Expense/Income Tracking

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for January.

Household	$1015.71
Utilities	$200.01
Entertainment	$10.28
Transportation	$107.32
Food	$420.07
Health	$51.84
Travel	$585.60
Visa	$889.78
Phone	$26.89
Total	$3307.50

January’s expenses were rather high. That was expected since we were in Thailand for the second half of the month and had lots of travel and visa related expenses. This month’s expenses should be much lower.

Entertainment expense was for one month of Peacock, Hulu, and Prime.

My transportation expense consisted of $70.78 for gas and $36.54 for local taxis and shuttles in Thailand.

Food expense was $420.07. That is divided between $262.03 for groceries and $158.04 for restaurants. That isn’t too bad considering we were away from home for the last half of the month.

Travel expense came in at $585.60. That consisted of $182.77 for airfare, $224.99 for hotels, and $177.74 for other expenses. The other expenses were mainly long-distance shuttles or taxis and buses.

Utilities came in at $200.01. This was for electric, water, and internet.

Household expense came in at $1015.71 This was mostly for a gold necklace for my wife and some gifts to my wife’s family.

Visa expense was $889.78. Most of that was for the medical examination. The hospital has a monopoly on doing medical exams for the U.S. visa so they charge a premium price.

I spent $26.89 for phone service. This was for the usual monthly bill plus cell service in Thailand.

The $51.84 spent on health was for medicine and a dentist visit. I got a cavity filled in Thailand for about $25.

This was another expensive month. This month should have much lower expenses. I need a couple of low expense months to help my bank account recover. How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my income for December.

Interest	$131.98
Dividends	$247.39
Job	$2463.67
Social Casinos	$350
Cash Back	$54.39
Other Selling	$96.78
Ebay	$157.21
Class Action	$59.34
Stock Sale	$790.84
Sportsbooks	$292.35
Total	$4643.95

December was another good income month.

Dividend income came in at $247.39.

Interest income was $131.98.

I made $157.21 from selling on eBay. I didn’t list anything since I was busy with work, but I still sold a few things.

I made $54.39 from cash back.

I made $2463.67 from job income. This amount would have been higher. There was unpaid time off for the holidays. Additionally, there were a few more days when they were transitioning to different documents, so there was no work available. This month my job income will be lower since I’ll be gone the last half of the month. I’m hoping they will have work for me when I return.

I made $350 from social casinos. That is better than normal. This month it will go back to the usual $100 a month.

I made $59.34 from a class action. The MGM class action settlement was more generous than most.

I made $96.78 from other selling.

I made $790.84 from a stock sale. I don’t track the monthly fluctuation in value of my accounts, but when I sell a stock in one of my taxable accounts, I do report it here. This sale was from an odd lot tender which increased the chances of it being a profitable transaction.

Lastly, I made $292.35 from sportsbook promos. There were lots of good deals last month since sports betting became legal in Missouri on December 1st. Those deals are slowing down now, but I will still make a little more money from the promos this month.

This month’s income will be lower since I’ll be in Thailand the last half of the month.

How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for November.

Household	$781.06
Utilities	$222.07
Entertainment	$12.84
Transportation	$147.92
Food	$451.05
Health	$64.15
Travel	$595
Phone	$15
Total	$2289

November’s expenses were rather high. This month’s expenses will likely be about the same.

Entertainment expense was for one month of Peacock, Hulu, Prime and Paramount +. After various deals I only paid $12.84 in total for all four services. I think that was a pretty good deal.

My transportation expense consisted of $147.92 for gas.

Food expense was $451.05. That is divided between $293.19 for groceries and $157.86 for restaurants. That was higher than last month. I’m hoping I can get it down a little this month, but I’m not worrying about it too much.

Travel expense came in at $595. That was for my Citi Strata Elite annual fee. I should be able to get a lot more than $595 of value out of it.

Utilities came in at $222.07. This was for electric, water, and internet. This was a little lower than the previous month since we didn’t use as much air conditioning. This much should be much lower.

Household expense came in at $781.06. This was mostly for a new couch and a very small amount of gold.

I spent $15 for one month of phone service for my wife.

The $64.15 spent on health was for health insurance and otc medications.

After an October with low expenses, expenses swung the other way in November. This month will be another expensive month, although it should be less expensive than November. How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my income for October.

Interest	$161.82
Dividends	$9.57
Job	$3296.40
Social Casinos	$100
Bank Bonus	$300
Other Selling	$55.03
Ebay	$427.73
Class Action	$51.84
Total	$4402.39

October was a good income month since I had work for the entire month.

Dividend income came in at $9.57. This varies a lot from month to month. It will be a lot higher in December.

Interest income was $161.82. I had a CD mature which boosted this amount. This income will go down a little this month.

I made $427.73 from selling on eBay. For most of the month I didn’t list anything since I was busy with work, but stuff kept selling all month long.

I made $300 from a bank bonus.

I made $3296.40 from job income. This was helped by having five paydays during the month.

I made $100 from social casinos.

I made $51.84 from class actions.

I made $55.03 from other selling.

This month’s income will be a little lower since I will only have four paydays rather than five.

How was your month?