from the airport, and $35 on a shuttle from the airport to the hotel.
Additionally, I spent above $100 on Ubers this month. Mostly related to my wedding travels. But also while traveling around town with my family!
Health/Wellness – $0
$0, as long as I ignore my monthly health insurance premiums
Sustenance – $331
My sustenance spending dropped significantly this month. Partially from digging into the back of my pantry and getting a bit creative with meals, and partially because the last week of the month was spent with family.
I didn’t have to spend a dime on food that whole week.
The big outlier this month is my “restaurants/eating out” category. The good news is I went on two dates this month, and the majority of that spending is from those two dates. They were a lot of fun!
Additionally, dating is probably the greatest investment I can make as single person in my 20s. No regrets on this disproportionate amount of ‘sustenance’ spending.
Maybe dating deserves its own category?
Daily Living – $0
No spending in my daily living category for the month. No Amazon purchases, no clothing purchases. Zilch!
Entertainment – $167
This is where the fun begins:
Alcohol – $0
Entertainment – $106
Gambling – $4140
Lodging – $206
Memberships – $6
One big ticket item this month, BESIDES recklessly gambling over $4000 on a political prediction website, was 2 hotel stays at the wedding I went to. Two nights at $100 adds up quick.
The biggest event of the month was attending an NFL game with my brother. Good times. My team won!
Additionally, I ended up bowling twice in December
Total Entertainment expenses: $4458 (pretty much all reckless gambling)
Misc Expenses – $78
Wedding Gift – $75
Political donations – $3
Luckily, my family isn’t into too into gift giving, so I typically don’t participate in the typical holiday season purchasing hysteria. Instead, I help with cooking and cleaning when we’re all hanging out.
Monthly Deficit – $3281
We’re even more in the red compared to last month. My money hasn’t magically disappeared, but I’m heavily invested in Pete Buttigieg winning at least one of the early state primaries. I doubled down significantly compared to last month’s gambling recklessness, and it shows here on my expense report.
Again, I gambled at a rate of $55,000 per year, $150 per day. I’m actively aware of how stupid I’m being, but the rational side of me is not able to override the emotional part of my brain, looking for a ‘big win’.
December savings rate: -108%
December Purchase of the Month:
The pizza and beer I had with a gal on a wonderful first date…that’s led to a second date 🙂
