Friday, June 12, 2009

May 2009 Spending

Here are my May expenses, to complete the monthly wrap-up I started the other day.

Outflows


Business expense
$ 19.45
Clothing
$ 890.79 *
Dining:


Breakfast $ 36.52

Dinner $ 272.70

Groceries $ 109.69

Liquor $ 132.65

Lunch $ 113.36

Total Dining
$ 664.92
Entertainment:


Movies $ 5.41

Entertainment - Other $ 40.00

Total Entertainment
$ 45.41
Gifts Given
$ 78.77
Household:


Laundry $ 23.50

Household - Other $ 52.00

Total Household
$ 75.50
Housing
$ 4,074.17 **
Investment Exp
$ (19.99) ***
Medical:


Dental $ 5.56

Doctor $ 60.00

Flex spend $ 41.66

Health Insurance $ 74.20

Total Medical
$ 181.42
Misc:


Personal care $ 100.00

Misc - Other $ 73.17

Total Misc
$ 173.17
Taxes:


Federal $ 891.14

Medicare $ 113.74

NYC tax $ 207.78

SDI $ 2.60

Soc Sec $ 486.31

State $ 354.12

Total Taxes
$ 2,055.69
Subscriptions:


Internet Access $ 29.95

Magazines $ 49.95

Newspapers $ 42.40

Total Subscriptions
$ 122.30
Travel:


Commute $ 76.00

Total Travel
$ 76.00
Utilities:


Gas & Electric $ 61.48

Telephone $ 76.64

Total Utilities
$ 138.12




Total Outflows
$ 8,575.72


Nothing too weird this month. Clothing was high because A) it's just that time of year when I want to buy new clothes, B) I bought 3 pairs of shoes from Zappos which have already been returned and C) I bought Sweetie $300 worth of stuff for which I'm being reimbursed here and there via meals, groceries, and miscellaneous stuff like plants. Housing is a whopper this month because I sent an extra payment of $2,000 towards the principal of my mortgage. The negative amount for investment expense was a refund of a trade fee from E*Trade.

My salary for the month was $8,017, and I had a couple hundred dollars additional income from interest and dividends. That makes it look like I'm in the red for the month, but that $2,000 to the mortgage wasn't really a true expense, as it goes into home equity and contributes to my overall net worth. I also contributed over $1,400 to my 401k this month.

Next month I'm planning to do a 6-month recap of my expenses vs. my budget, as well as a comparison to my expenses in past years. Should be fun!

16 comments:

Single Ma said...

You know I check out your spending reports just to see how much you spent on liquor. Need to make sure someone is more of a lush than I am. But umm...

Liquor $ 132.65

Are you cutting back?

Single Ma said...

Or maybe I've increased.

Never mind...don't answer that.

Anonymous said...

you drink too much, gal!

Madame X said...

I'm not really THAT much of a lush-- it's high this month because I bought a case of wine which should hopefully last longer than a month! My average monthly liquor spending is lower, about $80 per month year to date.
But I am still trying to cut back on the vino a bit, for health reasons as well as financial ones!

Alfred said...

I have a suggestion for lowering your clothes bill. Wear sweatpants every day. They're very comfortable and they're the next big trend. I live in New York City too and every day people stop me to tell me how cool my pants are. Grey sweats work best, by the way.

Anonymous said...

Do you get a discounted monthly MetroCard pass? I used to pay 76/month until it rose to 81/month. Or do you pay as you go?

Madame X said...

@anon 1:30, I get $76 taken out of my paycheck pretax. I then use that to buy metrocards. I used to get the unlimited one but don't anymore as I haven't been using it as much on the weekends.

@alfred, what a coincidence! I am way ahead of the curve on the sweatpants trend and 10 new pairs is what I spent all that money on this month!

Anonymous said...

I've just started reading your blog and it seems like you have a good amount of savings built up. My question though after looking at your expenses for May are how are you building up these savings? I feel like I'm constantly trying to save money, i.e. everything extra goes to savings. If May is a typical month, where are your savings coming from? Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you've discussed phone before, but do you have a landline? I got rid of mine and only have a cell ($40/month with the cheapest plan of 450 rollover minutes/month.) I plan long conversations for free nights and weekends. I don't use international calling much, but I've read reasonable phone cards can take care of that--reasonable depending on usage, I suppose.

Madame X said...

anon 2:40-- this was not a typical month because I sent $2000 extra to my mortgage. Other than that sort of anomaly, I just consistently spend less than I earn, and I'm fortunate to earn enough to support my desired lifestyle!

anon 2:42-- I can't seem to give up my landline, though I also have a cellphone and a blackberry for work. One of these days I suppose I'll get over it!

Sicilian said...

I appreciate you posting your monthly expenditures. . . . I have a 21 year old who is going to strt her first job post college. . . we have had numerous conversations about budgeting. . . . I am through talking. . . . I am going to send her to your blog.
Ciao

Nobrainerdeals said...

What kind of program do you use for tracking of your bills? Do you input ur receipts daily? I use quicken and should breakdown my dinning even further like yours so I can know exactly hen and what I am spending on.

Anonymous said...

Why pay down your mortgage in advance now? I've thought about this but, in the end, always decide against it because my interest rate is low and presumably I could (?) get a higher return elsewhere. What's your rationale?

makemypovertyhistory said...

Whoah, you've almost got a full on P&L going there! I haven't read you're blog for over a year (I quit my job that allowed me to surf the internet all day), so I'm surprised to see how detailed your expenditure breakdowns are now. I like it!

Unknown said...

Forgive me if you have talked about this somewhere else- but 74.20 for health insurance? What kind do you have, that seems really cheap- I am guessing a 10,000 deductible with a flex spending account through your employer that you use to pay for it- or is it an employee sponsored plan that you just have to pay part of?

Madame X said...

@ David, my health insurance is through work, and my company covers most of the cost.