Expense/Income Tracking

November Expenses- $1027.14

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for November.

Household $530.00
Transportation $127.09
Food $33.31
Entertainment $212.47
Debt/Education $90
Phone $34.27
Total $1027.14

I just missed my target of $1000 for monthly expenses.  My household expenses were high because they include Christmas shopping.  I have very little shopping left to do this month so my household expenses will decrease.  Entertainment was way too high for the month.  Now that I have the gambling bug out of my system this expense will be significantly reduced.  I did manage to get my food expense lower and plan to maintain this expense at the same level this month.  My food expense only includes lunches out or snacks that I buy.  I plan to get rid of my car this month so my transportation expense will decrease.  The total for November is artificially high because it includes payment of my auto insurance.  I will get back most of that when I cancel my insurance after I get rid of my car.  I expect to get my expenses well under $1000 this month, I just have to make sure Christmas or other unexpected expenses don’t get out of hand.

November Income- $630.09

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Here is a breakdown of my income for November.

Online Income $369.03
Cash Back $22.40
Interest $12.77
Dividends $35.89
Medical Study $175.00
Surveys/Mystery shopping $15.00
Total $630.09

My income was down quite a bit from the previous month but that was mostly expected.  I did do some things to try to increase my income but any results will not be seen until this month. I count my income when I receive it, not when I make it.

I do have a new category this month for stock dividends.  I will be receiving dividends every month but the total will be lower this month since I won’t be receiving any quarterly or semi-annual dividends. Overall, my income will probably stay the same this month but I will try to increase it.

October Investment Income- $41.34

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Last month was not a good month for my retirement savings. I lost about $1000 in my Roth IRA which was a significant amount considering I only had $5500 in there.  I managed to increase my monthly income but only because I added $3000 to my savings last month.  Increasing my monthly investment income from $32.01 to $41.34 was good though.  Unfortunately I won’t be able to add a large amount to my retirement savings until sometime next year.  I’m rethinking my investment strategy for retirement and I’ll share that strategy in a post later today.

Disclaimer:This is not my actual investment income. To get this figure I first add up my retirement accounts, 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.

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October Income- $709.64

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Here is a breakdown of my income for October.

Online Income $475.59
Bonuses $200
Interest $20.95
Surveys/Cashback $13.10
Total $709.64

My income was pretty good considering I didn’t work.  This is all alternative income. I’m going to have a tough time matching this in November.  I count my income when it is paid rather than when it is earned so I know that this month’s Adsense payment will be considerably less.  It is also unlikely that I’ll make anywhere near $200 in bonuses. I hope to make up some of that elsewhere but it will be difficult.  I’m going to have to come up with some new income ideas or put more work into the existing ideas.

October Expenses- $1157.51

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for October.

Household $418.29
Transportation $131.61
Food $73.85
Entertainment $152.87
Debt/

Education

 $115
Utilities $64.97
Health Insurance $200.92
Total $1157.51

My overall expense level was reasonable. I didn’t meet my goal of $1000 a month in expenses. That goal would have been met though if I didn’t have my quarterly health insurance payment of $200. I did spend way too much on food. I ate out almost every day which not only cost me money but caused me to gain weight and wasted a lot of time. I’ll have to do better on that this month. My entertainment expenses were a little high this month but I’m not concerned about that. My other expenses should remain about the same this month. One possible exception is if I do some Christmas shopping this month that will be reflected in my household expenses.