DD’s Monthly Expenses – November 2009

School has been kicking my butt lately.  I’ve never looked forward to Thanksgiving as much as I did this year, and then it flew by way too fast.  Hopefully I’ll be able to find some time to squeeze out some posts during finals week.

As you long time readers know, I track my family’s expenses.  Below is the damage from November:

  • $840.39 – Mortgage
  • $759.20 – Health Insurance
  • $600.32 – Dishwasher (Repair & Replace)
  • $520.49 – Groceries
  • $450.00 – Preschool
  • $176.73 – Household Misc
  • $155.00 – Student Loan
  • $152.56 – Christmas Presents
  • $148.19 – Electricity
  • $141.73  – Beauty Products/Services
  • $114.06 – Dog
  • $103.65 – Phone/Internet
  • $89.98  – Contacts
  • $85.00  – Eye Exam
  • $77.92  – Dinning Out
  • $67.72  – Gas
  • $56.00  – Utilities (Garbage, Sewer, Water)
  • $42.40   – Gift
  • $42.35  – Vehicle maintenance
  • $36.96  – Medical
  • $34.00  – Donations
  • $14.51  – Kids Care
  • $4.81   – Kids fun
  • $2.00   – Tennis
  • $0.17   –  Music (i-Tunes)

For a grand total of $4717.14!

I’m a little surprised this total wasn’t higher.

Biggest Budget Busters:

  1. $600.32 – Dishwasher (Repair & Replace) – In the middle of the month we noticed that the dishwasher wasn’t getting dishes that clean anymore.  Then it quit draining.  So we had it serviced ($85).  Then after a week, it acted up again.  Instead of putting more money into it, we replaced it ($515).  Not how we wanted to start the holidays 🙁
  2. $520.49 – Groceries – Hey, we spent $10 less than last month!!! But it’s still way over what we normally spend.  The $50 I spent on Hemp milk probably didn’t help (We’re still having smoothies for breakfast).
  3. $152.56 – Christmas Presents – I’m including this here, because while this total isn’t so bad yet, I fear it’s the tip of the iceberg.  As much as I want to stimulate the economy, I think its best to nip this category in the bud before it gets out of hand.
  4. $141.73  – Beauty Products/Services – For once none of this is for me 🙂  Half of this is for skin care products for my 2-yr old son (he has horribly dry skin) and the other half was for my lovely wife.
  5. $114.06 – Dog – This seems high, but half of it is food (big bag) and half of it is for eye drops.  Luckily both of these things will last for a while, so it’s not like we spend this month every month.  Although I did notice that she’s due for some shots.

Biggest Budget Breakthroughs:

  1. $14.51  – Kids Care – The above mentioned 2-yr old, the one with really dry skin, is getting closer to being potty trained.  I can’t wait until I don’t have to buy diapers anymore.
  2. $0.17   –  Music (i-Tunes) – This is the first time I have ever listed an expense in this category.  You know why?  iTunes gift cards.  Two Christmas’s ago I made out like a bandit and I haven’t spent a non Pearl Jam dime on music since.  Well they finally ran out (hence the strange total), so I’m on my own again.  Hey, speaking of Pearl Jam, did you catch them on Austin City Limits?   ROCK ON!!!

~Let’s do the Time Warp~

Last November we only spent $3129.00!   Holy European Carry-all Batman, how can that be?

Before I freak out too much I should point out that if you take out Health Insurance and the Dishwasher, we’d be looking pretty spiffy this month too.

And lets face it, looking spiffy is what it’s all about.

Until next time,

-DD

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