Spending Visualizations — Revised Single-Income Analysis
Revised charts reflecting single-income reality: $11,282/mo income, $24,803/mo spend, $13,521 deficit. Updated category breakdowns and the 'Other' mystery bucket.
The Big Picture
Income has dropped to $11,282/mo (wife stopped working). Baseline spend is $24,803/mo. That’s a −$13,521 deficit — spend is 2.2x income.
Monthly Income vs Baseline Expenses (Jul 2025 – May 2026)
Old charts show the dual-income era. In the new reality, the income line is a flat $11,282 while expenses stayed where they were.
Top Expense Categories (% of Income)
| Category | Monthly | % of Income | Annualised |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Shopping | $3,594 | 31.9% | $43,128 |
| Other (Unmatched) | $3,020 | 26.8% | $36,240 |
| Home Loan Repayment | $2,500 | 22.2% | $30,000 |
| Uber Eats | $2,123 | 18.8% | $25,476 |
| Strata | $1,789 | 15.9% | $21,468 |
| Bunnings | $1,413 | 12.5% | $16,956 |
| Babysitting | $1,280 | 11.3% | $15,360 |
| Vet (Maribyrnong) | $1,158 | 10.3% | $13,896 |
| Amazon | $1,083 | 9.6% | $12,996 |
| Woolworths | $948 | 8.4% | $11,376 |
| Apple Subscriptions | $899 | 8.0% | $10,788 |
Spend exceeds income in 10 categories individually. Uber Eats alone is 18.8% of take-home. Shopping + Unmatched + Uber Eats = 77.5% of income.
“Other (Unmatched)” — What’s Hiding There
The $3,020/mo “Other” bucket is the residual from the 4564 credit card that my classifier couldn’t match. Here’s the steady-state monthly trend:
| Month | Other Spend | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 25 | $5,441 | Peak — annual fees + one-offs |
| Aug 25 | $2,758 | |
| Sep 25 | $2,039 | |
| Oct 25 | $1,859 | |
| Nov 25 | $3,020 | |
| Dec 25 | $3,449 | Holiday period |
Typical run-rate: $2,000–$3,000/mo.
Known merchants hiding in “Other”:
| Merchant | Total | Likely Category |
|---|---|---|
| Costco Wholesale | $720 | Bulk grocery/shopping |
| Fairfeed | $547 | Food delivery? |
| YouFoodz | $539 | Food delivery |
| Erin Scarlett Pilates | $500 | Fitness |
| Annual Fee (card) | $740/yr | Bank fee |
| VicRoads | $627 | Car rego (one-off) |
| Longrain | $1,179 | Dining (one-off) |
| GetYourGuide | $633 | Travel (one-off) |
The genuinely recurring items here (Costco, Fairfeed, YouFoodz, Pilates) add maybe $600–$700/mo to the baseline.
Uber Eats — The Biggest Lever
Uber Eats Monthly Spend (Oct 2024 – May 2026)
$2,123/mo on delivery food is 18.8% of income. This is the single biggest discretionary cut available. Even halving it would close ~8% of the deficit.
Grocery Spend Breakdown
Grocery Spend Breakdown by Store (Jul 2025 – May 2026)
Woolworths ($948/mo) + Coles ($284/mo) + Indian/Asian groceries = $1,232/mo on groceries. That’s reasonable for a family — not the problem.
Monthly Spend Breakdown
Monthly Spend Breakdown by Category (Jul 2025 – May 2026)
The stacked view shows which categories are truly recurring vs intermittent spikes:
- Uber Eats: steady $1,000–2,000/mo
- Shopping (Amazon/Bunnings): $1,000–4,000/mo, intermittent
- Apple Subs: consistent $700–1,000/mo
- Telstra/Internet: fixed ~$320/mo
One-Offs (Excluded)
| One-Off | Total |
|---|---|
| House Settlement | $2,502,036 |
| House Deposit | $164,501 |
| Car Purchase | ~$60K |
| Renovations (Elec/Heat/Floor/Misc/Plumb) | ~$58K |
| Holiday (Lapland/London/NZ Nov 24–Jan 25) | ~$37K |
| Rent (pre-move) | $30,180 |
Action Plan to Close the Deficit
The deficit is −$13,521/mo. Here’s where cuts would have the most impact:
- Uber Eats ($2,123/mo) — Halving to $1,000 saves $1,123/mo
- Shopping ($3,594/mo) — Amazon $1,083 + Bunnings $1,413 are the bulk. Cut to $2,000 saves $1,594/mo
- Other/Unmatched ($3,020/mo) — Needs manual review to trim $1,000/mo
- Apple Subscriptions ($899/mo) — Audit what’s billed here
- Babysitting ($1,280/mo) — Reduce frequency from 4x/mo
Combined cuts of ~$5,000/mo would bring deficit to ~$8,500. More aggressive cuts of ~$8,000/mo get it to ~$5,500. Need to cut spend by ~55% just to break even.
Updated 2026-05-29. Single income, $2,500 loan repayment, deficit analysis added.