If I had to pick one word to describe our personal finance in December, it would be “excessive”. We had one of our best income months of the year, but ended up spending most of it (click on spreadsheet below).

In addition to our paychecks, I received a third “extra” paycheck for $1,775.43. My wife also received another special bonus of ~$500 gross ($280.10 net). We earned a $75 Chase credit card reward, a $25 HSBC credit card reward, sold a speaker for $40, and sold an old bond my wife had for $49. My wife’s $75 reimbursement from her company for cell phone won’t come in until January.

We were the perfect model of consumerism in December. We spent $7,919.80this month on everything ranging from $150 for my resume to $2,100 for a beautiful bracelet for my wife. We spent $361.12 on gifts (I thought we got most of our Christmas shopping done last month, guess not).

Next month should be a typical income month and, God willing, a low expense month. We need to do some catching up to ensure we start 2011 off strong.