Annual Spending Review - 2015

It's that time of the year, yet again....  I know there's still a few days to go until the end of the year, but I'm highly unlikely to spend anything further unless the ground dries up sufficiently to get a game of golf in on Wednesday afternoon...

Here's a breakdown of where all the money went in 2015, and compared to the previous two years' spending ... click for a larger image.

The columns are ranked highest-to-lowest from left-to-right, based on the 2015 spend.   Basic ground rules are generally as last year's post, and a few points of note are listed below :-

• As I said last year, our second house that was previously a significant burden was sold at the end of May 2014, so spending on it has now disappeared altogether.

• In cash terms, 'House No 1' bills were up 13.4% in 2015, and I'm not really sure why - it could just be the timing of the heating oil tank fills, although there were increases in both the council tax and the water rates.

• 'Groceries and Alcohol' doesn't reflect the total household spending, only my own.  My wife usually picks up the tab at the supermarkets when we do our major food shops every other week or so.  I pay all the other household bills except for the broadband. 

• Spending on 'Holidays & Travel' appears to be lower this year, but the flights and hotel for the holiday we had in January 2015 were actually paid for in December 2014 and so this was reflected in last year's column.

• 'Gambling' spending in 2015 was only a third of that of 2014 - one big win on the horses in early November is the reason....

• 'Tobacco' spending was again lower this year, generally due to stocking up abroad when on holidays and business trips.

• 'Clothes' spending was up 250% over last year - I bought a couple of jackets when on a business trip to London.  I'd been looking out for these types of jacket for years, but couldn't find anything I liked locally.

• Spending on the 'Garden' this year was up 395% on 2014 - the new shed and the landscaping at the bottom of the back garden accounted for a significant part of this.

• The 'Miscellaneous' category has increased by 253% over 2014, mainly because this year I've started to play golf again regularly, after a break of around 13 years.  Next year, I might split the golf out into a separate category... 

In cash terms, the total '...spend...' was 0.8% more this year than in 2014, but that includes the 'Savings & Investments' category which increased by 7.7%.

Finally, a very Happy New Year to all...