Expense/Income Tracking

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for October.

Household	$76.73
Mortgage/Apt	$123.49
Utilities	$104.58
Entertainment	$76.70
Transportation	$26.33
Food	$326.91
Phone	$36.28
Health	$31.94
Travel	$650.24
Total	$1453.20

My October expenses were reasonable.

Entertainment expense was for a New York Times digital subscription, an online Thai course, and a couple of trips to the movies and arcade with my wife and stepdaughter.

Rent was for one month’s rent, electric, and water for our room in Chiang Mai.

Transportation was for a motorcycle helmet and a few taxi trips. Buying the helmet, allows me to ride on my wife’s scooter which will save me a little on taxi fares.

My food expense was way up at $326.91 for the month. This was to be expected since my wife and I eat out for every meal in Thailand. Also, my stepdaughter stayed with us for 3 weeks. Since there are only two of us to feed this month, food expense should come down some this month.

My phone bill was $36.28. This is a little higher than normal since I often have to use my phone’s data rather than wife since the wifi in our room is not reliable.

The household expense was for a mattress topper, a haircut, laundry, a couple gifts for my stepdaughter and a bunch of miscellaneous household stuff.

Health expense was for one month’s health insurance premium, one month’s gym membership, and some over the counter medicine.

Travel expense includes $502.25 in airfare, $25.33 for a hotel room and the taxes on a free hotel room, and $121.76 for various bus tickets, shuttles, and taxis. Most of the airfare was spend on my wife and I flying from Chiang Mai to Buriram and back to get her daughter. I also bought a couple tickets from Chiang Mai to Bangkok for when I have to return to the U.S. next month. This month’s travel expense will be way lower. It might even be negative since I have a couple of refunds coming.

This month’s total expense will probably be about the same. Although I will spend less on travel and food, I have a big visa expense this month which will keep my overall expense level from dropping.

How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my income for September. Sorry for the late posting this month. The wifi is extremely weak in my room here in Thailand making it inconvenient to get this posted.

Interest	$26.78
Cash Back	$91.25
Bank Bonus	$0
Job	$2572.63
Dividends	$37.38
Mystery Shop	$0
Ebay/Other Selling	$110.32
Total	$2838.36

September was an okay earnings month since I had job income for most of the month.

Dividend income came in at $37.38. If you sign up using my Robinhood referral link we will both get one share of free stock. Thanks to anyone who signs up using my link. Every little bit helps.

I received $91.25 in cash back income. If you sign up for Rakuten using my referral link you can start earning cash back too and I’ll get a small bonus for referring you. These little bits of referral income help me keep the blog going.

Interest income was $26.78. The rising interest rates are helping this a little plus I received a small windfall which I’m keeping in savings for now.

Job income was the big source of income coming in at $2572.63 for the month.

Ebay and other selling income came in at $110.32.

It was a solid income month again. I’m now in Thailand and will not have any job income which will result in a much lower income total for this month. How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for September. This is a little late since I’m in Thailand now and my wifi is pretty weak.

Household	$20.28
Mortgage/Apt	$355
Support	$101
Entertainment	$26.15
Transportation	$318.52
Food	$123.94
Phone	$20.77
Health	$9.14
Travel	$202.30
Total	$1177.10

My September expenses were once again pretty low. I am happy with this level of expenses.

Entertainment expense was for a New York Times digital subscription, one month of Hulu at 99 cents, a month of Paramount Plus, roughly 2 months of Netflix Thailand and 1 month of HBO Max. That is a lot of entertainment for the money spent.

The mortgage payment was my regular mortgage payment.

Transportation was for gas and for two new tires. I didn’t spend much on gas since I work at home and don’t drive much. I got a pretty good deal on the tires. If you own a car, you are eventually going to have to spend money on tires, so I am okay with this expense.

My food expense was very reasonable. This is about as low as I can get it now with so many foods being more expensive. Now that I’m in Thailand and eating out for every meal and usually buying food for my wife as well, this expense will go up.

My phone bill was $20.77. It was quite low due to a special deal. It will be back to normal this month.

The household expense was for toothpaste, cheap silverware and bowls, batteries and a haircut.

Health expense was for one month’s health insurance premium, a zinc supplement and a 90-day supply of one of my blood pressure medicines.

Travel expense includes $54.77 for taxes on my award flight back to the U.S. from Bangkok, $55.47 for a hotel near my flight departing the U.S., and $92.06 for my Thai tourist visa, a couple airport taxis, and travel insurance.

There also was an expense of $101 to help my wife with some of her expenses in Thailand

This month’s total expenses should be about the same. I’ll be in Thailand the entire month. Some expense categories will go up and some will go down. Overall, they should roughly even out.

How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my income for August.

Interest	$9.42
Cash Back	$14.19
Bank Bonus	$500
Job	$2376.51
Dividends	$38.56
Mystery Shop	$28
Ebay/Other Selling	$126.99
Amazon FBA	$46.29
Stepbet Winnings	$5.68
Total	$3145.64

August was a good earnings month since I had job income for the entire month.

Dividend income came in at $38.56. If you sign up using my Robinhood referral link we will both get one share of free stock. Thanks to anyone who signs up using my link. Every little bit helps.

I received $14.19 in cash back income. If you sign up for Rakuten using my referral link you can start earning cash back too and I’ll get a small bonus for referring you. These little bits of referral income help me keep the blog going.

Interest income was $9.42. The rising interest rates are helping this a little.

Job income was the big source of income coming in at $2376.51 for the month.

I received a bank bonus of $500 for opening a line of credit. I’ll be closing it this month. That was probably the easiest $500 I’ve ever made.

Mystery shop income came in at $28. That was one shop and also included a free meal. If the restaurant was closer to me, I’d do more of these. I already did another one this month.

Ebay and other selling income came in at $126.99. I hope to increase this income this month. I’ll be finished with work soon and plan to list a bunch of stuff on eBay. I have to leave at the end of the month though.

I made $46.29 from Amazon FBA. That is my first FBA income this year.

Lastly, I had $5.68 in winnings from completing a Stepbet challenge.

It was a solid income month again. I’ve made back all of the money I spent during my last trip to Thailand. I’ll be heading to Thailand again this month, so I need to stockpile money before then. My doc review job will be ending soon. I’ll try to make money from other sources, but income will likely be down this month. How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for August.

Household	$7.62
Mortgage/Apt	$355
Support	$200
Entertainment	$30.78
Transportation	$306.20
Food	$123.53
Phone	$0
Health	$15.50
Travel	$101.88
Total	$1140.51

My August expenses were pretty low. I was happy with the level of expenses.

Entertainment expense was for a New York Times digital subscription, one month of Hulu at 99 cents, a month of Amazon Prime, a 6-month digital subscription to a local paper and 2 months of HBO Max. That was a lot of entertainment for the price. That is a lot of entertainment for the money spent.

The mortgage payment was my regular mortgage payment. I

Transportation was for gas and car insurance. I didn’t spend much on gas since I work at home and don’t drive much. My car insurance wasn’t due to renew until October. However, I was offered $200 to switch to another company and took that deal. The new insurance company has a slightly cheaper rate too. I haven’t received the $200 yet. If I receive that this month, I’ll likely end up with this expense category being a profit for the month.

My food expense was very reasonable. This is about as low as I can get it now with so many foods being more expensive. This month I plan to eat out of the pantry a lot so I might manage to get the total even lower.

My phone bill was $0. American Express had an offer for $25 back on $50 spend with my phone carrier. That resulted in my phone bill being $0 for August and it will be quite low this month.

The household expense was for dryer sheets, flossers, baking soda, fabric refresher, and cotton swabs. My mom bought my wife a Coach purse at a garage sale. Unfortunately, the purse reeks of smoke. The baking soda, fabric refresher, and dryer sheets are all part of the effort to remove the smoke smell from the purse.

Health expense was for one month’s health insurance premium and 90 days supply of one of my blood pressure medicines.

Travel expense includes $22.75 for a hotel in Bangkok, $29.13 for airfare from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, and $50 for 2000 AA miles. I probably shouldn’t have bought the miles. I needed some more miles for my return ticket from Thailand to the US and I’m getting close to having Gold status with AA so I splurged and bought the miles. Time will tell, if they were worth it.

There also was an expense of $200 to help my wife with some of her expenses in Thailand

This month’s expenses should be about the same. I’ll be traveling at the end of the month. Those expenses have been mostly prepaid though so that shouldn’t raise my expenses much.

How was your month?