Frugality

Here is a breakdown of my income for October.

Interest	$289.59
Dividends	$19.81
Job	$2996.32
Other Selling	$18.74
Cashback	$32.97
Ebay	$94.41
Brokerage Bonus	$100
Total	$3551.84

October was another solid income month.

Dividend income came in at $19.81.

Interest income was $289.59 This will decline this month since interest rates have gone down, and I don’t currently have any money in a CD or other instrument that earns higher interest than my savings accounts.

I made $94.41from eBay and $18.74 from other selling. I currently don’t spend much time on this since it is more profitable to spend that time working at my job.

I made $32.97 from cash back.

I made $2996.32 from job income.

I had a brokerage bonus of $100. I try to always be working towards one bank/brokerage bonus and a credit card bonus.

This month should be about the same. My job income might be a little smaller due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for July.

Household	$7.03
Mortgage/Apt	$355
Support	$286.71
Entertainment	$39
Transportation	$124.53
Food	$152.13
Phone	$33.28
Health	$1.98
Travel	$113.60
Total	$1113.26

My July expenses were about as low as I can get them anymore. I was happy with the level of expenses.

Entertainment expense was for a New York Times digital subscription, one month of Hulu at 99 cents, a month of Amazon Prime, a lottery ticket and a movie visit with concessions. That was a lot of entertainment for the price.

The mortgage payment was my regular mortgage payment. I

Transportation was for gas and parking. The higher gas prices didn’t affect me much since I work at home. I did go to the city an hour away from me a couple of times or this total would have been much lower.

My food expense was reasonable considering how much inflation has raised food prices. My old goal of $100 a month is much more difficult to achieve now and I’m not trying to achieve that level anymore.

My phone bill was $33.28. It was slightly higher than normal due to increased data usage. It should be slightly lower this month.

The household expense was for a photo and some kraft paper.

Health expense was for one month’s health insurance premium.

Travel expense includes the annual fee on one of my credit cards and taxes on an award ticket for my next flight to Thailand.

There also was an expense of $286.71 to help my wife with some of her expenses in Thailand

This month’s expenses should be about the same.

How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my income for June.

Interest	$5.83
Cash Back	$54.46
Online Income	($14.16)
Swagbucks Offers	$5
Dividends	$42.66
Class Action	$25.37
Ebay/Other Selling	$48.52
Amazon Merch	$5.23
CC/Other Promos	$25
Bank Bonus	$600
Total	$797.91

June was another low-income month since I was in Thailand all month and didn’t have any job income.

Dividend income came in at $42.66. 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.

I received $54.46 in cash back income. If you sign up for Rakuten using my referral link you can start earning cash back too and I’ll get a small bonus for referring you. These little bits of referral income help me keep the blog going.

Interest income was $5.83.

I had negative $14.16 in online income. I had to pay for a domain name renewal and I didn’t have any income for the month. I think I might get an Adsense payout this month, otherwise I probably won’t have any online income for the month.

I received $5 from a Swagbucks offer and $25 for a couple of other promos. I also received $5.23 from Amazon Merch.

I received a total of $25.37 from four different class actions. None of them were very large, but I will take the free money.

My big money maker for the month was the $600 bank bonus. I plan to do a bank bonus or similar bonus every month while I’m in the U.S. We will see if I follow through.

It was nice to see that all of my different income streams added up to a somewhat decent amount this month. I’m back working my document review job this month so I should have a much higher income in July. How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my expenses for June.

Household	$60.33
Mortgage/Apt	$444.46
Gifts/Charity	$770.20
Entertainment	$45.86
Transportation	$50.92
Food	$156.25
Phone	$28.94
Health	$26.52
Travel	$146.89
Total	$1730.37

My June expenses were high which was expected since I was in Thailand for most of the month.

Entertainment expense was for a New York Times digital subscription, one month of Hulu at 99 cents, and a couple of movie visits with concessions. That was a lot of entertainment for the price.

The mortgage payment was my regular mortgage payment. I also had a month’s rent for the apartment I’m staying in with my wife here in Thailand.

Transportation was for taxis in Thailand and one tank of gas in the U.S. The high gas prices didn’t affect me much in Thailand since I didn’t drive anywhere. They still shouldn’t have much of a direct effect on me since I work at home and don’t drive much.

My food expense was very reasonable since I was often paying for two people. This expense was reduced a lot by eating more local food and just watching what I spent more carefully.

My phone bill was $28.94. It will probably be a little higher this month.

The household expense was for laundry, miscellaneous household items, and a couple items for my Thai wedding.

Health expense was for one month’s health insurance premium, some over the counter meds, and refills of my prescription meds.

Travel expense includes three nights hotel in Thailand, a long-distance shuttle in Thailand from the local airport to my wife’s village and back, a couple of short taxi rides in Thailand, and a tip for my hotel shuttle driver back in the U.S.

The big expense was spending $770.20 on gifts and charity. Most of this was for sin sod which is the Thai version of a dowry.

This month’s expenses should be lower since I plan on working at home and not going anywhere all month.

How was your month?

Here is a breakdown of my income for November.

Interest	$3.08
Amazon FBA	$0.67
Job	$1374.23
Cashback	$114.51
Dividends	$36.59
Ebay/Other Selling	$1547.08
Class Action	$146.14
Bank Bonuses	$370
Total	$3592.30

November was a solid month for income.

I made $146.14 from the GM ignition switch class action settlement. This was unexpected. Apparently, I had two qualify vehicles for this settlement.

My Amazon FBA side hustle made a profit of $0.67. I only sold one item for a tiny profit during the month. I’ve mostly abandoned Amazon for eBay and other selling platforms.

Dividend income came in at $36.59. I’m adding a little every month to my stocks and slowly increasing the dividend total. 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.

I made $1547.08 selling stuff on eBay and elsewhere. I was once again pretty lucky at flipping some hard to find items.

I received $114.51 in cash back income. If you sign up for Rakuten using my referral link you can start earning cash back too and I’ll get a small bonus for referring you. These little bits of referral income help me keep the blog going.

I received $3.08 in interest.

I received $1374.23 for working a doc review job during the month. There was only one week that they had a full 40 hours of work for me, but I earned a little during a couple of other weeks.

I’m now in Thailand and will be staying here for December and January. That will keep me from earning much in those months. How was your month?