Here is a breakdown of my expenses for July.
| Household | $144.12 |
| Rent | $225.00 |
| Entertainment | $43.08 |
| Transportation | $273.35 |
| Food | $260.39 |
| Travel | $80.74 |
| Phone | $32.25 |
| Student Loan | $132.58 |
| Health | $135.68 |
| Total | $1327.19 |
My July expenses were much higher than I would have preferred. After returning home from Thailand I went a little crazy with my spending. I’ll rein my spending back in this month.
New shoes, shelving, and Internet made up most of the household expense. The remaining amount was for laundry, gifts, and various items I needed for my new apartment.
Rent was for half a month’s rent. This expense will be $450 a month until I move again. That is pretty cheap rent for where I live but it is more than I like to pay and it seems expensive compared to Thailand.
Entertainment was all for movies and concessions. I signed up for Regal Theatre’s Unlimited Movie Pass this month. It was just under $20 with tax. If I can keep from buying concessions I will get a lot of entertainment for my money
My transportation expense was high. I did a lot of driving for Uber and traveled between southern Missouri and KC a couple of times. That resulted in a lot of money spent on gas. I also had a $131.25 car repair. Hopefully, I won’t have a car repair this month. I’m also plan to cut back or stop driving for Uber which will save me gas money.
My food expense was ridiculous. I gave myself permission to indulge in all the foods I had been missing when I returned from Thailand which turned into bingeing on junk food and fast food the rest of the month. I’ve already gained back 10 of the 18 pounds I lost in Thailand. This month I will cut the food expense way down and eat much better. I’ll also start losing weight again.
My biggest travel expense was $52.85 for a Holiday Inn Express in Bangkok. I should have stayed at a cheaper hotel or used points to stay elsewhere. The rest of the expense was for buses and shuttles. I’m returning to Thailand the beginning of October and will spend a little this month preparing for that trip.
My phone bill had a little more data usage than I expect to have the next few months. My normal bill will be just a little bit lower.
My health expense was for one month of health insurance and the enrollment fee and one month’s dues for a fitness center membership. This expense should be about the same this month.
I”m hoping that I do much better at keeping this month’s expenses under control. It will be difficult to keep my expenses under $1000 this month since I now have a $450 rent expense. I’m going to see how close I can get to that goal. How was your month?