Here is a breakdown of my income for September.
|
Online Income |
$215.10 |
|
Interest |
$77.86 |
|
Stock Dividends |
$86.11 |
|
Survey |
$6 |
|
Total |
$385.07 |
September was not a good month for income. This isn’t too surprising since I was traveling for most of the month. On the positive side $385.07 isn’t bad income since most of it was passive income. I’ve already passed September’s income this month so October should be a much better month for income.
Here is a breakdown of my expenses for September.
|
Household |
$136.63 |
|
Entertainment |
$71.45 |
|
Transportation |
$11.89 |
|
Food |
$162.56 |
|
Medical/Dental |
$61.66 |
|
Phone |
$34.67 |
|
Travel |
$774.63 |
|
Debt |
$182.00 |
|
Total |
$1435.49 |
My expenses were higher than I would prefer in September but not too bad considering I was traveling most of the month. The travel expense was the budget killer. This amount was what I spent on airfare, hotel rooms, taxis, and buses. I find it hard to believe I spent that much but I did. I probably won’t travel at all this month so this category will go down to zero. The food budget was also high since I ate out for most of my meals. My food expense should go back to normal this month. My household expense was low this month since my GF allowed me to not pay rent while I was gone. This amount will go back to normal this month. My transportation expense was low this month since most of my transportation costs were included in the travel category. That expense will go up this month but it should still be fairly low. My other categories should remain about the same.
It is now obvious that I will not meet my goal of keeping my expenses to under $10,000 for the year. I may have already passed that expense level but I haven’t added up my monthly expenses yet to be sure. I will still try to keep my expenses low for the rest of the year and I will probably set a similar goal next year.
My August investment income rose from $82.37 in July to $82.51. This wasn’t much of a rise but considering the market wasn’t doing well and I didn’t add any to my investments this was a good result. Judging from how the market has started September my investment income will likely go down this month as I will not be adding to my investments.
Disclaimer: This is not my actual investment income. To get this figure I first add up my retirement savings, emergency fund, and any other money I consider permanent savings. What the total of my savings would earn at 6% interest for a month is my monthly investment income.
Here is a breakdown of my income for August.
|
Online Income |
$324.55 |
|
Interest |
$96.70 |
|
Bonuses |
$150 |
|
Stock Dividends |
$7.97 |
|
Medical Study |
$100 |
|
Survey |
$9 |
|
Total |
$688.22 |
Income for August was pretty good considering only $100 of it was from a medical study. Some of the figures might be slightly off since I don’t have access to all my records here in Guatemala. My interest was almost enough to pay my rent for September. My goal for September is to make more in alternative income than expenses this should be possible even without a job because my expenses are so low here. Check back next month and we’ll see how I did.
Here are my expenses for August.
|
Household |
$304.02 |
|
Entertainment |
$34.98 |
|
Transportation |
$95.48 |
|
Food |
$94.13 |
|
Medical/Dental |
$61.66 |
|
Phone |
$36.51 |
|
Travel |
$241.36 |
|
Debt |
$189.00 |
|
Total |
$1057.14 |
My expenses were reasonable this month. I would have been under $1000 but Chase raised the minimum payment on my debt from 2% to 5%. I might just go ahead and pay that off. September expenses should be much lower. I will be able to rent a room for $85 a month in Xela. The cost of the plane tickets has been accounted for in earlier months so my only travel costs will be the bus to Xela and the taxi to the bus station and perhaps one night in a hotel. My next post should be from Guatemala.