Friday, May 09, 2008

April 2008 Recap

Okay, my net worth at the end of April was $372,870, up from $357,891 at the end of March for a 4.2% increase. The main factor driving last month's change was my 401k bouncing back after a few really dismal months. I also managed to save some cash, and I was paid back for a fairly large expense that I'd covered for a friend-- I knew I'd get that money back but I hadn't counted the accounts receivable as an asset, so last month's net worth was sort of artificially low.

As for April expenses, here's some categories of note:
Dining: $641, under my $650 budget for a change!
Education: $120 (French class: tuition and an expensive book)
Gifts Given: $377 (some family birthdays)
Household: $123 (some cleaning and gardening supplies)
Clothing: $6 (I bought an expensive pair of jeans, but returned some other items bought in March)
Entertainment: $6 (Netflix)
Subscriptions: $70 (internet and daily newspaper)
Utilities: $114 (electric and telephone)
Housing: $2,314 due to this continuing craziness with the property tax escrow being wrong.
Miscellaneous: $310 (includes a haircut and my genealogy obsession)

I don't know what I was doing all month, but I wasn't really spending too much money, at least compared to some other recent months! That's good but I have to keep reminding myself that I've got an expensive trip with another payment due soon... must not get lazy about saving! Until next month... onwards and upwards!

6 comments:

3beansalad said...

Did you go for the 7 for All Mankind jeans?

Madame X said...

Good memory, 3bean! I actually intended to go for the 7 jeans, but I ended up getting a pair by Citizens of Humanity that fit me better and are really comfortable! $161... groan...

Anonymous said...

Cancel the daily newspaper subscriptionn and read it online. If the newspaper is your thing-to-do on the subway, then find another thing-to-do, like a free book from the library.

Unknown said...

Always curious to know, Madame X how do you go about tracking your spending and breaking it down into categories? Do you use an excel spreadsheet, quicken, etc.? I always use excel, however I don't know excatly what the items or the shops where I am spending the money.

Anonymous said...

Madame X,

Where do you track your groceries purchases? Under Dining?

Tim said...

It drives me nuts when I encounter problems like an escrow account that isn't right...especially if they feel they need to be deducting way too much. Unfortunately, in my case trying to argue this with the bank is almost impossible though until the real tax bill comes.

Tim
TheMoneyKings.com