Expense/Income Tracking

Here is a breakdown of my income for December.

Interest	$2.94
Amazon FBA	$0
Job	$479.95
Cashback	$65.64
Dividends	$63.09
Ebay/Other Selling	($473.12)
Mystery Shop	$9
Broker Bonuses	$70
Total	$217.50

December was a poor income month. This wasn’t unexpected since I spent the month in Thailand.

I made $9 from a mystery shop.

My Amazon FBA side hustle made $0. I didn’t have any income or expenses during the month.

Dividend income came in at $63.09. I believe this was my first month with over $60 in dividends. 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 lost $473.12 selling stuff on eBay and elsewhere. I had some returns, paid some fees, and unloaded some dud items before the end of the year.

I received $65.64 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.

I received $2.94 in interest.

I received $479.95 from my last doc review job paycheck.

I’m now in Thailand and will be staying here until January 28th. That will keep me from earning much money, but I should at least be able to avoid the losses this month. How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for December.

Household	$72.17
Mortgage	$355
Apartment	$162.58
Gifts/Charity	$200.61
Entertainment	$110.97
Transportation	$44.15
Food	$268.6
Phone	$27.79
Health	$80.77
Travel	$156.39
Total	$1479.03

My December Expenses were a bit higher than normal which was expected since I’m now in Thailand and paying many daily expenses for my girlfriend.

Entertainment expense was for a New York Times digital subscription, one month of Hulu at 99 cents, one month of Thailand Netflix, a couple’s Thai massage, admission for 2 to the Chiang Mai zoo, and admission to a couple of other local attractions.

The mortgage payment was my regular mortgage payment.

Transportation was for public transportation in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. If it were just me this would be much lower since I’m content to just visit places within walking distance while my girlfriend likes to visit places that are a bit farther away. This expense is still very cheap so I’m not complaining.

My food expense was way more than normal. This was due to eating out nearly every meal and also paying for my girlfriend for nearly every meal. I might get this total down a little this month.

My phone bill was $27.79. That is about the normal amount when I’m not traveling.

The household expense was for a haircut, a mattress topper, and various other things that were needed either for the apartment or for my girlfriend. This should be a bit lower this month since we have most of the stuff we need for the room now.

I also spent $200.61 on gifts and charity. I usually lump this in with the household expense. Since it was a lot larger than normal I listed it separately this month. This expense was for a phone for my girlfriend and a couple of charitable contributions.

Health expense was for monthly gym dues and various medicines and supplements.

Travel expense was down quite a bit since most of the travel expenses for this trip had already been paid. I paid $5.60 in taxes for an award trip from Chicago to an airport near my home for my return to the USA later this month. I paid $21.70 for a flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok to catch my return flight home. I paid $34.09 for a hotel my first night in Chiang Mai and for a night in Bangkok for my return trip. Lastly, I paid $95 for the annual fee for my Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

This month’s expenses will probably be about the same amount. If we decide to take a trip to the beach the expense will likely be a bit higher. I’m happy with this level of expenses since I feel like I’m getting a lot of value from my expenditures.

How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for November.

Household	$37.44
Mortgage	$355
Entertainment	$20.95
Transportation	$61.13
Food	$136.64
Phone	$28.38
Health	$50.92
Travel	$527.85
Total	$1218.31

My November Expenses were back to a reasonable level despite quite a bit of travel expense.

Entertainment expense was for one month of Paramount Plus, six months of Peacock purchased as a Black Friday special, and one month of Hulu at .99 which will be at that rate for a year as part of another Black Friday special.

The mortgage payment was my regular mortgage payment.

Transportation was for one tank of gas, a quart of oil, and my yearly personal property taxes on the car. One advantage of owning an old beater is the low personal property taxes.

My food expense was a little over budget. I’m almost always over budget in this category. I need to increase this budget amount but haven’t gotten around to it yet.

My phone bill was $28.38. That is about the normal amount when I’m not traveling.

The household expense was for a haircut, a birthday gift, and a birthday card.

Health expense was for my monthly gym dues and some vitamins.

Travel expense was my big expense for the month. I paid $5.60 in taxes for an award trip from a tiny, local airport to Chicago. This was a great deal for Thanksgiving weekend. I paid $176.98 for two hotel nights. The Bangkok hotel night was a mandatory quarantine package that included transportation from the airport to a hotel for a PCR Covid test, the hotel room, and a couple of meals. The rest was for travel insurance required for the Thailand Pass, a pre-departure RT-PCR test required for the Thailand Pass, my Thai visa, and an Uber, train, and bus in Chicago. The Thailand Pass requirements cost me about $400 more than I would normally spend. I was willing to pay it so I wouldn’t have to wait any longer to return to Thailand.

There will be more travel expenses this month as I’ll be in Thailand all of this month and most of the next. I’m in northern Thailand and might visit the beach later this month. My Thai girlfriend is staying with me which will result in some increased expenses since I will paying her expenses. This should still be a pretty reasonable expense month depending on whether I travel domestically in Thailand.

How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my income for October.

Interest	$3.34
Amazon FBA	$55.27
Job	$922.54
Cashback	$81.10
Dividends	$48.72
Ebay/Other Selling	$782.08
Class Action	$13.99
Total	$1907.04

October’s income rebounded nicely from the low amount the month before.

I made $13.99 from a random class action.

My Amazon FBA side hustle made a profit of $55.27.

Dividend income came in at $48.72. I’m adding a little every month to my stocks and slowly increasing the dividend total. 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 made $782.08 selling stuff on eBay and elsewhere. I was pretty lucky at flipping some hard to find items and had some U.S. Mint coin sales as well.

I received $81.10 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.

I received $3.34 in interest.

I received $922.54 for working a doc review job for a little over a week. I’ll have at least a little bit more job income this month too.

I’ll be leaving for Thailand at the end of this month and will be staying there for December and January. That will keep me from earning much in those months so I’m hoping I have a good income month this month. How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for October.

Household	$6.18
Mortgage	$355
Entertainment	$47.63
Transportation	$102.69
Food	$178.39
Phone	$35.88
Health	$762.69
Travel	$780.87
Total	$2269.33

My October Expenses were quite high. This was due to two large expenses in the health and travel categories.

Entertainment expense was for two months digital subscription to the New York Times, one month of Peacock, one month of Amazon Prime, one month of Paramount Plus, a visit to the movies, and some books. I’ll eventually cut out one or two of the online streaming services.

The mortgage payment was my regular mortgage payment.

Transportation was $102.69. This was all for gas.

My food expense was a little over budget. Food costs have gone up a bit this year so I might need to up this budget.

My phone bill was $35.88. It was a little higher this month since I used quite a bit of data while in Spain.

The household expense was for socks, deodorant, and cotton balls.

Health expense was for my monthly gym dues, a copay of $673.01 for ear surgery and $70 for a dentist visit. I’ve had significant hearing loss since I was a child. I decided to have a surgical procedure to see if some of my hearing can be restored. It is still too early to determine if the surgery was successful at restoring my hearing.

Travel expense was my other big expense for the month. I canceled my round trip ticket to Tokyo. I was going to fly from there on a separate ticket to Bangkok. I decided since I wouldn’t be able to enter Tokyo it was best to cancel that ticket and book one ticket all the way from the US to Bangkok. This reduces the chance that a travel restriction or something will keep me from being able to make my flight. The new ticket cost $780.87. I usually get better flight deals than that, but I didn’t want to wait for a deal this time. This is still an affordable ticket for me.

I’m going to have more travel expenses this month. I’ve got to buy special covid travel insurance, buy a covid PCR test before departure to Bangkok, and book a special hotel room with covid test upon arrival to Bangkok. There are also Thai visa fees and other small expenses. Due to that this month will also be an expensive month.

How was your month?