January 2026 Expenses
I review our finances at the end of every month. This post is focused on the expenses. I am curious to see how our January 2026 expenses compare to our January 2025 expenses and if we are sticking to our 2026 goals. Categories and differences are explained below the table.
Category
2026
2025
Change
Mortgage
$2,029.35
$2,252.90
-$223.55
Insurance
$557.61
$476.59
+$81.02
Household Maintenance
$256.12
$1,417.22
-$1,161.10
Property Taxes
-
-
-
Utilities
$357.69
$349.79
+$7.90
Cell Phones
$90.40
$90.40
-
Internet
$101.69
$63.26
+$38.43
Car Payment
$425.06
$425.06
-
Car Maintenance
$21.55
-
+$21.55
Streaming
$245.18
$25.98
+$219.20
Food
$465.41
$479.07
-$13.66
Fuel
$495.30
$518.73
-$23.43
Kids
$1,128.67
$1,595.80
-$467.13
Restaurants
$649.25
$355.43
+$293.82
Banking Fees
$7.83
$9.70
+$1.87
Fun Money
$725.40
$145.62
-$579.78
Clothing
$29.87
$79.04
+$49.17
Personal Care
$549.91
$153.62
+$396.29
Alcohol
$215.55
$319.25
-$103.70
Gifts
$267.41
$73.23
+$194.18
TOTAL
$8,830.69
$8,619.25
-$211.44
Let's explore what each category includes and some reasons for changes:
- Mortgage - we are on a variable rate and the interest rates went down in the past year.
- Insurance - insurance rates went up and we added a third vehicle.
- Household maintenance - our dishwasher broke in January 2025 and flooded our kitchen. We had to get a new dishwasher and repair the subfloor and floor.
- Property taxes - we pay property taxes quarterly. Next payment is in February. Small increase is expected.
- Utilities - gas, water and electricity.
- Cell phones - no changes
- Internet - our promotional rate expired. I called the provided and was able to get a small reduction. This is the lowest fiber cost in the area.
- Car payment - no changes
- Car maintenance - lots of windshield fluid needed this year. Record low temperatures and snow.
- Streaming - no changes to our streaming habits. Our January 2025 streaming costs were temporarily reduced thanks to gift cards. In January 2026, we paid for an annual Disney+ subscription.
- Food - expenses are roughly about the same.
- Fuel - about the same.
- Kids - we were still paying for daycare in January 2025. This cost also includes child-related purchases like clothing, healthcare, etc. Although daycare expenses went down, our eldest wanted to have a birthday party with lots of kids in January 2026.
- Restaurants - we spent New Year's at my parents and paid for a couple of meals for 7 people. Otherwise, costs would have been around $350 lower.
- Banking fees - a mix of interest rate payments on credit line transactions for a few days, fees for e-transfers and certified cheque fees.
- Fun money - coffee, books, games, etc. Small daily purchases and fun expenses. Unfortunately my wife got a large speeding ticket this year.
- Clothing - this is only for adult clothes. Kids' clothing is covered under the "kids" category.
- Personal care - self-explanatory. I had some dental work done this year and had to pay 20% of the fee out of pocket.
- Alcohol - self-explanatory
- Gifts - self-explanatory. We had to attend a few more birthdays this year.
Not bad. A reduction of $211.44 in expenses.
