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Well, a new financial month has started — reminder: mine runs from the middle of one calendar month to the next — so let’s take a look at my spending for July to August.
Category | Projected | Actual | Difference |
Miscellaneous | 200 | 303.85* | -103.85 |
Home | 100 | 90 | 10 |
Gas | 95 | 66.83 | 28.17 |
Laundry | 17.5 | 19.25* | -1.75 |
Pet | 33.95 | 33.95 | 0 |
Grocery | 180 | 123.02* | 56.98 |
Takeout | 150 | 223.23 | -73.23 |
Beauty | 63.5 | 71.8 | -8.3 |
Personal Care | 40 | 31.34 | 17.32 |
Going Out | 200 | 115.93* | 84.07 |
Healthcare | 700 | 608.31* | 83.03 |
Utilities | 215 | 217.19 | -2.19 |
All categories | 1994.95 | 1904.7 | 90.25 |
Okay, those are the overall numbers, but I’m sure any fellow financial voyeurs out there want to know what went into those amounts.
Asterisks will be explained in each category breakdown
Miscellaneous
Obviously, I went quite a bit over this month. But it was mostly on mundane things.
For example, I hit a sale for the Liquid IV stuff I’ve been using to help stay hydrated. I got more than 90 packets but even on sale that was $84. (Though I went through Mr. Rebates for 6% cash back.)
I also paid for a strapless bra ($28.23) and a very cute little black dress ($32.57) because it’s silly that I had neither one. That said, I’m definitely taking a break on new clothing for a while because it’s added up.
I really wanted to rewatch/show Aaron The Birdcage, so I bought that on Amazon for $5.42, since it was only $1 more than a one-time rental (and it’s one of the few movies I’ll rewatch).
I paid for a month of Netflix ($15.17), but this was the account under Tim’s address. I was letting him have access to the account, since Social Security Disability doesn’t pay much. But for reasons I’m not going to get into, he pissed me off to the point that I took my payment method off the account and reactivated the account under my email address. My new is just for one screen, so I’ll only pay $10.07 moving forward. But both Netflix charges landed in the same financial month this time.
My life insurance ($52.60) also goes into this category. For those wondering, I will be dropping it once I pay off my mortgage, but I want the coverage up until then so that whoever inherits my house won’t have any issue paying my mortgage.
I got $20 cash of the ATM for walking around money.
I also re-upped my AMC Stubs premier membership ($10.86) which gives me a free size upgrade on concessions (and I always buy popcorn at the movies) plus more rewards per dollar spent. It pays for itself, even if I only average one movie a month.
Finally — and the reason for the asterisk — there was $44.93 in saved savings this month. “Saved savings” refers to money that I didn’t have to spend thanks to coupons, sales, store rewards, etc. on things I would’ve bought anyway.
This month that was Extrabux and coupon savings at CVS, iTunes savings since I use gift cards from birthday/holiday presents, savings on two purchases because I used an Amazon GC I got from taking a survey, savings on a drink at trivia because we’d won some bar cash from a previous trivia and savings on gas from grocery store rewards.
Since that money goes back into my savings account — and then gets added to my mortgage payments — I figure it’s deserving of an asterisk.
Home
Nothing super interesting here. There was the $30 for my protection plans on the main house and guest house HVAC units (the plan includes semi-annual cleanings and free service calls) and then I paid $60 for some yardwork.
Gas
I have been driving a lot more since starting my trivia MeetUp group. I am trying to cover multiple parts of the Greater Phoenix metro area — two of which are 20 to 26 miles away from me. So I expected to have to fill up my tank three times this month.
But it looks like I may be able to get away with just two fill-ups most months, so I may lower the projected amount in the future.
Laundry
Each time I do a load of laundry, I put $3.50 into my Washer/Dryer fund. Since the money leaves my main bank account but goes into a savings account, I put an asterisk on this “spending.”
This month, I did half a load extra — that is, things went into the washer but not the dryer — so I went a bit over.
Pet
Josie is a pretty low-maintenance cat, so this month the only charge was her monthly premium on her Banfield Wellness plan.
Groceries
The asterisk here is to remind people that the amount doesn’t include the $80 of protein bars I consume each month. I can’t count those here because I pay for them with discounted gift cards I buy from sites like Raise, and those were accounted for in past months’ spending reports.
At a glance, being $56.98 under budget looks like a win, but it really wasn’t. That’s because a whooooole lot of the money spent here was on unhealthy foods. Argh.
And of course, I bought fewer groceries in part because I was buying more takeout. Speaking of which…
Takeout
Ouch, almost 50% over budget.
A lot of this is just being around Aaron. We generally order takeout when we’re together, since neither of us really cooks, and I try to pay every other time to be fair.
So five of the nine times I got takeout, I was paying for two people. It adds up. Beyond that, I got some DQ (yay Blizzards!), some pizza delivery when I was too exhausted to leave the house but couldn’t bring myself to eat anything I had lying around, two Thai entrees because I can never decide so just eat Thai for two days any time I call in an order and a mini pizza while I was out and about one day.
Beauty
Went slightly over in this category because I decided to get one more makeup item before Becca Cosmetics goes out of business in September. It’s an amazing undereye concealer, so I decided to get a second backup. Each container lasts me ages, so at least I’ll be getting lots of bang for my buck.
Other than that, there was a tip for my lip wax and $40 for a beauty service I have done.
I would’ve been further over budget, but my appointment at the beauty school for a $20 haircut got pushed back. So no haircut expense for me this month.
Personal Care
Hold onto your hats, folks, this is some pretty exciting spending:
- $8.66 for some Breathe Right strips so I don’t keep Aaron up if I snore (as an Amazon affiliate, I am compensated for purchases made through my links)
- Contact lens solution because I’d left mine at Aaron’s accidentally. It was $16.34 because I hit a BOGO50 sale
- $6.34 for the post-Extrabux and post-coupon savings cost of my Hydro Boost moisturizer and a hand soap refill
Par-tay
Going Out
I think I overestimated the cost of even semi-weekly trivia events (and doing anything with Aaron), so I’ll probably lower the projected amount for next month.
This month, I had a beer at two trivia events, a cider at another, bought food at three more, bought some food when I went to karoake with a friend’s MeetUp group, had a drink at a MeetUp event I went to and went to two discounted movies (but also got popcorn).
The asterisk here is because I did spend cash a few times that came out of the aforementioned $20 I took out of the ATM:
- $1 for a light rail ticket down to a MeetUp event (so I could drink and avoid fussing with parking)
- $1 tip at a restaurant for a cup of water (I had wanted to buy a bottle of water at a MeetUp event to support the place but they were all out, so I figured the next best thing was to support the employees)
- $6 in tips when Aaron and I went to a group bowling event that came with free drink tickets. Normally, I just tip $1 a drink in that situation, but four of the six of us didn’t tip the bartenders so…
Healthcare
Thankfully, nothing too out of the ordinary in this category.
My doctor visit went up to $85. I’m having to pay for visits while he gets recertified with my insurance.
I also pay $407.50 for my Medicare premium. I know that’s more than some folks pay, but on the other hand, I have no deductible which is pretty sweet. And it’s about what I’d pay for a marketplace plan anyway. I also have a $32 dental add-on.
I saw my psychiatrist ($25 copay) once to check in on how my new med levels were doing. And speaking of meds, I paid $58.81 for two prescriptions.
The asterisk here is that I spent $15 cash for a tip at a prepaid massage. It came out of money I’d taken out of an ATM the previous month, which had thus already been accounted for in a spending report.
Utilities
Just the teensiest bit over here.
My electric bill is averaged out, so each month I pay $131.52. Given how much rates and usage jump in summer months, I like averaged-out billing so I don’t have to ratchet my budget up and down throughout the year.
My water/sewer/trash bill was $57.82, and my natural gas bill (for the water heater) was $22.22. I also am still paying for Ooma to get a quasi-landline in case anything ever happens to my cell phone. It’s only $5.63 a month, so for me it’s worth the cost to have a backup.
All in all
Just based on those categories’ spending, it looks like my outlays are exceptionally low. But of course, those aren’t the only amounts I spent.
I also have my mortgage payment (which has hundreds of dollars in additional principal tacked onto it), charitable donations and my business expenses. Usually, business spending is just for my Internet (though it’s not cheap) but this month I also had to pay for a service call.
So my total spending for the month was actually $3,747.33, which would work out to about $45,000 a year.
It seems like this is about what I spend most months. That would be discouraging, since I may need to live on less in retirement, but then I remember that I some current spending won’t be necessary in retirement.
For example, in retirement I won’t have to pay my Medicare Part A premium, which is around $200. And in about three years, my house will be paid off. So even with property taxes/insurance premiums, I’ll still be paying much less for housing in my old age.
So all in all, I think I’m doing pretty well on spending — especially since I’m making sure that I am enjoying the present and not just living fo the future.
How did everyone else’s last financial month go?
Teinegurl says
Overall you did really good in going out but then take out i was like ok it made up for it lol. I think my spending for this month has been really on point so with my daughter’s birthday i’m really glad. It can be tempting to for me to spend more for birthdays and like holidays but i reined her in and said money (or gifts) plus we can go out for dinner somewhere her choice. She wanted like an activity with a few friends like in the past but i told due to the climate of now with COVID and just her last minute planning it was either or she had to choose. I think it worked out. Still $300 bucks for cover 10 of us at dinner and $60 for clothing which she was able to get some things from Saver’s and my mom, sister, and friend gave her money as well so off we went to the mall.
Abigail says
Ouch, yeah that’s a pricey dinner — though not too bad per person of course — but I’m glad you were all able to celebrate. Bad birthdays are the pits. (Ask me how I know.) And once we can get the outbreaks under better control, hopefully she’ll have lots of places to wear her new clothes!
David @ Filled With Money says
I enjoy reading your spending reports. $2,000 per month is very reasonable. I would love to spend $2,000 per month… but the pandemic is making me not spend money to the brink of my mental health, I don’t like it.
I would love to get a gym membership but I would never forgive myself if I ever contracted COVID through the gym. I would love to go on more out of town trips but people without masks scare me. Sigh..
When will the pandemic be over.
David @ Filled With Money recently posted…Fired From Internship? Here’s What You Should Do
Abigail says
Yeah, $2,000 (plus housing and Internet) is definitely pretty good.
And money spent saving your mental health is always a good investment. You can’t be financially responsible if you’re at the point where depression wins completely. So take care of yourself and don’t regret those expenses.
The gym is definitely tricky. I go at 3:30 or 4 so there are maybe six people in my row, the row in front of me and the row behind me. On the weekends, the times I pick still seem to have pretty low cardio machine usage too, thankfully. And I try to pick a machine away from other people. Plus, while it sucks during cardio, I wear a mask. The weight machines (which I just started yesterday) are a little harder to socially distance on, and there are more people in that area. So I may have to go back to just lunges (ugh ugh ugh) and squats (still ugh but not as much) for a while. We’ll see how things go.
Stay safe! And sane(ish)!
Donna Freedman says
Kept waiting for a huge expenditure from Target to pop up. Then I realized you were using “On-Target” in an abstract way.
Our financial month was pretty quiet, because most of my fun stuff (movies, treating people to lunch out) was paid for with sunk-cost gift cards. Mostly we’ve been eating from the freezer and pantry, and not spending much at all. Long may that wave!
Donna Freedman recently posted…Lowe’s, PaperMart gift card giveaways from Savings.com.
Abigail says
Yes, enjoy the quiet financial times. You never know when the other shoe will drop. But I’m glad you’re managing to fit in some quality time with DF and others while still keeping outlays low.
Nancy says
Fewer outlays than expected, even with a vacation week thrown in to the mix. Stayed with friends and we shared expenses and food costs.
Have assessed the amount of food in the house, and am trying to eat it down and only buy limited amounts of new stuff (breads, milk, eggs, free stuff – we did not like the artisan hot dogs from Giant Foods, BOGO, loss leaders, almost free stuff). Junk food and soda for spouse comes out of his personal account.
The great tomato flood and basil from the garden is/are (?) here. Green peppers started coming in this week.
Dish and laundry detergent, trash bags, still not needed for at least another six months. Toilet paper will need to be purchased in September.
Increased amount spent on prescriptions due to how they were prescribed/ordered, resulting in higher copays.
Increased gas costs due to price increases, driving to and from the Eastern Shore, and PT and doctor appts.
Property taxes and car insurance bills came due, but money is saved throughout the year for that.
Did spend money on school supplies for Christmas Child Shoeboxes to be packed later. Part of those expenses were paid for with a gift card.
Expenses can be cut further.