Expense/Income Tracking

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for October.

My expenses were up a bit in October.  A big chunk of the increase was from paying off my van.  I won’t have a van payment this month which should result in much lower overall expenses.  If I do end up buying a new car then that could change.

My other big expenses was transportation. I spent just over $500 on gas in October, which is about what  I thought I’d spend after I took the law job.  I’m hoping to reduce that expense this month.  If I buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle that will help.  If not the lower gas prices should help a little.

All of my other expenses should be about the same.  My entertainment expense will probably go up a little.  My food expense might go down a little.  It is already pretty low but since I’m staying at my mom’s and have been doing a few fast-food mystery shops it could be even lower.

I’d like to shoot for my expenses being under $1000, not counting any vehicle purchase expenses.  At that level of spending I should be able to save a fair bit of money.

Here is a breakdown of my income for September.

My income sharply declined in September. My online income was great in August and I expected it to go down in September but not by so much.  Online income should be better this month, but it is hard to predict. I didn’t realize I made so little in September.  Since I withdrew $400 from my forgotten savings account, took out $100 from accumulated dividends, received a $150 refund for returning my defective tablet, and started the month with a surplus in my checking from last month’s income it seemed like I had more money.

I did start a part-time job in September but the first payday isn’t until later this month.  I started a full-time job earlier this week and will receive at least one paycheck from it this month so October’s income should show significant improvement.

My other sources of passive and alternative income didn’t add up to too much. The cash back total of $91.86 wasn’t too bad though.  I got $45 from Mr. Rebates which was almost all from my referrals’ purchases. It is turning out to be a nice bit of passive income.

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for September.

My expenses were down a bit from August.  I made three extra payments on my van or my expenses would have been way down.  If you take away the van payments, my expenses would have been only $561.90. My goal was to keep my expenses other than the van payments below $1000 so I’m very happy with September’s total expenses.  I’m finally starting to see the savings from living in a van. It was one of those rare months where there were no unexpected expenses and no semi-annual/quarterly expenses.  I’ll be hard pressed to keep my expenses as low this month.

Transportation was where I had the most savings.  I went from spending over $500 in gas in August, to spending $169.73 on gas in September. It would be nice if I could keep my gas expense that low again this month.

I doubt I’ll be able to make 3 extra payments on my van again.  I’m hoping I will be able to make at least one extra. All my other expenses will probably be about the same.

Here is a breakdown of my income for August.

I had a nice increase in income for August.  This was mainly due to my online income rebounding nicely.  I don’t expect it will continue this month, but if it is even half of August’s total I’ll be happy with it.  My other sources of passive and alternative income didn’t add up to too much.  The cash back total wasn’t too bad though.  I got $35 from Mr. Rebates which was almost all from my referral’s purchases. It is turning out to be a nice bit of passive income.  My mystery shopping income should be up in September as well since I did several mystery shops in August that I’ll be paid for this month.

Some people have criticized me for not having a job.  My August income is more than I’ve made from most of the jobs I’ve had.  I was making this much every month from the middle of last year to March of this year so I didn’t feel a need to get a job.  If you’re self-employed and making enough to pay your bills, I don’t think it is fair for people to tell you to get a job.

I will be getting a job of some sort this month.  Even with working a full-time job I think I can continue to make about the same amount of money in alternative and passive income.  The combination of job income and other income should allow me to pay off my van quickly and replenish my savings.  I’ll keep you posted on the job search.

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for August.

My expenses were up a bit from July and a lot higher than I’d like.   The household expense was higher this month because I paid my mom’s electric and water bill since I’ve been staying at her house quite a bit.  Entertainment expenses were ok, but I’d like to reduce them further until I get the van paid off.   Transportation was the highest expense once again.  I spent over $500 on gas, which is way too much.  I also had to buy a new tire and get the oil changed.  I’ll be making it a priority this month to reduce my driving.  All the money I’m spending on gas is basically offsetting any money I’m saving from not having rent.

My food expense may seem low, but I was at my mom’s half the month and I had quite a few mystery shopping meals so it could have been lower.  I don’t plan to be at my mom’s much this month so the food expense will probably go up a little.   I plan to make at least one extra van payment this month so that expense will go up.  It is good for that expense to go up though.  I did buy a tablet for $150 which was a bit of a splurge.  My rationalization was that I saved a lot more money by not going to FinCon and having the tablet will make it more enjoyable to live in the van.  Phone bill and health expenses will be the same this month.

My goal for September is to have my expenses, other than van payments, be under $1000.  I believe that is an achievable goal.  We’ll find out next month whether I made it or not.