Here is a breakdown of my expenses for February.
|
Household |
$621.94 |
|
Entertainment |
$128.80 |
|
Transportation |
$322.21 |
|
Food |
$60.29 |
| Medical/Dental |
$57.44 |
|
Utilities |
$116.05 |
|
Travel |
$227.79 |
| Debt | $14 |
|
Total |
$1548.52 |
My expenses were higher than I like but not as bad as they seem. The $227.79 of travel expenses and over $100 of the transportation expense were incurred as a result of participating in the medical study in St. Louis. The travel expenses were for six nights of hotel rooms and the transportation expense was the cost of gas for getting to St. Louis and back. It would probably be more accurate to just deduct these expenses from my medical study income later this month but I’m just going to list them as expenses. My expenses will probably be just slightly less this month but I’m hoping I can get them back to the $1000 level in April.
The utilities seem a bit high — perhaps they’ll go down as the weather gets nicer?
As a side note, the best ways to keep your utility bills down are also some of the cheapest … caulking drafts around windows and outlets; weatherstripping around doors … it’s not as dramatic as installing a $30,000 solar system on your roof, but it does one heck of a good job in making your home more efficient and lowering your bills.
The utilities are our electric bill and my cell phone bill. They aren’t going to get much lower than this.