DD’s Monthly Expenses – May 2009

Can you believe it’s June already?

Time is flying by.  As most of you know I track my family’s expenses. Here is the tally for May:

• $989.40 – Auto Repairs
• $830.00 – Mortgage
• $664.10 – Health Insurance
• $615.00 – Daycare
• $496.43 – Groceries
• $325.00 – Preschool Down Payment
• $305.52 – Household Misc
• $205.00 – Student Loan
• $179.59 – Shoes (new tennis shoes & summer kid shoes)
• $173.84 – Park & Rec Classes
• $168.95 – Electricity
• $167.94 – Contacts (6 months)
• $134.30 – Gas
• $124.23 – Gifts (Mother’s Day, Graduation, B-Days)
• $116.64 – Clothing
• $75.00 – Fun Kid stuff (Chucky Cheese, Zoo, Horse Races)
• $70.20 – Phone & Internet
• $61.91 – Dinning Out
• $57.93 – Dog Food
• $53.32 – Utilities (water, sewer, garbage)
• $51.99 – Tree
• $40.00 – Medical
• $4.00 – Powerball

Total Damage = $5910.29

I chuckle when I see this total. I figure it’s better to chuckle than to cry.

Last month I said I wanted to be around the $4000 level.  We were doing fine until mid month when the wheels fell off.  Then it got really bad when I had our van’s A/C fixed at the end of the month.

Biggest Budget Busters:

1. $989.40 – Auto Repairs – I’ve already went on about this long enough.  It’s just part of vehicle ownership.  At least I’ll be riding in comfort on those hot summer days.
2. $496.43 – Groceries – This looks bad, but about 40% of this is from a party we threw.  Every five years or so we throw a big backyard bash…You’re all invited in 2014 for the next one.
3. $305.52 – Household Misc – Last month I was asked what makes up “Household Misc”, I think I’ll break this out in it’s own post.

Biggest Budget Breakthroughs:

1. $325.00 – Preschool Down Payment – It may seem strange to put this in the breakthrough category, but I think in the long run this will end up saving us big time.  I’ll explain further in a future post.
2. $51.99 – Tree – Again, this is listed here because I’m looking forward to enjoying the future benefits of this for years to come.  I’m told that in 5 years our patio will have shade.
3. $4.00 Powerball – I didn’t win the grand prize, but I did triple my money ($12.00)
   

Even when you take out the van repair bill, it was still a very disappointing month.  But that’s the great thing about tracking your expenses…

Every month is a fresh start.

Until next time,

-DD