Thursday, June 05, 2008

May 08 Monthly Recap

My net worth at the end of May was $375,251, a gain of .64%-- it's all due to a decent month in the stock market. My expenses were actually quite high this month, due to one massive item. I'll show them to you a little differently this month: below are all my expense subcategories, straight out of Quicken, so you are seeing 100% of my month's expenses, right down to the penny, in descending order:

Vacation Travel $5,460.00
Housing $2,314.01
Federal tax withheld $907.62
Clothing $531.09
Soc Sec tax withheld $470.22
State tax withheld $339.64
Liquor $211.13
NYC tax withheld $199.32
Misc - Other $195.01
Doctor $155.00
Dinner $151.00
Gas & Electric $142.82
Lunch $127.31
Medicine $119.65
Groceries $118.51
Medicare tax withheld $109.97
Business expense $98.00
Household - Other $97.58
Personal care $90.00
Commute $76.00
Telephone $73.90
Health Insurance $65.48
Gifts Given $48.83
Breakfast $45.08
Flex spend withheld $41.68
Newspapers $40.80
Books $32.46
Laundry $30.00
Internet Access $29.57
Travel - Other $19.71
Dental $5.56
Movies $5.41
SDI withheld $2.60
Charity $1.00
TOTAL $12,355.96

Yes, it's ironic (or something) that this month I have spent a huge amount of money on a vacation, and charity is last on the list at $1. The vacation is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so even though I feel a bit crazy for spending this money, in the bigger picture I'm okay with it. I told myself I'd be really frugal in other areas to kind of make up for it, but that's not really going all that well. It would take an awful lot of do-it-yourself instant oatmeal to save up what I'm spending on this trip!
As for other items, I splurged a bit too much on clothing, but I came in very close to my budget on overall food/dining expenses, despite the fact that over Memorial Day weekend, I stocked up with a case of wine that will last me at least through the first week of June. (Ok, maybe a leeetle bit longer! I'm not that much of a lush!)
As I always like to say, onward and upward! (As long as I can still get up after drinking all that wine!)

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just curious where you're getting internet access for $29.57 monthly.

Madame X said...

My internet is via Time Warner Cable-- it's usually $29.99 but I got a weird little credit this month for some reason.

Nothing fancy to think of .. said...

Probably from an outage that you had. ISPs will usually refund people if you have an outage in your neighborhood, building, block, have an outage. A lot of the time you don't even have to ask for them if they were widespread enough and even if they were during the day (when most people were at work). Mine was down for 8 hours this last month during business hours .. and I got a 3 dollar refund. Of course - I track the time it is down with some online tools ;)

Anonymous said...

Seriously, $1? Who would even track $1? I'm surprised you don't feel embarassed.

Madame X said...

Who would even track $1?

Me! I track every $1, or at least try to, no matter what I spend it on or who I give it to.

Anonymous said...

Embarassed about $1 to charity (not about tracking the $1).

I know you can't bully people into charitable giving, but don't you want to give out of your abundance, as a way of saying "thank you"?

Madame X said...

Anon, the $1 is just for the month of May. There are many months when I give quite a bit more, for the exact reasons you cite. I never quite feel that I give "enough" but "enough" is impossible to define.

Anonymous said...

You go girl! Better to take care of yourself so others don't have to. What you give is up to you and you alone.

OnlyOnSale said...

it is amazing how you calculated ALL of this down to the penny...

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't worry about the vacation expense as long as it's a rare splurge. I agree with you that it will be tough to make it up in savings and thrift elsewhere but the end-goal is prosperity right, not just wealth? Kind of an overall state of well being, happiness, security and abundance rather than just a big pile of money. Doing something that is "once in a lifetime" definitely fits within that philosophy, so no regrets! And hey... post some pictures of the stuff you saw on this adventure! (-:
Cheers!
Odd Lot
http://blog.Money-and-Investing.com