monthly expenses

November Expenses – $1000.41

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for November.

Household

$404.25

Entertainment

$190.60

Transportation

 $187.56

Food

$49.39
Medical/Dental

$57.44

Utilities

$91.17
Debt $20

Total

$1000.41

My expenses for November were at a reasonable level.  I set a goal of keeping them under $1000 a month and I only went 41 cents over so I’m not going to feel bad about that.  Food and transportation were both down significantly this month.  This is because I ate out less often and didn’t drive as much.  Food costs only include when I eat out by myself and the few groceries that I buy for the household.

My transportation expense should be even lower this month unless I buy a couple more tires which I do need to do before too long.  The entertainment total included a couple nights hotel in Kansas City for a quick getaway my wife and I took after Thanksgiving.  There shouldn’t be any getaways this month so that expense should go down.

My household expense might go up a little since I will be including Christmas gifts in that but I have earned a few gift cards from SwagBucks and elsewhere that should keep that cost down. We still didn’t have to turn on our heat in November so utilities should be about the same. Other costs should be about the same as well.

March Expenses – $1730.96

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March’s expenses got a little out of control. I spent quite a bit more than I had planned. Since I was hiking most of the month I don’t have expenses divided up by category. Even the total of $1730.96 is a rough estimate that I came up with by adding up my debit and credit card charges and my ATM withdrawals.

April should have a much lower level of expenses. Expenses should be under $1000 and I hope to have them well under that amount.

February Expenses – $1204.82

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for February.

Household

$423.51

Entertainment

$31.49

Transportation

 $138.72

Food

$120.50
Dental

$96

Phone

$35.03

Debt

 $30.00

Travel

 $328.67

Total

$1203.92

February’s expenses were a little higher than I would prefer but within reason. If I were to deduct my gambling winnings from my travel costs my travel costs would have been lower and I might have made it under my target of $1000 in total expenses for the month.

December Expenses – $938.65

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for December.

Household

$398.22

Entertainment

$72.61

Transportation

 $91.21

Food

$90.98

Health

$61.66

Phone

$34.63

Debt

 $189.34

Total

$938.65

December wasn’t a bad month but there is room for improvement. The debt category is too high but it will be going down because I have refinanced it to 0% for 12 months and I will pay the remainder of it off at the end of the 12 months. That will help reduce my monthly expenses. My entertainment expense might go down a little this month.  At some point this year I will be traveling though and that will more than make up for any decrease in my entertainment budget. There isn’t much else to be cut down at this point.

November Expenses – $1098.55

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for November.

Household

$440.61

Entertainment

$76.98

Transportation

 $118.99

Food

$160.25

Health

$90.66

Phone

$46.06

Debt

 $165.00

Total

$1098.55

I wasn’t too far off my goal of keeping my monthly expenses under $1000. Considering I moved into a new apartment this expense level is reasonable. My food category was pretty high which isn’t surprising since I had at least 30 restaurant meals during the month. That category should be much lower this month.  I might be able to shave a little off my entertainment budget.  My transportation expense will go up because I have to do a lot more driving now that I have a job.  Everything else should stay about the same.

If you are eligible for part of the $500 giveaway I would still like to hear your opinion on how to distribute the money.