Expense/Income Tracking

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for February.

Household	$34.74
Mortgage/Apt	$130
Utilities	$250.03
Entertainment	$47.23
Transportation	$443.33
Food	$108.34
Phone	$200.84
Health	$2.73
Travel	$320.12
Support	$220
Total	$1757.36

February’s expenses were a little higher than I would like.

Entertainment expense was for an Amazon Prime subscription, a Paramount Plus subscription, and a couple of entertainment-related meals.

Rent was $130. This isyy wife’s rent in Thailand including utilities.

Transportation was for $161.72 in gas, $273 for car insurance, and $8.61 for some antifreeze. I made a trip to see my dad who lives a couple hours away and also made 2 separate trips to a city about an hour away from me which drove up my gas bill. This month there should only be one trip to the nearby city so the gas bill will be much smaller. My insurance is now paid for six months and hopefully I won’t have any maintenance expenses. That should result in a much lower total for transportation expenses this month.

My food expense was $108.34 That is higher than last month, but still very low. I did manage to keep my fast-food bill below January’s level. I continued to take advantage of app deals and free food deals at fast food places to get food super cheap. Chase had an offer for $5 back on a $10 restaurant purchase. I had that offer on three different cards giving me $15 of savings. I also had one food mystery shop. That combined with eating at home more often led to a very low food bill.

Utilities were $250.03. This was higher than normal due to paying two months of internet. This month the total will be about the same because I will have a quarterly trash bill to pay.

My phone bill was $200.84. This was very high because I switched to Mint Mobile in January and had to pay off the phone that I had financed through Google Fi including repaying a $100 rebate. I screwed up on switching my phone service. I didn’t realize I had to keep Google Fi service for one more month to qualify for the rebate. If I had I’d have waited one more month before switching service.

The household expense was for a toothbrush, flossers, three t-shirts and a small Valentine’s Day gift for my wife. I got the three t-shirts for a total of 25 cents at Kohl’s. They send me $5 off $5 coupons a few times a year and I usually manage to find some clearance bargains for almost free stuff.

I spent $2.73 on health-related expenses in February. I bought some vitamins and some antacids. This total should be low again this month barring any injuries or illnesses.

Travel expense includes $94 for my Thailand visa and travel insurance. It also includes a $95 annual fee on my Alaska Airlines card, $20 for seat selection on a future flight, and $111.12 for a round trip flight from Bangkok to Los Angeles. The Bangkok-LA flight is so cheap because I used credit card points to pay for most of the fare.

I provided $220 of support to my wife. This covers her food and miscellaneous expenses as well as support she provides to her family.

I think this month’s total expense should be quite a bit lower. I will be traveling which could result in some unexpected expenses.

How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my income for February.

Interest	$44.82
Job	$2109.06
Ebay	$57.21
Other Selling	$64.92
Dividends	$21.50
Bank Bonuses	$750
Cash Back	$99.52
Total	$3147.03

February was my first decent income month in a while. I needed it.

Dividend income came in at $21.50. This is down since I sold a lot of my dividend stocks to contribute to my Roth IRA.

Interest income was $44.82. This might go up this month depending on how I reallocate money from my recently completed bank bonus.

I made a net profit of $57.21 from eBay and another $64.92 other sales.

Job income came in at $2109.06 for the month. This was pretty good considering I only worked about half of the month. I’m hoping they will have another short project available before I return to Thailand.

‘I received $750 from a bank bonus. This was the most lucrative bank bonus I’ve ever received. I’ve got more bonuses in the works, but nothing near as big.

I received $99.52 cash back from a credit card and cash back shopping portals.

I’m hoping to make a decent amount of money over the next couple of weeks since I need to beef up my savings before my trip to Thailand later this month. How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my income for January.

Interest	$45.09
Job	$1078.70
Ebay/Flipping	$34.41
Mystery Shop	$25
Dividends	$41.15
Bank Bonuses	$380
Cash Back	$25
AMZ Merch/KDP	$7.17
Total	$1636.52

January income was an improvement over the last several months, but it is still too low.

Dividend income came in at $41.15. This will be going down since I sold a lot of my dividend stocks to contribute to my Roth IRA. 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.

Interest income was $45.09. This went down since I took a lot of money out to do a bank bonus deal.

I made a net profit of $34.41 from eBay and other sales. I took over a $100 loss on an item I purchased last year or my profit would have been a lot better. It did at least help my cash flow.

Job income came in at $1078.70 for the month. My job started about halfway through the month. It has already ended for this month. I’m hoping they will have another project for me soon.

I received $7.17 from Amazon Merch and Amazon KDP. This was my first time making money from KDP. I wasn’t able to track down what I sold since when I looked in my account it showed zero sales. I’ll just have to trust that they are paying me correctly.

I also received $25 from a mystery shop and $25 cash back from a credit card.

I’m hoping this month’s income will be higher since I need to beef up my savings before my next trip to Thailand. How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for January.

Household	$411.87
Mortgage/Apt	$0
Utilities	$37.58
Entertainment	$15.29
Transportation	$19.03
Food	$86.98
Phone	$103.40
Health	$0
Travel	$7
Support	$200
Total	$881.15

January was a very low expense month.

Entertainment expense was for an Amazon Prime subscription and a lottery ticket.

Rent was $0. My wife’s rent in Thailand is included in the support amount. I will usually account for the rent separately, but I forgot this month and I’m too lazy to go back and do it now.

Transportation was for a partial tank of gas. Since I work from home and didn’t go out of town during the month, I used very little gas.

My food expense was $86.98 That is way better than I have been doing and I might not ever be able to get it that low again. I took advantage of app deals and free food deals at fast food places to get food super cheap. This is reflected in the fact that I had fast food 21 times in January and only spent a total of $65.61. My grocery spending was also kept low due to using a free $25 Walmart gift card. Eating the food I already had at home was one more way I kept my food expense low. I won’t be able to keep my food expense as low this month, but I’m going to aim to keep my fast food bill below January’s level.

Utilities were $37.58. This was so low due in part to using $75 in free gift cards to lower the water/electric bill. It was also artificially low due to delaying paying the internet bill until February so I could pay it with my new credit card that I need to make a minimum spend amount on in order to get a bonus.

My phone bill was $103.40 This was very high because I used a lot of phone data when our home internet was out for 3 days. I switched to Mint Mobile in January and this total also includes the first six months of service with them. This will eventually save me a lot of money.

The household expense was mainly my $410 annual bar enrollment fee. I hate paying it, but it is necessary for my employment. Household expense should be way down this month since I won’t have any similar fees to pay.

I didn’t spend any money on health related expenses in January. I think that might be the first time that has ever happened. It might happen again this month. If not, my health expense this month should still be very low.

Travel expense includes the taxes on my next award flight to Thailand.

I also gave $200 to my wife. This covered her rent and a new tire for her motorbike. Rent is super cheap in Thailand.

This month’s total expense will probably be higher since it is difficult to keep expenses so low. It is crazy that if it were not for my $410 annual attorney enrollment fee I would have had less than $500 in expenses.

How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my income for December.

Interest	$83.35
Swagbucks	$33
Ebay	$61.62
Class Action	$5.21
Dividends	$43.77
Flipping	$117.15
Total	$344.10

December was another very low-income month since I don’t currently have a way to earn decent money while I am in Thailand.

Dividend income came in at $43.77. This will be going down since I sold a lot of my dividend stocks to contribute to my Roth IRA. In just 4 years I’ll be able to take money from my Roth tax-free so it makes sense to get more money in there now. 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.

Interest income was $83.35 This increased a little as interest rates went up again. This will go down this month since I took a lot of money out to do a bank bonus deal.

I received $61.62 from eBay and $117.15 from sales elsewhere.

I also received $5.21 from a random class action and $33 from a Swagbucks deal.

This month’s income should be higher since I start my new job in the middle of the month. It will only be part-time for January though. How was your month?