3 Money Mistakes I Made in 2022 That I Refuse to Repeat in 2023

Here's hoping I'll clean up my financial act in the new year.

I have a good friend who's a doctor but never follows up on medical issues when he should. And I have another friend who's a chef but picks up McDonald's three nights a week.

My point? Just because we do something professionally doesn't mean we always use that to our benefit. And I'm including myself in that category.

I write about a range of topics, but I do a lot of writing about personal finance, savings, and budgeting. You'd think that because of that, I'd be in a good position to avoid certain financial mistakes that others may be more apt to fall victim to.

Nope. This year, I made a few big money mistakes that I'm not too happy about. And so I'm hoping to avoid a repeat in 2023. Here are the blunders I wish I would've steered clear of.

1. Not budgeting enough for home repairs

In 2021, my downstairs air conditioner broke on the hottest day of the year, forcing me to come up with thousands of dollars for a new one overnight. At the start of 2022, I was inclined to add more money into my budget for home repairs, but then I said to myself, "Nah, what's the likelihood of something major breaking again?"

Well, look who ate her words. This past summer, my upstairs air conditioner went kaput. And the cost to replace it was even higher thanks to inflation.

Thankfully, I had money in my emergency fund to cover that repair, so I was able to dip into my savings rather than rack up credit card debt. But I should've budgeted more money for home repairs, and when I sit down to create my 2023 budget, you can bet that I'll be padding that line item.

2. Allowing myself too many impulse buys at the supermarket

I'm not the type of person who's tempted by clothing, handbags, or shoes. Nope -- I'm tempted by food.

I love everything from fancy cheeses to high-end chocolates to seasonal items that are loaded with pumpkin and peppermint (not at the same time). As such, over the past year, I've spent a lot of money on impulse purchases at the grocery store. But at times, I definitely went overboard.

Last winter, I treated myself to a large box of fancy chocolates -- only to realize, upon putting it away, that I had several boxes of truffles waiting for me in my pantry. I'm not saying I won't make any impulse food purchases in 2023 -- but I hope to make fewer.

3. Not allocating enough money for healthcare

Healthcare is a big expense for a lot of families. And this year, it was an even bigger expense for mine because my son started his orthodontic treatment (which insurance really doesn't cover much of). Only instead of allocating extra money to cover that treatment, I kept that line item in my budget the same as it was in 2021, even though I knew to anticipate that extra cost.

That was just plain silly. And so when I put together my new budget for 2023, I definitely plan to shift things around. Unfortunately, I'll probably have to reduce my spending in the categories I find most fun, like leisure and vacations. But we all do what we have to do.

Nobody's perfect, and even though I give out financial advice on the internet all the time, I don't always do a great job of following it myself. But now that I'm putting these blunders out there, it will hopefully serve as motivation to clean up my act for 2023.