I think I am going to do a tracking spending month. A little late to the table, with it already being the 10th... But I think it's just a good way to dive back into the minutiae and to get some more regular blogging.
In the end, our 2019 spending was the same as 2020. We are boring like that. We did actually spent $8,000 less in 2020, but the only reason was because we paid cash for braces (x2) in 2019. Random one-time large expenses aside, we spent the same both years.
That said, we are just driving on electric miles these days and are mostly hunkered down (COVID surge is crazy here). So... It should be a lot more no-spend and/or lower spend than our usual.
Other random things I want to jot down before diving into expenses...
DL(15) did get his braces off. Woohoo!
MM(17) finished his college applications.
We received $50 cash (from in-laws) for Xmas, to do take out from our favorite restaurant. The kids' also each received $50 cash. I rounded up all the $50 today. I haven't gone to any bank since the start of the pandemic (and probably the only reason I would ever go in the first place is to deposit cash). But I think once this surge passes it will be worth getting some of our cash deposited. (I just don't want to forget. For now, I put the cash away and will probably forget about it otherwise).