Due to being a boring guy in his mid-30s circumstances outside of my control, I spent New Year’s Eve reviewing 2024’s financials instead of partying at Time’s Square.

To be fair, I was invited to a party, I’ve just been sick and love a good excuse to stay home while people practice drunk driving. Please don’t be them.

Okay chat, here’s how things shook out:

• The S&P 500 ended up ~23% on the year.
• 143 out of the 252 trading days were positive.
• Bitcoin finally topped $100k before dipping back to the low 90s.
• NVIDIA defied all expectations every single quarter and gained 179%.
• Tariffs and expiring tax cuts threaten the investor class across the board.
• Year over year inflation landed at about 2.75%. A massive drop from the 2022 world of 8%.
• Median wage growth is still above pre-pandemic levels, and lower income earners benefited slightly better on a percent basis compared to middle and upper class earners.
• Due to low supply, the national median home price climbed to $429,971, taking home ownership further out of reach for more and more Americans.
• The Kansas City Chiefs became the first back-to-back Superbowl champs in 20 years (and will soon be handing the title over to the Detroit Lions).
• Readers of PoorChoices.org continued to experience financial success like no other demographic in modern times.
• In a true feat of human strength, I went to the gym 153 times according to the Planet Fitness app. However, in a sad turn of events, I also got Whooping Cough and have been coughing for the last 60 days straight.
• Finally, to finish out the year, my Apple Watch tells me I fell asleep at exactly 9:50PM on New Year’s Eve.

Some more highlights:

My biggest categories of spending (excluding savings contributions):

Notes:
*Career = career coaching which I started recently and find to be very valuable.
**Our one big planned vacation got canceled last-minute due to an injury so vacation spending was lower than previous years.
***We added a third cat to the household with some unexpected vet bills. Pets are typically a smaller % of our total spending.

My monthly savings after taxes and retirement contributions:

My net worth over the last decade:

These are the types of basic personal finance metrics you should be tracking if you want a clear picture of your financial health.

Most people have no idea where their money actually goes. They tend to pay their bills, go on a vacation once or twice per year, and spend what’s left over on clothes, dining out, and their favorite hobbies.

I like tracking what I earn, save, and spend on a monthly basis. I’ve been doing it for the past 12 years and so I always have an accurate snapshot of my finances. It takes almost no effort at all these days. The biggest challenge for most people is remembering to do it. I just get receipts from stores and put them on my desk. I then add them to a simple spreadsheet every few days whenever I turn on my computer.

Give it a try. You might be surprised to see how much of your money goes to books you’ll never read, cat litter, and furniture you hate the minute you finish setting it up. No? Just me? Oh well.

And here are a few of my favorites from 2024, unrelated to finances:

Most read article on PoorChoices.org: How I Graduated College with Zero Debt and a New Car (And How You Can Too)
Spoiler alert: it’s not sexy but it works.

Best podcast: Animal Spirits
Michael and Ben have been at the top of my podcast list for years. They combine the humor of Larry David, the everyday challenges of suburban fatherhood, and the ups and downs of the stock market in a can’t-miss weekly show.

Best TV show: The Legend of Vox Machina on Amazon Prime
Vox Machina was a total surprise for my wife and I. It’s based on the Dungeons and Dragons podcast “Critical Role”. The art is stunning, the character arcs are believable, and the tension is high. There are cliff-hangers, but every episode is incredibly satisfying.

Best business book: The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto
If you write for business (emails, strategy docs, or even marketing material), I highly encourage you to get this book. Barbara Minto taught McKinsey consultants how to write for years before publishing this book. I never knew how much the quality of my writing could be improved by simple structure and format changes. Better writing helps your audience understand you and, therefore, helps you get things done.

Best self-improvement book: Stop Thinking and Start Living by Richard Carlson
I’ve always liked the simple way Richard Carlson writes. This book makes the case that you can’t feel an emotion without thinking something first. And thinking is not a necessity. Thoughts can come and go without you thinking further about them. This is a game changer for anyone with a pessimistic or anxious disposition like me. There are evolutionary reasons most of our thoughts are negative, but we needn’t give them so much space to run our lives.

Best fiction book: The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
If you enjoyed Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Mistborn, or Eragon, you will love The Farseer Trilogy. It’s classic fantasy adventure at its finest. The writing is shockingly simple and beautiful. I often catch myself re-reading sentences wondering how the author came up with such a satisfying arrangement of words.

Best video game: Octopath Traveler II
I normally don’t play pixelated games, often opting for the 21st century graphics of games like Grand Theft Auto or God of War. But I’m so glad I gave Octopath Traveler II a chance. It’s a combination of the combat mechanics of Final Fantasy 7, the random encounters of Pokemon, and the storytelling quality of Red Dead Redemption 2. Its art style is unique and the soundtrack never gets old. I poured 70 hours of game time into Octopath this year and loved every second of it.

Here’s to a new year of Poor. Choices.