expense tracking

April Expenses- $825.80

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for April.

Household

$412.16

Transportation

$12.25

Food

$59.02

Entertainment

$166.72

Education/Debt

$80.00

Phone

$33.99

Medical/Dental

$61.66

Total

$825.80

This was a good month being slightly under a $10,000 a year budget.  My food expense was a little high since this figure is only for lunches and snacks.  I need to cut back on the fast food and junk food.  Entertainment was high since I spent $80 on gambling.

My expenses for this should go down if I go on my hike.  If I don’t hike my expenses will likely go up this month.  I’d like to hike but I have an opportunity to make good money over the next couple months.  If that opportunity does not come through than I will go hiking.  Either way is pretty good.  I should find out tomorrow if I get the money-making opportunity. If so it will start almost immediately, if not I’ll be leaving for my hike on Monday.

March Expenses- $989.20

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for March.

Household $491.15
Transportation $16.50
Food $46.43
Entertainment $222.95
Debt/Education $116.00
Phone $34.51
Medical/Dental $61.66
Total $989.20

My expenses were up a little from the previous month due to purchasing a plane ticket to Atlanta to start my hike next month and school expenses. My food expense was too high last month and I’m going to cut that back down this month.  My entertainment expense was also a little high even without my plane ticket so I’ll look at those expenses a little more closely this month.  My school expenses should go down this month since I don’t have any graduation expenses or books to buy this month.  Everything else should be about the same.

I barely met my goal of keeping my monthly expenses under $1000.  To meet my goal of having my yearly expenses under $10,000 I need to cut my monthly budget even more.  That should happen once I start hiking.

September Expenses- $756.50

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for September.

Household

$382.98

Utilities

$89.40

Transportation

$80.70

Food

$28.69

Entertainment

$72.12

Student Loan Debt/Education

$102.61

Total

$756.50

I was quite happy with how low my expenses were last month.  I was lucky in that none of my irregular expenses were due and no unusual expenses popped up.  I won’t be able to repeat such a low amount this month because my $200 quarterly health insurance payment is due.  Most other expenses should remain roughly the same.  This is the first month I won’t be paying rent on my own apartment but rather contributing a similar amount to my GF as my contribution towards our household expenses.  This shouldn’t make much difference in my finances but we’ll see what happens.