| Household | $392.05 |
| Entertainment |
$62.21 |
|
Transportation |
$743.46 |
|
Food |
$112.31 |
| Debt | $5.00 |
| Phone |
$26.81 |
| Health |
$120.97 |
| Electric |
$19.64 |
| Internet |
$15.96 |
| Travel |
$159.80 |
|
Total |
$1658.21 |
My May expenses were much higher than I’d prefer. I missed my goal of keeping my monthly expenses under the minimum wage level of $1274 a month for the first time this year.
My food bill was almost down to my $100 goal. Since I’m moving at the end of this month I plan to eat all of the food in my apartment. I’m also planning on doing quite a few restaurant mystery shops so my food total should be below $100 for this month.
My transportation expense were the budget buster. I spent a little over $600 in repairs. The bad news is that my catalytic converter is going out so I will have another big repair bill soon. My usual repair shop quoted just over $1000 to replace the catalytic converter. I’m going to shop around to see if I can’t get a better price. The replacement of the catalytic converter probably won’t be done until after I’m back from my hike. The good news is that my gas bill was under $100 even with a trip to SW Missouri. I’ve done pretty well on cutting back on the unnecessary driving.
I also spent $159 on a plane ticket to Harrisburg, PA to start my hike. Even with that expense I would have been close to my $1000 goal if I hadn’t had all the car repairs. All other expenses should be about the same this month. If I don’t go ahead an replace the catalytic converter I should get back under the $1000 mark again.
$5 for debt?
I make a $5 payment towards my student loans each month although I’m currently not required to pay anything on them at all.
Wondering about this as well. Do you still have the student loan debt?
Yes, I still have the student loan debt. I’ll likely have it for another twenty years or so unless I have a drastic increase in income. Since my current payments are $0 the debt just gets bigger each month.
You don’t have a mortgage? That is impressive. What is the $5 for debt?
My transportation is going to go through the roof this month. Spent about $700 for a 100000 service and replacing spark plugs. Hopefully it is worth it and the car keeps going. We can’t afford a new car anytime soon.
I rent. That is most of the household expense category. The $5 is my student loan payment.
I hope your car keeps going for a while and doesn’t need any more repairs.
In Los Angeles, there are “Pick your Part” junk yards. You can get parts from wrecked cars for a lot less. Do you have anything like that where you live?
We do have those kind of junk yards here. I would still need to get the part installed though. It is definitely beyond my capability. I’ll have to do some more research on the best way to replace the converter.
Nice job on the expenses – sucks on the cat. I had a similar thing happen and they were able to refurbish my current cat by putting in new metals – it cost about $300, but a lot cheaper than simply getting the whole thing replaced!
I didn’t know they could be refurbished. That isn’t something my shop offered but I’m going to call a few other places and see what they suggest.
Sorry to hear about the car. Repairs seem to come in bunches.
Hope you get the expense down next month (or the following month.)
It should be down this month. In July, I’ll be hiking and not using my car at all so there won’t be any repair expenses that month.
I had a cat/exhaust issue and took it to a local tire shop, where the mechanic fused the two pipes together for $50. Not a mechanic myself but I agree with other posters that you might be able to save on the repair.
I’m not sure if that solution is legal. I do want to save money on the repair but I want to keep it legal too.
If you are keeping your food bill down by eating your already purchased food then your consumption level is still too high and it isn’t sustainable…
It will save me money this month and prevent the food from being wasted though. I’m also thinking less choice might lead to reduced consumption.
I’m just saying its not sustainable, if you get under your budget number by relying on savings/stored resources then either you need to raise your budget number or reduce your consumption in order for it to work long term.
Having a budget that you know you cannot achieve is the first step to excuses for when you don’t meet other aspects of it.
Ugh car repairs SUCK! I feel your pain!
That’s a lot of money on the car, dude — sorry to hear that!