Here is a breakdown of my expenses for July.

Rent	$550
Household	$176.20
Utilities	$246.17
Entertainment	$0
Transportation	$869.97
Food	$376.96
Health	$51.63
Student Loan	$248.79
Phone	$218.86
Total	$2738.58

July’s expenses were a little high due to paying some annual and semi-annual expenses and paying off my car tires. Expenses should get closer to a normal level this month. I do have to prepay for the propane we use for heating this month so expenses will still be a little higher than I’d like.

Entertainment expense was $0. Amazon Prime was free after applying a free gift card to my account. I also have 1 year of Apple TV free from one of my credit cards.

My transportation expense consisted of $54.97 for gas, $215 for six months insurance on my car, and $600 for maintenance. The maintenance expense was for the remaining balance on four new tires I purchased in May.

Food expense was $376.96. That is divided between $314.88 for groceries and $62.08 for restaurants. Any month under $400 is a good month. This month should be about the same.

Travel expense came in at $0.

Utilities came in at $236.17. Internet was $40 and electric/water was $161.17. Three months of trash service cost $45. I was surprised the electric bill wasn’t higher. The big bill from A/C usage will probably hit this month.

Household expense came in at $176.20. This was mostly for miscellaneous household stuff. I also made a couple of payments on my dad’s prepaid cremation plan.

I spent $218.86 for phone service. That was the usual monthly amount of $20 for my wife’s phone plus the annual payment for my phone.

The $51.63 spent on health for a doctor visit and one OTC medication.

I paid $248.79 on my student loan. The loan had been paused since 2020, but they resumed requiring payments again last month. I’m considering switching to the RAP repayment plan. It would save me a lot of money based on my current finances. However, the student aid website isn’t currently giving me credit for the years of payments I’ve made through IBR even though everything I’ve read states that they should count towards the RAP forgiveness timeline. If I don’t properly receive credit for my IBR payments, I’d be paying for 30 more years rather than 8 more years which would make the RAP plan much more expensive. For now, I’m waiting for them to update the website before I decide to switch.

This month’s expenses should be a little lower. How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my income for June.

Interest	$100.40
Dividends	$227.36
Other Selling	$62.22
Social Casinos	$739.51
Cash Back	$13.39
eBay	$878.32
Class Action	$6.42
Sportsbooks	$150
Surveys	$30.74
Amazon Merch	$12.45
DoorDash	$7.15
Mystery Shop	$5
Total	$2232.96

June’s income was good. It was higher than I expected it to be without any job income. I had 12 sources of income during the month.

Dividend income came in at $227.36.

Interest income was $100.40.

I made $878.32 from eBay.

I made $13.39 from cash back.

I made $739.51 from social casinos.

I made $30.71 from surveys.

I made $150 from sportsbooks. I thought the promos had dried up, but there were quite a few new ones for the World Cup, so this source of income isn’t dead yet.

I made $62.22 from other selling.

I made $12.45 from Amazon Merch, $6.42 from a class action, $5 from a mystery shop, and $7.15 from DoorDash.

How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for June.

Rent	$550
Household	$1866.31
Utilities	$220.90
Entertainment	$4.33
Transportation	$413.29
Food	$219.28
Health	$150.79
Student Loan	$248.79
Phone	$20
Total	$3693.69

June’s expenses were unusually high due to having to pay an insurance deductible. Expenses should be back to a normal level this month.

Entertainment expense was $4.33 for Amazon Prime. That was my balance after applying a free gift card to my account. I also got 1 year of Apple TV free from one of my credit cards. I don’t plan on signing up for any other TV services for a while. These plus YouTube provide me with way more stuff than I can watch.

My transportation expense consisted of $148.66 for gas, $79.81 for 2 years license on my car, and $184.82 for maintenance. The maintenance expense is for an alignment and a partial payment on 4 new tires. I was able to finance the tires for 6 months with no interest.

Food expense was $219.28. That is divided between $170.16 for groceries and $49.12 for restaurants. That was abnormally low. Grocery expense was helped by us stocking up at the end of the previous month and having a free $25 Walmart gift card. Restaurant expense was low due to having a free McDonald’s gift card and using some Paze promos.

Travel expense came in at $0.

Utilities came in at $220.90. Internet was $40 and electric/water was $164.91. I also paid $15.99 for the first month of a new trash service. This expense will be higher this month since we will be using the A/C more.

Household expense came in at $1866.31. The big bill was $1700 for my part of our insurance deductible that was used to fix our roof after hailstorm damage. The rest was for miscellaneous household items and flowers, plants and other items for the yard.

I spent $20 for phone service. That was the usual monthly amount plus $5 for extra data.

The $150.79 spent on health for a doctor visit.

I paid $248.79 on my student loan. The loan had been paused since 2020, but they resumed requiring payments again last month.

This month’s expenses should be much lower. How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my income for May.

Interest	$112.73
Dividends	$110.85
Unemployment	$288
Social Casinos	$655
Cash Back	$40.93
eBay	$758.89
Bank Bonuses	$700
Sportsbooks	$25
Surveys	$55.87
Amazon Merch	$4.15
Mystery Shop	$0
Total	$2751.42

May income was good. It was higher than I expected it to be without any job income. My income was well above my expenses which is always good.

Dividend income came in at $110.85.

Interest income was $112.73.

I made $758.89 from eBay.

I made $40.93 from cash back.

I made $655 from social casinos.

I made $55.87 from surveys.

I made $25 from sportsbooks.

I made $700 from bank bonuses.

I made $4.15 from Amazon Merch and $288 from unemployment.

How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for May.

Rent	$550
Household	$319.69
Utilities	$195.20
Entertainment	$18
Transportation	$264.19
Food	$512.42
Health	$24.41
Travel	$0
Phone	$20
Total	$1903.91

May’s expenses were a little higher than I’d prefer. I’m hoping I can reduce expenses about $200 this month. .

Entertainment expense was $18 for an annual subscription to NYT Games. I probably shouldn’t have spent that since I have a lot of free entertainment options, but I do play them daily, so it isn’t a bad value. Amazon Prime and Hulu were covered by credit card rewards and a free gift card.

My transportation expense consisted of $144.06 for gas and $120.13 for maintenance. We should travel a little less this month, and gas is starting to get cheaper, so I hope this expense will be lower this month.

Food expense was $512.42. That is divided between $437.56 for groceries and $74.86 for restaurants. We’re well stocked on groceries, and I got another free McDonald’s gift card so this expense should be lower this month.

Travel expense came in at $0. I hope that will be the same this month.

Utilities came in at $195.20. Internet was $40 and electric/water was $155.20. This expense will be higher this month since we will be using the A/C more.

Household expense came in at $319.69. The big bill was $110 for my CLE. The rest was for miscellaneous household items and flowers, plants and other items for the yard.

I spent $20 for phone service. That was the usual monthly amount plus $5 for extra data.

The $24.41 spent on health was for OTC medicine, my blood pressure medicine, and a supplement.

This month’s expenses will probably be about the same. How was your month?