What do they have in common besides Christmas? Well, the culprit is at the top of the list.

$2324.17 : Property Taxes
$922.22 : Day Care
$722.57 : Christmas Presents
$498.72 : Mortgage
$350.99 : Gasoline
$310.00 : Cash
$225.39 : Auto Insurance
$201.86 : Electricity
$138.11 : Cable/Internet
$134.68 : Natural Gas
$71.74 : Business Expenses
$68.29 : Finance Charges
$40.08 : Life Insurance
$21.27 : Cell Phone
$13.02 : Wicked Cool T-Shirt
$12.00 : Hockey Tickets

That totals $6055.11.

For those that haven’t read super closely in the past — and I would never expect you to — the lines in red are infrequent or unusual expenses.

When you omit them, my spending starts to look a lot more reasonable. Sadly, though, it takes real money to pay for those infrequent or unusual expenses.

Anyway, property taxes come along twice per year. Most folks have the property taxes on their home (along with the insurance) built in to their mortgage so that they never have to worry about them.

When we re-financed back in 2010, though, I opted to take care of those myself so as to ensure a *much* lower monthly mortgage payment.

The downside is that twice a year, I get hit with a HUGE tax bill. It’s okay though — I budget for it.

The only other line worth nothing in this month’s report is the $68.29 in finance charges.

In November, I paid $129.14 in finance charges.

In October, I paid $135.14 in finance charges.

In September, it was $196.20 and prior to that it was over $200. Ouch.

In today’s report, it was just $68.29.

What does this signify?

Well, first, I think it shows that I’m doing an awesome job of achieving my goal for 2012 but also that I’m utilizing all of the options available to me when it comes to credit cards.

Someone is *always* offering an outstanding promo rate.

You just have to have a zero balance (and a high credit limit) on the card that has that rate. I’ve been fortunate to have this occur repeatedly allowing me to make some pretty large purchases (like a $40k renovation) at a difficult-to-believe rate.

Fine — I won’t tap dance around it anymore. I was offered a balance transfer offer that I couldn’t turn down and it’s already saving me money.

Lots of it.

$922.22 : Day Care
$618.97 : Christmas Presents
$501.30 : Business Expenses
$498.72 : Mortgage
$398.65 : Gasoline
$360.00 : Cash
$164.65 : Electricity
$145.57 : School Pictures
$137.78 : Cable/Internet
$129.14 : Finance Charges
$122.82 : Vacation
$114.37 : Water/Sewer
$92.69 : Natural Gas
$85.24 : Groceries
$13.02 : Clothes

That totals $4305.13.

The daycare at the top is really starting to wear on me. That’s actually only half of the total bill as my wife pays the other half (as well as for 99% of the groceries and eating-out expenses.)

I mean, just over two years ago we somehow had nearly $2000 worth of extra disposable income per MONTH?! Now I’m not saying the kids aren’t worth every penny — they are, which is why I want another one — but if you haven’t had kids yet, starting thinking about doing something intelligent with your “extra” money before the kids come along.

I’m just sayin’…

The holiday season is upon us. I almost wanted to wait and combine the November and December spending to showcase how crazy I went with Christmas this year. Christmas was all but cancelled last year following the death of my dad (while decorating for, get this, Christmas).

While trying to remember what the “big” gift for Duncan was last year, I was coming up blank. Reason being, we didn’t get him anything last year. Sure, we had Christmas (there’s even a picture) but it was pretty low key.

Now, with Henrik in the fold (and in the picture at the top of this post), I wanted to make up for it.

Tomorrow morning is going to be smurf-tastic.

Business expenses were high in November too but it was mostly on hardware and equipment, you know, real things that’ll serve a purpose for years to come. Most importantly, I added two terrabytes to my fileserver which is something I’d been dragging my feet on for, well, forever.

School pictures are a rip-off. We even got ripped off worse as they took one picture of both of our kids like it was a 2-for-1 special or something. I’d have much prefered individual sittings, though I suppose then it would have cost me twice as much…

Yes, I still want three.

Vacation in November? Well, sort of. We spent a night in a hotel following our awesome Thanksgiving feast. I’m not usually a fan of big sit-down type meals (burger and fries are more my thing) but there was plenty for me to hunt-and-peck at — and then not have to drive for two hours to get home, well, totally worth the expense.

Honestly, though, seeing my two boys and they’re three cousins running wild for a few hours was worth the room rate all by itself. Can’t wait until they’re all a bit older….

And those pesky finance charges… Argh!?

Well, great news on that front too — it’s going to drop like a rock.

A year ago now, I wrote about Smart Credit Card Strategies and, once again, I’ve followed my own advice and made a wise money move.

After years of being debt free and then suddenly finding myself paying over $200/month in finance charges again (as recently as August) as the 0% offers expired, I’ve transfered the balances again to a more manageable offer where I’ll have the balances paid off in full long before the offers expire.

Just taking advantage of the tools in my wallet…

Yeah, I know, it’s December 24th and I’m just now posting my spending report for the month of October. No excuses.

But worry not! After all these years, my finances are practically on auto-pilot. Occasionally there’s some turbulence but never anything too extreme.

Here are the expenses from October:

$922.22 : Day Care
$498.72 : Mortgage
$450.00 : Auto Insurance
$276.52 : Gas
$271.78 : Clothes
$260.00 : Cash
$150.52 : Electricity
$135.43 : Finance Charges
$131.85 : Groceries
$128.06 : Cable/Internet
$80.16 : Life Insurance
$54.47 : Business Expenses
$49.09 : Natural Gas
$24.75 : Toys
$14.00 : Bank of America Maintenance Fee
$5.00 : Car Wash

That all adds up to $3452.57 which, while high, is the second lowest total all year. Hooray for me!

I’ll spare you the line-by-line analysis since, well, all of this spending occured months ago and there isn’t really anything terribly unusual or hard to comprehend on there…

$922.22 : Day Care
$873.00 : Homeowners Insurance
$498.72 : Mortgage
$450.00 : USCIS
$337.00 : Gas
$360.12 : Business Expenses
$225.95 : Auto Insurance
$196.20 : Finance Charges
$180.00 : Cash
$179.54 : Hockey Jersey
$176.65 : Electricity
$130.00 : Framed Photo
$128.07 : Cable/Internet
$41.92 : Natural Gas
$21.27 : Cell Phone
$6.25 : Airport Parking

Put it all together and that’s $4726.91.

Again, unusual expenses (those in red) killed me this month. Though the fact that I said “again” kinda means they’re not as unusual as I think they are.

Sigh.

The homeowners insurance is a once per year thing. And I knew it was a budget buster. The good news is that I paid the bill in full in September when it isn’t actually due until mid-November.

Spend now instead of later.

For those not in the know — and I’d hardly expect you to be — USCIS is the abbreviation for the US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.

I’ve mentioned a few times on here that I’m not a US Citizen though you’d hardly know it if you ever met me.

Anyway, since all of us immigrants are now supposed enemy combatants or something, the federal government forces us to check in every so often and submit ourselves to an FBI background check while writing them a big fat check to “renew” something that clearly states that it’s “permanent” right up top in CAPITAL letters.

Since I’d rather not be sent to a secret prison in eastern Europe and tortured, that’s all I have to say about that.

But outside of those two big chunky expenses, I think I did a pretty decent job.

Sure, there were still a few purchases that weren’t exactly necessary and the business expenses crept a little high but, all in all, it was a good month.

$1676.51 : Land Rover Repairs
$1345.28 : Vacation
$1220.18 : Business Expenses
$922.22 : Day Care
$724.54 : Gas
$520.00 : Cash
$498.72 : Mortgage
$251.97 : Eyeglasses
$239.45 : Auto Insurance
$200.46 : Finance Charges
$172.50 : Electricity
$170.00 : Dentist
$127.80 : Cable/Internet
$111.33 : Water/Sewer
$93.79 : Dining Out
$45.00 : Eye Doctor
$42.04 : Babies R Us
$40.84 : Clothing
$33.68 : Natural Gas
$28.05 : Toys R Us
$16.00 : Car Wash
$16.00 : Pittsburgh Pirates Tickets

Added up, that’s $8496.36.

August was a tough month. A great month based on the debt repayment end of things but with the car repairs, a vacation, and a dead computer (which cost over $1k to replace), well, it was a costly month too.

Thankfully most of the spending (the colored stuff) isn’t routine or was unusually high.

And, though this report doesn’t show it, I’m headed in the right direction again.

Not this month!

• $2700.03 : Tax Collector
• $922.22 : Day Care
• $821.87 : Hockey Jerseys
• $498.72 : Mortgage
• $282.37 : Gas
• $281.81 : AutoZone (Car Batteries)
• $239.45 : Auto Insurance
• $196.78 : Finance Charges
• $180.00 : Cash
• $172.92 : DVD Player for Car
• $168.31 : Electricity
• $127.80 : Cable/Internet
• $90.00 : Department of Motor Vehicles
• $84.29 : Business Expenses
• $53.16 : Cars 2 Video Game
• $41.51 : Natural Gas
• $38.76 : Clothing

That adds up to $6900.

For the record, I don’t make $6900 in a month.

That’s why this is very bad.

Starting to make a little sense why I’m not ecstatic with my net worth increase, eh?

Property tax is thankfully only a twice per year thing. I’m done until December now.

Day care is what it is — worth it.

That was a last hurrah for the hockey jerseys. It was right at the start of July too — feels like the distant past now. I’ve been more disciplined. I swear.

The gas number seems high but, then again, the Land Rover only gets like 11 miles per gallon and drinks the expensive gas.

The AutoZone trip was very out of character but gained me two more sets of wheels. Totally worth it.

Finance charges make me angry. I’m better than that and I don’t expect them to creep much higher than this before starting to plummet.

The DVD player for the car (for vacation) was a good purchase. When he grew tired of looking out the window, Duncan watched Cars and The Incredibles over and over and over. Best of all, it came with two screens so once Henrik is a bit older, they’ll both be able to watch whatever they’d like.

Another fly in the ointment is the video game purchase. Sure, I *could* say it was for Duncan but it was probably more for me. First video game purchase in years (if you don’t include the upright Punch-Out arcade game that I bought — and still don’t regret.).

Here’s where the money went last month:

• $1747.74 : Day Care
• $1283.70 : AutoBody Shop
• $498.72 : Mortgage
• $362.99 : Gas
• $239.45 : Allstate Insurance
• $200.00 : Hockey Jerseys
• $188.18 : Business Expenses
• $158.21 : Electricity
• $135.00 : Department of Motor Vehicles
• $127.80 : Cable/Internet
• $120.00 : Cash
• $96.36 : Walmart/Target Stuff
• $48.63 : Natural Gas
• $38.64 : Finance Charges
• $21.20 : Cell Phone

Added up, that’s $5266.62.

Seems that I can’t catch a break. Obviously the day care bill is a killer but the car accident certainly didn’t help either.

Take those out of the equation and, well, it’s no so bad.

Unfortunately, though, the day care bill is here to stay…

The kids are worth it, though…

I’m not sure if I’m just getting into one now or if I’m just about to pull out — things are that ticky-tocky…

Plain and simple — the spending is a bit out of control right now but it’s not frivolous (for the most part) so it kind of makes me feel like we’re suddenly in a hole we may not be able to dig out of as fast as I’ve grown accustomed to.

That’s disheartening.

Here’s the spending report for May:

• $570.90 : Business Expenses
• $498.72 : Mortgage
• $462.00 : Day Care Deposit
• $450.95 : Hockey Jerseys
• $317.33 : Curtains
• $258.95 : Gas
• $239.45 : Allstate Insurance
• $178.09 : Electricity
• $127.80 : Cable/Internet
• $120.00 : Cash
• $108.41 : Water/Sewer
• $98.78 : Birthday Presents
• $95.84 : Natural Gas
• $40.77 : Barbeque Sauce
• $26.98 : Henrik Sedin T-Shirt
• $22.47 : Finance Charges
• $5.00 : Car Wash
• $0.25 : Hartford Parking Authority

All together, that’s $3622.69.

Essentially the same as last month but the breakdown is vastly different. See, in April, I spent over $2k on stupid stuff. This month, I didn’t.

It makes me feel as if I’m treading water. It sucks.

The business expenses were high this past month because a lot of things came due all at one — and I pre-paid a few things. Short term pain, really.

The mortgage is a constant.

Day care is new. And it’s going to be a killer. Now that we have two kids in day care, I’m stepping up to the plate and helping pay for it. Previously this was all on my wife’s plate (her finances aren’t included on PIAC which is why you pretty much never see food expenditures listed here — it’s all her). Of course, this was only a deposit to hold a spot for Henrik — the actual bills are far more painful.

Hockey jerseys… Ugh. It’s an on-going battle.

We finally put curtains (eight months after the fact) in our remodeled family, living, and computer rooms. It’s amazing how window treatments can change the feel of a room. It’s also amazing what a rip-off they are.

The next few lines are just the usual utility bills.

Duncan‘s second birthday was in May, so that explains the presents.

The BBQ sauce purchase was from one of my favorite restaurants, Famous Dave’s. Number two, actually. We didn’t actually go to the restaurant — I ordered the sauce online. Totally worth it.

The Vancouver Canucks made it to the Stanley Cup final (and lost), so I bought a t-shirt with Henrik‘s name on it.

Finance charges have returned, obviously, with the balances I’m carrying.

I washed the car one — mostly cause Duncan asked me to.

And 25 cents for parking is a deal.

They’re invaluable because they keep me honest — and I kept the past two months offline because, well, I knew the report wasn’t anything to be proud of.

So I’m just going to come out and say it — April will be my last month of total financial stupidity in 2011. I’m done.

Here are the numbers:

• $1937.90 : Hockey Jerseys
• $498.72 : Mortgage
• $271.65 : Gas
• $239.45 : Allstate Insurance
• $169.01 : Natural Gas
• $163.77 : Electricity
• $126.79 : Cable/Internet
• $79.45 : Business Expenses
• $77.27 : Babies-R-Us
• $44.50 : Toys-R-Us
• $40.00 : Cash
• $10.00 : Car Wash
• $3.00 : Bank of America Check Image Service Fee

Together that’s $3661.51.

Better than March.

Far better than February.

And still completely inexcusable…

I can’t justify the hockey jerseys. They’re a want, not a need. I wanted them and I bought them.

Stupid.

Take them out of the equation and I only spent $1723.

That’s a number I’d be proud of.

The rest is what it is… My auto insurance has climbed with the third vehicle on my policy and I’m obivously spending a lot more on gasoline drving the Land Rover instead of the Scion.

Granted, the gas expenditures in April were extraordinarily high and far from the norm — I can’t deny that the latest car is costing a lot more to operate than I’d expected. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve been getting 40 miles per gallon for years and years and years…

When I finally had the time to sit down and put the numbers together, I was so horrified and ashamed of my findings that I just didn’t want to post them sooooooo…I didn’t.

But here they are now — better late than never.

• $1139.68 : Auto Repair
• $1075.00 : March of Dimes
• $498.72 : Mortgage
• $483.67 : Hockey Jerseys
• $224.87 : Natural Gas
• $210.00 : Credit Card Transaction Fee
• $189.45 : Gas
• $159.14 : Electricity
• $156.35 : Allstate Insurance
• $123.96 : Cable/Internet
• $92.38 : Business Expenses
• $40.00 : Cash
• $23.50 : Cool T-Shirt
• $21.20 : Cell Phone
• $20.91 : Magic Jack
• $10.25 : Airport Parking
• $6.58 : Finance Charges
• $3.00 : Bank of America Check Image Service Fee

Add it all together and you get $4468.66.

The top two expenses are what killed me.

It didn’t take long for me to learn first hand that Land Rovers are, um, incident-prone.

The dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree mid-month and it cost me over a grand to fix it. Something about a green serpent belt (pictured above) and a thermo-something. I don’t know… Take my money and make my car go. Thanks.

Obviously, I’m not a gear head.

The next item doesn’t look like anything to apologize for. Well, in some ways, there is something crooked about the March of Dimes…

Did you know that the mission of the March of Dimes is to cure polio? I’ve never personally met anyone with polio and I’m thinking that it’s probably because there’s been a cure for polio for nearly 60 years now?! The March of Dimes, though, is *still* running strong and collecting money…

What’s up with that?

Okay, okay… Their mission these days to collect money for premature babies or something, and that’s great and all, but this “donation” was really a hockey jersey purchase that I had no business making.

For charity or not, it was still an ill-advised purchase.

The rest of it is pretty self explanatory.

The Credit Card transaction fee was for the convenience check I wrote to myself to pay for the Land Rover back in February.

The cool t-shirt is, well, totally cool. It has Abraham Lincoln fighting Big Foot on it and it’s awesome. I’ve gotten a great reception from the folks in Toddler Room 3 while wearing it.

I found it interesting that we’ve been with MagicJack for an entire year now. I have to say that it’s been one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

We’ve saved so much money and haven’t noticed a difference in service from when we were with AT&T (and paying over $70 per month).

If you’re on the fence about MagicJack, well, get off the fence. It works and it will save you a ton of money. Oh, and telemarketers will never find your number either.

And I don’t really want to talk about it cause it makes me angry but, as expected, Bank of America dinged me with that $3.00 fee again.

Argh?!