monthly expenses

October Expenses – $1446.44

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for September.

Household

$406.98

Entertainment

$54.61

Transportation

 $601.89

Food

$84.33

Medical/Dental

$61.66

Phone

$11.77

Education

 $52.20

Debt

 $173.00

Total

$1446.44

My expenses were a little high this month. That was mainly due to my car purchase. I left out the cost of the car purchase to keep my monthly figure from being skewed too much. I did count the expense of sales tax, registration, and insurance though which caused my transportation expense to be high. I should get my expenses back down to the $1000 level this month.

At the end of October my car had a cost per mile of $4.98. That isn’t too bad considering I had only had it a couple weeks. By the end of this month that figure should be way down. If I were to take out the purchase price from my total car cost I would obviously have a much cheaper cost per mile. Even though I could probably sell my car for close to what I bought it I am going to keep the purchase cost in my total cost since I plan to drive the car until it is near worthless.

September Expenses – $1435.49

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for September.

Household

$136.63

Entertainment

$71.45

Transportation

 $11.89

Food

$162.56

Medical/Dental

$61.66

Phone

$34.67

Travel

 $774.63

Debt

 $182.00

Total

$1435.49

My expenses were higher than I would prefer in September but not too bad considering I was traveling most of the month. The travel expense was the budget killer. This amount was what I spent on airfare, hotel rooms, taxis, and buses. I find it hard to believe I spent that much but I did. I probably won’t travel at all this month so this category will go down to zero. The food budget was also high since I ate out for most of my meals. My food expense should go back to normal this month.  My household expense was  low this month since my GF allowed me to not pay rent while I was gone.  This amount will go back to normal this month.  My transportation expense was low this month since most of my transportation costs were included in the travel category.  That expense will go up this month but it should still be fairly low.  My other categories should remain about the same.

It is now obvious that I will not meet my goal of keeping my expenses to under $10,000 for the year.  I may have already passed that expense level but I haven’t added up my monthly expenses yet to be sure.  I will still try to keep my expenses low for the rest of the year and I will probably set a similar goal next year.

August Expenses – $1057.14

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Here are my expenses for August.

Household

$304.02

Entertainment

$34.98

Transportation

 $95.48

Food

$94.13

Medical/Dental

$61.66

Phone

$36.51

Travel

 $241.36

Debt

 $189.00

Total

$1057.14

My expenses were reasonable this month. I would have been under $1000 but Chase raised the minimum payment on my debt from 2% to 5%. I might just go ahead and pay that off.  September expenses should be much lower.  I will be able to rent a room for $85 a month in Xela.  The cost of the plane tickets has been accounted for in earlier months so my only travel costs will be the bus to Xela and the taxi to the bus station and perhaps one night in a hotel.  My next post should be from Guatemala.

November Expenses- $1027.14

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for November.

Household $530.00
Transportation $127.09
Food $33.31
Entertainment $212.47
Debt/Education $90
Phone $34.27
Total $1027.14

I just missed my target of $1000 for monthly expenses.  My household expenses were high because they include Christmas shopping.  I have very little shopping left to do this month so my household expenses will decrease.  Entertainment was way too high for the month.  Now that I have the gambling bug out of my system this expense will be significantly reduced.  I did manage to get my food expense lower and plan to maintain this expense at the same level this month.  My food expense only includes lunches out or snacks that I buy.  I plan to get rid of my car this month so my transportation expense will decrease.  The total for November is artificially high because it includes payment of my auto insurance.  I will get back most of that when I cancel my insurance after I get rid of my car.  I expect to get my expenses well under $1000 this month, I just have to make sure Christmas or other unexpected expenses don’t get out of hand.

October Expenses- $1157.51

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Here is a breakdown of my expenses for October.

Household $418.29
Transportation $131.61
Food $73.85
Entertainment $152.87
Debt/

Education

 $115
Utilities $64.97
Health Insurance $200.92
Total $1157.51

My overall expense level was reasonable. I didn’t meet my goal of $1000 a month in expenses. That goal would have been met though if I didn’t have my quarterly health insurance payment of $200. I did spend way too much on food. I ate out almost every day which not only cost me money but caused me to gain weight and wasted a lot of time. I’ll have to do better on that this month. My entertainment expenses were a little high this month but I’m not concerned about that. My other expenses should remain about the same this month. One possible exception is if I do some Christmas shopping this month that will be reflected in my household expenses.