Mint.com and My Year-Over-Year Progress

I'm the first to admit that I fail when it comes to acing the test on smart shopper and saver. Over the past two years I've grown wiser and more careful with my purchases, but I'll splurge more often than not.

That's why it's especially rewarding to use the Mint.com trends tool to compare my spending habits month and, even more importantly, year to year.

Using the tends tool, I can easily see how much I spent in any 12 month period.

From June 2007 to June 2008, I spent $37,455. That was when I was making about $35k for the whole year, mind you.

In the past 12 months, from Jan of 2008 to the end of Jan of 2009, I've spent $30,523. My income has gone up and my spending has dropped over $7k. I am very proud of this and hope I can continue on my not-so-frugal living within my means path.

Looking at 2008, I spent $29,916 total. The biggest expense over this year was "home," with $10,553 going to rent and moving expenses.

2008 Spending Chart

Home: $10,553
($879 a month)

Shopping: $4,633
($386 a month)

Food: $2,734
($228 a mont)

Auto/Gas: $2,211
($184 a month)

Entertainment: $1,969
($164 a month)

Bills: $1,737
($144.75 a month)

Gifts: $331
($27 a month)

Business Services(?): $399
($33 a month)

Education: $560
($46 a month)

Travel: $1269
($106 a month)

Health & Fitness: $1,660
($138 a month)

Fees: $238
($20 a month)

Uncategorized: $1,048