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End of Month Lookback

October 1st, 2015 at 04:56 am

Ugh....What can I say? I haven't looked at our investment accounts or retirement accounts until now. We'll we've lost about 10% in retirement down from 6/15/16 $575k to $520k. And we're not adding to it either this year anymore so it's a bit frustrating. Our taxable accounts are down $40k but part of that is from our investments going down $33k. $7k for a move, month long trip, deposits, and start up costs is not terrible. Of course our investments tanking is a sorry thing.

Unfortunately our burn rate needs to come down we're been spending way to much money on just getting set up again. How bad has it been? Well the utilities weren't bad this month we paid trash $52 until end of October, $59 for electric/gas, $99 to set up internet with comcast $50, downgraded our cell phones to $90/month from $130 and am waiting for the water bill. We spent $137 for the month on car gas.

So the food budget and pet budget are where we are bleeding money. We spent $203 on eating out, way too high I think. But I'm having trouble curbing my husband. He's not willing up a coffee from starbucks and wants it almost daily. Our groceries this month was $1122! OMG. Granted a lot of it was set up stuff like toilet paper, paper towels, diapers, shampoo, body wash, cleaning supplies, and basic kitchen stuff. We used up mostly everything and gave away stuff that would have been difficult to move. Also we had to buy a lot of stuff to start up the kitchen like a spice rack for $25 from costco. But honestly it was everything else that added up quickly. Canola, sesame, evoo, balsamic, red, cider, white vinegars, soy sauce, mirin, cooking wine, etc. A shopping trip to the ethnic markets we spent $100 on spices and other stuff. The cleaning supplies from costco was another $100. Moving is a lot more expensive out of town than probably people realize. I certainly didn't expect all these expenses.

Hope that we are able to curb our budget next month.

5 Responses to “End of Month Lookback”

  1. snafu Says:
    1443676775

    It's important to note fees if required for utilities since they are tax deductible expenses resulting from a move for new employment. Interesting to note costs and time frame for basic, long term kitchen supplies and cleaning products. Do they last 4 months, 6 months or? I make laundry detergent only because the results are excellent and worth the effort. When the current supply of DW detergent is used up I plan to try out home made DW detergent.

  2. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1443697572

    Yes moving and getting set up in a new place is definitely expensive!

    Do you and your DH have separate spending money categories? Maybe if you put DHs Starbucks spending where it had to come out of his pocket money ... Smile

  3. creditcardfree Says:
    1443698072

    My husband gets a coffee every work day too. He did suggest maybe bringing coffee to work again and getting a thermos or carafe to keep it hot all day. That is an expense that would be an investment in buying less. He spends exactly $2.32 each work day. Smile

  4. Elle [is for Lemon] Says:
    1443703219

    I've been there, so I know it's difficult when spending that much on eating out AND groceries. Some months, it's one or the other, some times it's both! Especially now that the kids are back in school. We have to have the staples... but who always wants to cook dinner? I will say, since pulling a report from my online banking, we've cut out a LOT of eating out this month (Sept.) Hey, chin up! It's a new month!

  5. Livingalmostlarge Says:
    1443718748

    Snafu, I'm unsure how long these supplies last. Kitchen maybe 3-6 and same for cleaning. But I'm not sure how to make dish soap, we don't run the dishwasher much.

    Frugaltexan we've never done spending money and now I feel like we should be watching our pennies without income and unsure when it'll start back up.

    CCF my DH likes a plain venti starbucks. I'm annoyed by the fact he wants a coffee everyday when he can stay at home and drink the pods for 20 cents a pod or make a pot for less.

    Elle the eating out I didn't feel too bad about it was a total 8 times and 1 coffee. But once was my DH eating out because he took the dog to the vet. I am worried our grocery bills will continue to be that high. I think we need to get into a routine and i'm curious how consistent I can get it to be eating out say 18-19 meals a week out of 21. I think we'll aim to eat out or take out 1-2x/week.

    I find before I wouldn't have cared and we have cut back a lot on eating out. But the groceries I'm worried will we really have to spend that much monthly or was it an aberrant month? Hoping it's an aberrant month.

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