July Expenses – $1113.26

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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?

June Income – $797.91

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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?

June Expenses – $1730.37

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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?

May Income – $451.10

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Here is a breakdown of my income for May.

Interest$3.40
Cash Back$99.84
Online Income$238.50
Swagbucks Offers$7
Dividends$35.17
BA Refund$67.19
Ebay/Other Selling$0
Total$451.10

May was a low income month since I was in Thailand all month and didn’t have any job income. .

Dividend income came in at $35.17. 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 $99.84 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 $3.40 in interest.

I made $238.50 in online income. I had one advertiser renew their ads for the year. I used to have many advertisers. Now this is the only one. This is enough to cover my hosting and other costs so I won’t complain.

I also received $67.19 from British Airways for a flight that was canceled last year. They initially issued me a voucher. Last month, they decided to issue me a refund instead. I’ll gladly take the miles and cash over a voucher. I’m counting this as income since I did deduct the expense when I purchased the ticket last year. Perhaps, I should have used it to reduce May’s travel expense category.

I’m still in Thailand this month and not working my job so this will be another low-income month. How was your month?

May Expenses : $2222.86

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for May.

Household$93.52
Mortgage/Apt$555
Gifts/Charity$11.62
Visa$730.16
Entertainment$84.64
Transportation$43.95
Food$281.68
Phone$33.94
Health$28.17
Travel$338.27
Total$2222.86

My May expenses were high which was expected since I was in Thailand the entire month.

Entertainment expense was for a New York Times digital subscription, one month of Hulu at 99 cents, one month of Peacock, Thailand Netflix, a concert ticket, and a movie visit. 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. Not having a car here is saving me some money.

My food expense was higher than I’d prefer. It was for two people, but local food is cheap here so this could be a lot lower. I’ll try to have more Thai food and less fast food/Western food this month and I think I should be able to get this total down to about $200.

My phone bill was $33.94. It will probably be about the same this month.

The household expense was for laundry, miscellaneous household items, and fees to get married.

Health expense was for one month’s health insurance premium and a one month gym membership.

Travel expense includes airfare for me and my wife from Chiang Mai to visit her family later this month. I scheduled this so we could stay in Bangkok for a day on the way back. I’ll fly home from Bangkok and my wife will continue on to Chiang Mai. Scheduling it this way reduced the number of flights I had to purchase. It also includes a flight from Chicago to my local airport when I return home.

I also spent $730.16 on expenses associated with getting my wife a visa to come live with me in the United States. This will be a long process and there will be more spent on this.

I’m not sure what this month’s overall expenses will look like. It will depend on how much I spend when I visit my wife’s family and whether I have any visa expenses due during the month.

How was your month?