I've done my annual expense tracking a few days early.

Below are ALL my 2008 expenses, ranked by amount. I'm happy to report that my efforts at "cost containment" really paid off this year. There were 11 categories where I spent LESS than last year and just 4 where I spent MORE than last year, and two of these were no surprise: fuel oil and gas for my car. I spent about the same in 10 categories.

Mortgage & property taxes: $18,480
This includes about $5,100 in prepayments.)

Food: $2,522
Through careful buying, I was able to spend 6% LESS than I spent in 2007, despite rising food costs. I pulled back on buying organic, not completely, but just focusing my organic purchases on the most heavily sprayed produce, like soft berries, apples, pears, lettuce, and tomatoes.

Expanded brick patio: $2,170
I hope it was worth it. I like it, but that WAS a lot of $$$.

Healthcare (includes out of pocket and monthly premiums): $2,008
I spent 17% less than I did in 2007, despite my struggle last spring/summer with Lyme Disease.

2 trees cut down: $1,564

Fuel oil (and a cleaning): $1,443
This is a 34% increase from last year, not surprising at all...

Chimney liner: $1,225

IRS: $1,183
This is in addition to federal taxes taken from my paychecks. It's what i owed on freelance income.

Gas: $1,171
This is a 56% increase from last year, when I had no commute and prices were much cheaper.

Car upkeep: $1,095
This is about the same as I spent last year on a 9-year-old car. A lot of $, but still far cheaper than buying a new car.

Homeowners insurance: $856
(About the same as last year.)

Replacement window: $830

General house maintenance: $822
This is 80% less than last year, when I had the exterior painted.

Electric: $740
By conserving energy, I was able to spend 11% less than last year. I chalk it up to turning lights off when I'm leaving a room and not using the big oven much anymore AND line-drying my clothes all summer long.

Sewers: $718
This is a usage fee plus payment toward the sewer treatment plan that was constructed 10 years ago. I'll eventually not have to pay the big $600 annual fee.

State taxes: $698
This was what I owed from my freelance work. It hardly seems worthwhile when you see one-third of your freelance income paid back in state and federal taxes.

Clothing: $632
I was able to spend 14% less than last year.

Phone/Internet: $616
I'm not sure why, but I spent 14% less than last year! I did get a small discount on my monthly bill from AT&T.

Cat: $444

Dining out: $398
This represents about 15% more than last year. I'm a little surprised, but I think that this reflects rising prices for eating out, not an increase in my eating out.

Auto insurance: $378
About the same as last year. I dropped collision a while back and take a safe driver course every 3 years to get a discount.

Toiletries/vitamins: $332

Gardening: $327
I spent 35% less than last year. I think last year I spent money on expensive bird feeders as the squirrels always destroy them. I also didn't feed the birds over the summer as I have in the past.

Entertainment: $259
About the same as last year.

Gifts: $223
About the same as last year.

Cable TV: $193
Same.

Water: $189
A small overall expense, but it was still 22% more than last year, so I'll have to be more careful.

Borough taxes: $163

Jewelry: $163

Birds: $98

Car tax: $89

Dump sticker: $80

Subscriptions: $66

Vacation: $32

Books/music: $18
I'm spending so little in this category I'll probably just eliminate it as a standalone category.

Total spent: $44,141

If you're not tracking your expenses, hopefully you'll see just a little of the interesting analysis you can do once you track every expense. I can see how I'm doing in absolute terms, but also in comparison to how I spent in the previous year, and where I'm spending more or less.