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This is a new series I started a few months ago, sharing a report of our monthly expenses. At the end of the year I shared a recap of our 2017 spending, which showed graphs and percentages that we spent in each category. I decided to take the transparency up a notch and start sharing some monthly numbers. You can check out last month’s expenses here.
Sharing our expenses involves vulnerability, but after contemplating it for quite some time it seemed important. The goal with these expense reports will be to keep ourselves accountable as we continue on the road of being mindful with our spending. It’s also my hope that it will help spark conversations and encourage others to examine their own budgets.
We use Mint to budget and track our expenses. You can check out my writeup about how we use Mint for our budgeting here.
Without further ado, here’s where we spent our money this month:
September 2018 Expenses
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | $2344.44 | Includes rent + water/trash/sewage. The price of living in a high-cost of living area. |
| Renters Insurance | $172.00 | Decided to pay for the full year, to have one less monthly bill |
| Utilities | $13.73 | The benefit of living in an apartment! |
| Auto Insurance | $268.10 | |
| Service & Parts | $272.68 | Oil changes, tire rotations, and replacing the air filters for both cars. |
| Gas | $153.05 | |
| Mobile Phone | $109.97 | |
| Internet | $38.65 | |
| Entertainment | $250.39 | Basketball league fees, concert tickets, standup paddle-boarding. |
| Groceries | $212.86 | |
| Restaurants | $105.64 | |
| Pets | $64.44 | Dog-sitting fees with Rover for upcoming travel |
| Shopping | $305.79 | Bought some new dress shirts for work, home supplies |
| Travel | $165.00 | Basketball tickets for our trip to Dallas this month |
| Misc Expenses | $155.00 | |
| Fun Money | $83.26 | |
| Gifts | $50.98 | |
| Total | $4765.98 | Doesn't include savings, investments, and giving. |
- Dividend Income: $117.05
- Interest Income: $27.32
- Side Hustle Income: $561.43
These past few years on our financial journey we’ve challenged everything and trimmed down our expenses, but our spending is still a work in progress.
Nothing too crazy for us this month, other than some routine car maintenance, clothing, and concert tickets. Considering how much of our monthly budget is allocated towards housing expenses, we’re proud of this figure.
With each paycheck that comes in, our investments and cash savings continue to grow, as we put the systems in place and now they just run in the background automatically. Once you get your money mapped out where you want it to go, it becomes a game of patience as your wealth grows.
We continue to look to cut back on the areas that don’t matter as much, so that we can put money towards the areas we truly value. Mindful spending is a big focus for us and we continue to improve at it.
Other Financial Updates
Another month in the books! We continue to love the freedom of having no debt, and less monthly payments. It’s much easier to save and invest more when less of our money is allocated towards payments and subscriptions.
We renewed our apartment lease for another year. Unfortunately, when living in such a high cost of living area, this means there is a rent increase every year. Our rent increased by $130, which all things considered, isn’t too bad.
My side hustle with a minor league baseball team wrapped up on Labor Day, so this will be the last month with extra income.
Next month we’re visiting Dallas, which is why we purchased some basketball tickets and had some dog-sitting expenses.
We brought in $117 of dividend income. This is money that is being generated by our investments, and then gets reinvested right back into those investment accounts. As our investments grow, eventually we’ll reach the point where this dividend income will be used to pay for some of our living expenses. It’s exciting to see it growing as our investments continue to grow.
Thanks for tuning in to this months expense report, and I hope you’ll check back again for next month’s recap!
Related Reading: Reviewing Our 2017 Spending
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