Take a look at my balance sheet for year-end 2005 if you haven’t already, then read below for my income statement. How much did I spend this year? The chart below shows my expenses December 2004, 2004 total, November 2005, December 2005, and 2005 total for a number of comparisons. Let’s take a look…
Last year’s income didn’t break down into the details this year’s did, but income from my day job went up, but only barely. Last year I was a teacher for part of the year, earning a bigger base salary than I earn now in the corporate world. Nevertheless, I came out ahead this year.
Since I used Microsoft Money in 2004 and Quicken in 2005, some transaction were categorized differently, so it makes more sense to look at the big picture. Thankfully my savings increased this year over last, but I’ll need to cut back my expenses in 2006. I’ll be moving out of my apartment in June or July, and I won’t be in the position to purchase a house, and it’s likely my rent will increase. This is a reality I’m going to have to deal with and I’ll need to make up for the added expense by reducing something else.
Updated February 7, 2012 and originally published January 2, 2006. If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the RSS feed or receive daily emails. Follow @flexo on Twitter and visit our Facebook page for more updates.
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Luke Landes founded Consumerism Commentary in 2003 and has been building online communities since 1990. Luke, also known as Flexo, has contributed to PC World Magazine, US News, Forbes, and other publications. 
