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?