Well this is going back a ways — I’m writing this in Jan 2022 — but for consistency, I better catch up to two years ago. If you’ll recall, 2020 was the beginning of COVID, and I found myself in Mexico City right as it started.
I had flown down to Mexico City at the end of January, having just blown my book deadline and got ready to settle into a few months in CDMX to study Spanish. There was a quick layover there followed by a weekend or so in Brazil, and then it was Mexico City from February until July, when I returned to the States for a not-so-safe birthday party in the Bay Area.
After that, it was quarantine time in San Diego, and I had my cousin and her roommate from San Francisco living with me from maybe October and on for a full on quarantine house. As you will see, the trajectory of my spending reflects all this greatly.
- Jan: $3,250
- Feb: $2,750
- Mar: $2,500
- Apr: $1,500
- May: $750
- Jun: $1,000
- Jul: $1,250
- Aug: $3,500
- Sep: $3,500
- Oct: $3,000
- Nov: $3,000
- Dec: $4,500
I averaged about $2,500 of variable expenses a month, with the initial COVID months in Mexico City being far lower than normal. And then from August and on, my spending spiked dramatically, culminating in a huge December, which included $500 spent on skins for my newly formed League of Legends team — more on that later.
My general take is that I was supporting a fuller household, but it’s also possible I was just buying a lot of stuff for both home and regular old shopping. Making up for lost pandemic time I suppose?
Incredibly, in May, which was probably super lock-down, I made only thirty-one entries in the Expenses spreadsheet and came in at about $800 for the month — somehow still going over on “dining” but so be it. That will be a record that stands, I believe, unless we enter into quarantine again I suppose.
Our four big categories:
- 🥐 Food: $14,500
- 🏏 Shopping: $11,500
- 🪂 Play: $3,500
- ✈️ Transportation: $1,500
That all adds up to $31k in variable expenses, $33k in fixed expenses, and then $16.5k in annual expenses. That’s $80.5k for the year — slightly above 2019 — so add the tax back in and I’m back over a $100k lifestyle again. Even in a COVID year where we literally were not allowed to go anywhere!
As for the house, the big buys were a smart garage door for my house ($1,600), heating repair ($300), and an Uplift standing desk ($1,000) that will hopefully transform my working life forever.
And then there were the trips: I stayed in an Airbnb in Mexico City for February and March, totaling $3,000 or so. And then in July I was up in the Bay for a birthday weekend ($600), and finally had a week or so in Los Angeles at the end of the year ($1,600). In sum, I spent about $6,000 on “accommodations.”
There were also about $2,000 in flights, of which the majority was spent a trip to Brazil in February for my friend’s wedding. There wasn’t much flying, of course, due to COVID, so it was just one or two flights to and from Mexico City.
However, in 2020 I really sunk into the game and met some friends online, started a clan, started playing in amateur competitive leagues, and here we go. In 2020, I spent a whopping $1,700 on Riot Points, which I justified as LOL being my new hobby and replacing all the “play” I wasn’t going out and doing in the world. Needless to say, I am now making a tracking tag for “LOL” next year.
Also of note was how close “cigarettes” and “play” was, and how incredibly low movies and karaoke was. Times change don’t they? We can hope that 2021 leads to more life outdoors and in the world but since I'm writing this from the future, I can tell you that pandemic time stretches on another six months past the end of 2020... and maybe even further. So we'll head right into 2021 after this!
Thanks 2020, you saved me lots of money by keeping me in, but also spent lots of money by making me stay put?! I dunno!
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