So I’ve been trying to decide next steps for this blog. Does it still make sense to have a monthly report? What is the benefit of this? I guess it gives me a good picture of how the month went at a more macro level, which I would definitely not take the time to analyze otherwise.
Half of me wants to just keep going as I have been for the past year. The other half wants to scrap the whole blog, and maybe start a new one that’s more generic and less specific to my situation. Like, a helpful place for newbs who want to improve their financial situation. I then must ask myself, how much time am I willing to contribute to make it worth your/their/my while? Any suggestions you have are appreciated. In the meantime…
Stats for Month 13
Saved: $457 (This will slowly climb as I pay off our final $2500 in debt over the next couple of months).
Extra Income from Side Hustles: $171. Facebook sales + Usertesting.com income.
Debt Repayment: Mortgage Principal: $1072. LOC: $1400
Expenses:
| Category | OCTOBER | Relevant Notes of Noteyness |
| Mortgage Principal, Interest, Property Tax, Insurance | 1810 | |
| Interest & Banking Fees | 26 | It’s going down! Soon to be zero, I hope. |
| Child Care | 344 | |
| Parking | 115 | |
| Auto Insurance | 92 | |
| Electric | 256 | |
| Home Phone, ISP and 2 Mobile Phones | 199 | Got a credit this month from cutting the cable. WOOT! |
| Life Insurance | 156 | |
| Netflix | 14 | |
| Water & Sewer | 236 | |
| Home Insurance (pre-paid until June 2020) | 0 | |
| Groceries, Toiletries, Household Supplies | 833 | One of the best months we’ve ever had! Need to have more months like this 🙂 |
| Fuel | 244 | |
| Auto Repair, Maintenance, Renewals, License | 28 | A cheap car month. The same will not be said for November. |
| Medical, Eyecare, Prescriptions,Vitamins | 295 | A few extra expenses not covered by Medicare this month. |
| Vacations | 933 | Hubs took a trip this month. Fully funded! |
| Dental | 0 | |
| School Supplies | 0 | |
| Home Imprvmnt, Services, Supplies, Maint | 117 | Snowblower repairs, New Toaster |
| Education | 2 | |
| Health & Fitness, Sports | 0 | |
| Haircuts | 0 | |
| Car Seat | 0 | |
| Gifts & Holiday Expenses | 295 | M’s Birthday present + party, Halloween candy, Xmas gifts. |
| Clothing | 176 | Everyone needed something this month. Includes random cool shirt that Hubs bought me <3 |
| Charitable Donations | 84 | |
| Annual Memberships & Subscriptions | 0 | |
| Heat (Wood & Propane) | 0 | |
| Furniture & Decor | 0 | |
| UNKNOWN EXPENSE | 135 | WHY MUST THIS HAPPEN |
| Allowance M | 0 | |
| Allowance Hubs | 276 | |
| Allowance T | 228 | Savin’ it for my RRSP I will open with Questrade. I’m still calling it an expense until it’s transferred 🙂 |
| Dining Out – Family | 110 | |
| Entertainment – Family | 0 | |
| Lotto Tickets | 13 | Hubs is in a lotto pool. He likes it. So far, we’ve won $0. It’s been several years… |
| Alcohol | 0 | |
| Total Expenses | 7017 | Not quite at our 6k goal, but we’re shooting for an average. |
Concluding Thoughts
Not a terrible month, considering the vacation was in there! Despite my lack of efforts to revamp our shopping habits in regards to groceries, household, and toiletries, we still came in really low compared to previous months. I look forward to working on that more for the month of November. Another monthly report due fairly soon.
That’s it for now, I hope to be providing you with more reading soon. HAPPY WEEKEND!