November Income – $2871.09

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Here is a breakdown of my income for November.

Online Income

 $467.96

Interest

$0.81

Dividends

$20.31

Cash Back

$64.36

Mystery Shopping

$61

Jobs

$2106.65

Credit Card Bonus

$150

Total

$2871.09

My income was up slightly in November. My job income went up quite a bit due to it being a three paycheck month at my attorney job and my online income went down quite a bit resulting in a very small increase in overall income.

The amount of money I’m making from my jobs doesn’t seem like enough compared to how much I’m working.  When the online income was going good, I was making a lot more money from a lot less work.  I guess that couldn’t last forever.  Since I’m mostly sleeping at the part-time job, I can’t really complain about how little it pays.  I have taken some action that will increase my overall income and am looking for ways to increase it even more.

My sources of passive and alternative income didn’t add up to much, but every little bit helps. I got a nice bonus of $150 for signing up for a new cash back credit card. I got $34.04 from Mr. Rebates which was almost all from my referrals’ purchases. It is nice to have the residual income coming in without any more effort needed on my part.

I will likely have a significant decrease in income this month.  This is because I quit my attorney job so I could move to Kansas City.  I’ve already got a new job with higher pay at a local CPA firm.  It doesn’t start until January though, and it is only for the tax season.  For now, I am picking up extra shifts at my part-time job and might have a possible 1-2 week temporary job starting next week. Once I start working at the new job my income should be even higher than it has been the last couple of months.

 

November Expenses – $1113.82

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for November.

Household

$179.36
Entertainment

$88.71

Transportation

 $595.33

Food

$101.36
Debt $5.00
Phone

$26.81
Health

$117.25

Total

 $1113.82

My expense total for November was very good.  It looks like I will soon be able to get my expenses under $1000 a month. I did not include my vehicle purchase in the expenses.  The money I receive from selling my van should cover my car purchase and associated expenses, any money leftover will be income for December.  If the van sale doesn’t cover the car purchase and associated expenses than I will count the deficit as an expense for December.  Assuming I am able to sell the van this month.

My big expense was once again transportation. I spent well over $500 on gas in November. I’m moving to Kansas City so this expense will go way down this month.  It will be offset by having rent, but my rent will still be less than what I’ve been spending on gas.  My car insurance is due at the end of the month so the transportation category will still be my biggest expense in December.  The category should be way down in January though.

It will be difficult to meet my expense goal of $1000 this month due to moving expenses and my semi-annual car insurance bill.  I should still come close and I think I will be well set up to get my expenses under $1000 in January.

 

 

 

Saving Money on Groceries – $100 Giveaway

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Cutting the grocery bill is one of the easiest ways for most families to save money. The typical American family spends about $6,000 a year on groceries. If they could cut that bill in half they would have an extra $3000 to save or spend elsewhere. Saving money on groceries does not need to take a lot of time or mean sacrificing all of your favorite foods.

One of the simplest ways to save money on groceries is to stop wasting food. Approximately 12% of food bought for the home is wasted. If your family wastes an average amount of food then you could cut your grocery bill by 10% or more without even changing what foods you buy. One way to reduce food waste is to plan out your meals so you only buy groceries that you will use in your meal plan. If you take leftovers for lunch you can save money two ways. One, by not wasting the leftover food and two, by not having to buy lunch. If you get tired of leftovers then you can figure out a way to incorporate your leftovers into a new meal.

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My New Car – 2002 Ford Focus

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2002 Ford FocusI bought a new to me car, it is a 2002 Ford Focus. I paid $3000 which I considered to be a fair price, although the mileage of 181,000 is higher than I would like. Since the car gets about 30mpg compared to 16-18mpg for my van the car should pay for itself from gas savings in a little over a year based on my current driving habits.

I purchased the car with my credit card. I’ll earn a little cash back by using my card. I’m hoping that I can sell my van quick enough to pay the credit card off before interest starts accruing. If not then I might have been better off with different financing for the car. I’m thinking I should be able to sell the van for enough money to pay off the car plus put a little cash in my pocket. I’m also paying down the card as quickly as possible in case the van doesn’t sell as quickly as I hope. I have my 2000 GMC Safari up on Craigslist but so far the only responses I’m getting are from scammers. If any readers are looking to buy a van,contact me.

Now that I’m replacing the Safari with a Focus I no longer have the option of living in my vehicle. I still think I could live in a van if I were in a more suitable location. The Focus is a hatchback so I could sleep in it in a pinch but it wouldn’t be too comfortable. Sometime next year I’ll go camping in the Focus and see how well it works for sleeping.

Buying another car so soon after buying the van will cost me some money in depreciation, taxes, and fees. That money should be recouped fairly quickly from much lower gasoline spending though. I also saved a little money on rent during the months I lived in the van. I’m hoping that this car lasts for at least a couple years so that it will prove to a be a financially smart purchase.

Double Check Your Paycheck

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You should always double check your paycheck to make sure there are no errors. I’ve found mistakes several times over the years and they were never in my favor. If your paycheck is the same every week then checking your check is pretty easy. You just have to check it once and as long as nothing changes you are good. My paychecks are always different since I always work a different number of hours but it takes less than a minute to scan the check and make sure it is correct.

The most recent mistake I found was at my part-time job. They were taking out Kansas City, MO city income tax. Since I don’t live or work in Kansas City I shouldn’t be paying that tax. I guess since most of their employees live in Kansas City they just automatically take the city tax out. Or it may have been based on zip code since the address I used for that job has a zip code that includes both Kansas City and a suburb of Kansas City.

Fixing the problem wasn’t too difficult. I just called the payroll department and explained the problem. They then told me they would fix my checks so that the tax was no longer taken out and refund the tax that had already been taken out. I received that check today and they did fix it correctly.

The city income tax was only 1% but that adds up after a while and I need the money more than the city. This advice can also apply to your monthly bills, credit card statements, bank statements, and similar items that can cost you money if they are not figured correctly.

Have you ever found a mistake on your paycheck? Was it in your favor or theirs?