Statistics

I know you both have been waiting with great anticipation for this.

Last year I began to gather some statistical data about my spending to see if there was any areas of imbalance or excess.
The goal/plan was to adjust "things" if such a problem presented itself.
Well, the results are in, and here they are.

In my total budget spending the categories break out like this:

24.87% House (mortgage)
17.47% Alimony
14.57% Visa
11.73% Food
6.88% My stuff - tools, wood, stain, CDs, DVDs, electronics, toys, etc.
5.91% Utilities
5.73% Phone/internet/cable
4.90% Insurance - car, house.
4.56% Church offerings
3.69% Donations - to church and individuals, Rescue Mission, veterans groups, etc.
2.54% Car Gas
2.12% Medical/dental
2.08% Travel - one trip to Oklahoma, and one trip to Ohio campmeeting.
2.07% Car repair
2.06% Eat out
1.77% Other
0.86% Clothes
0.76% House maintenance

It is possible that some items in My Stuff are duplicated in Visa because I buy much of my toys on the internet.
I am still working on a system to better isolate Visa payments from other categories so they are not entered twice.

I also did a detailed analysis of my food shopping in 2009.
This was also to see where the bulk of my food dollar went.
Here are the results:

6.43% Milk, gallon
5.25% Beef, steak
3.79% Bread
3.63% Turkey breast, sliced
3.54% Eggs
3.44% Nuts, cashews
3.14% Tuna
3.13% Protein bars
2.84% Chicken
2.67% Apples
2.38% Nuts, peanuts
2.05% Hamburger beef
2.01% Salad/slaw
2.01% Ice cream
1.91% Soup
1.90% Cheese
1.72% Glutamine
1.68% Peanut butter
1.32% Beef, pot roast
1.10% Bananas
1.09% Cottage cheese
1.03% Lettuce
0.93% Various other
0.90% Bell Pepper
0.90% Milk, half-gallon
0.89% Jam
0.89% Salad dressing
0.81% Relish
0.69% Canned fruit
0.63% Spices
0.63% Turkey breast, whole
0.56% Bacon
0.56% Cookies
0.53% Buns
0.42% Oatmeal
0.38% Crackers
0.38% Chili
0.37% Spaghetti, canned
0.29% Orange juice
0.26% Steak sauce
0.26% Celery
0.25% Mustard/mayonnaise
0.24% Chips
0.21% Root beer
0.20% Tamales, canned
0.18% Butter
0.15% Sweet potatoes
0.12% Sausage
0.12% Cooking oil
0.09% Cornbread stuffing
0.09% Onions
0.06% Carrots
0.06% Rice
0.04% Tomatoes
0.04% Pork & beans
0.04% Potatoes
0.03% Worcestershire sauce

It is interesting, but not surprising, that many of the top items on my grocery list are high protein foods.
You can also see that I am not a big vegetable eater.
Of course, even if one was, carrots are cheaper than meat.

The good news for you vegetarians is that as GLOBAL WARMING! gets worse and worse, the warmer temperatures will make the vegetables grow faster and bigger. ("greenhouse effect")
This will also make hay and pasture feed more abundant for the cows, so they will get bigger also.
But, this will be offset by the federal tax on cow farts, which will make meat more expensive.
I am watching these trends closely.

In God we trust.
.