My October spending is spooky. But thanks to a $5k surprise bonus and a random $1k return of deductible for a year-old car accident that wasn’t my fault my finances evened themselves out this month, and I managed to save a generous portion of my income as well. Go me. Still, I could have saved a lot more if I were smarter with my spending. Here’s the breakdown of how things shook out last month:
Income: $7400
Auto: $972
Rent: $632
Shopping: $537
Travel: $438
Bills: $292
Food: $266
Entertainment: $189
Personal Care: $74
Health: $35
Fees: $24
Other: $31
——————-
Left over: $3,687
+ $1,000 deductible return (which I’m going to cash tomorrow and count towards November)
Let’s break that down a bit…
The biggest $$$ were Auto, Shopping & Travel…
Auto
$750: DUI Legal Fees (the last of the legal fees, fine of $1k – $2k to hit next month, joy.)
$139: Gas
$73: Insurance
Shopping
$100: B. Makowsky Purse, on sale at Nordstrom Rack (org price $260)
$55: Lodis Wallet, on sale at Nordstrom Rack (org price $85)
$80: 1 pair Joe’s Jeans, on sale at Nordstrom Rack (org price $180)
$50: crystal earrings & necklace, not so on sale, at Nordstrom Rack
$90: halloween costume
$104: pair of cute red shoes that I probably didn’t need, but I like them…
$50: pair of beige work shoes, on sale at Marshalls (org $85)
$18: Steve Jobs bio book from Amazon
Travel
$239.40: boyfriend’s flight back from NY for Thanskgiving
$19.40: remainder of my RT flight to & from NY for Thanksgiving (thank goodness for $400 travel certificate I received after being bumped from a flight earlier this year)
$152: hotel & wifi for Personal Finance Blogger Conf, split from total cost w/ my roomie Krystal at Work
$28: taxi transport to personal finance blogger conference
Ok, so basically had I not spent the last of my $3k legal fees for the DUI (the $750) this month wouldn’t have been that bad, even with a little splurging in the shopping department.
It would be wonderful if the DUI expenses would be over at this point, but the $3k is just the beginning — just the legal fees. I’m now looking at a $1k to $2k fine plus the cost of attending drunk driving classes plus random other fees and fines I don’t know about yet. Again, moral of story, don’t be an idiot and think three hours is enough time to sober up. Anyway, I’m not sure when the fine will hit — November or December, but I’m going to be careful with my November and December budgets so I don’t end up in the red. I might not hit my $150k networth goal of the year, but I shouldn’t be too far from it — and next year, with any luck, I can earn a raise and balance out the losses. The bigger losses are coming from my stock purchases anyway, and I really need to start considering my stock account “real” vs “play” money — because it would sure suck to lose it all.
Ah well, at least you have something left over at the end of the month. Sadly with some it's a minus figure and the spiral of debt they are in gets out of control. "$239.40: boyfriend’s flight back from NY for Thanskgiving" You are a kind person.
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