Up: Yearly expenses.

These numbers are yearly totals, with occasionally monthly averages provided. This is for a single-person household. Numbers are rounded for convenience.

The total is about € 30 700.

Essentials

Rent: € 16 620, or about € 1384/month. This is more than I’d like.

Rundfunkbeitrag: € 215.

Electricity: € 808. This is slightly lower than in 2021, oddly.

Internet: € 607. This is less than 2021, because in 2021 I had two ISPs. My current employer reimburses my Internet costs.

Health insurance: € 406. This is the amount I had to pay out of pocket for my insurance, due to unemployment. Exactly the same as last year.

Insurances (excluding health insurance): € 360. This includes home contents insurance, legal insurance, and liability insurance. Exactly the same as last year.

Backup: € 60.

Phone plan: € 140.

1Password: € 42. Yep, I consider this an essential expense.

YNAB (You Need A Budget): € 103. I consider this an essential expense because it’s so ingrained in the way I deal with finances that I do not want to get rid of it.

Food

Groceries: € 2700, or about € 225/month.

Eating out: € 1480, or about € 123/month.

Giving

Donations: € 1270. This is up from 2021, but unemployment uncertainty and the need to be ready to financially support the family keeps this low.

Creator support: € 90. This is Patreon and the like.

Quality

These are expenses that are optional, but increase my quality of living.

Amazon Prime: € 69. As much as I would like to not give Amazon money, it’s a highly convenient service, and provides part of my entertainment as a Netflix alternative.

BahnCard: € 57.

Tenant association: € 108.

Dynadot: € 350. That looks like a lot, but it includes long-term renewals for domains I know I want to keep for a very long time.

Clothing: € 330. This is still quite low. I’ve got too many clothes for my wardrobe. I’ll think I wear some out (and throw some out) before buying more.

Education: € 70. This is books and the like. It does not include the plenty of books I bought which my employer reimburses..

Home improvement: € 178. This includes some new kitchen equipment, including a very good chef’s knife.

Household: € 350. This is a bit of a grab bag of various bits and pieces like tooth brushes, coffee filters, washing machine descaler, etc.

Medical: € 160. This includes physiotherapy, as well as medication and purchasing FFP2 masks.

Software: € 73. Various bits of software that I wanted or needed. Highlights are Byword and iStat Menus.

Transportation: € 123. Most of that is a new bag for my Brompton bike, and the occasional public transportation trip.

Electronics: € 172. This is replacing two broken hard drives.

Fun

These are expenses just for fun — primarily entertainment and holidays.

Computer replacement: € 1960. I bought the MacBook Air M2, which I am very happy with.

Gaming PC upgrade: € 676. New motherboard and new CPU, which made a world of a difference.

Convenience: € 9. I took a taxi once. I also took exactly one taxi last year.

Creativity: € 106. That’s mostly my Font of the Month Club subscription.

Netflix: € 77. I stopped my subscription mid 2022.

Curiosity Stream + Nebula: € 24.

Holidays: € 275. This covers my trip to Belgium.

Entertainment: € 636, or about € 53/month. This includes games, books, films/series, and music albums.