My February expenses were very low. I stayed within budget for all but one category.
| Monthly Expenses By Category | February |
| Fix Expenses | |
| Mortgage* | 829 |
| HOA / Property Tax | 925 |
| Insurance (HO/Car) | 150 |
| Utility (Electricity, Phone, DSL) | 117 |
| Total Fix Expenses | 2,021 |
| Variable Expenses | |
| Gasoline | 55 |
| Dining Out / Grocery | 291 |
| Clothing/Personal Care | 53 |
| Household | 39 |
| Entertainment/Leisure | 8 |
| Medical/Health | 43 |
| Misc | 203 |
| Total Variable Expenses | 692 |
| Total Monthly Expenses | 2713 |
February was a good month for my expenses. Even though I had a baby shower, a birthday, and Valentine’s day, I was able to limit my gifts to below $150. Instead of taking the BF out for his birthday, I cooked a four course meal for him. Last year he asked me to cook him a three course meal, I took him to a 2-star Michelin restaurant instead, and that cost me an arm and a leg. I chose the more cost friendly path this year and saved myself over $400.
We are experiencing El Nino weather in the Bay Area this season and it has been raining like crazy in February. I am not complaining at all. We were in drought for the last few years and we were not only asked to conserve water usage by 20%, but water cost went up about 65% in my city this year. With the rain, comes the laziness, and I did not want to go out much in February. Besides the food expenses during the Vegas trip and a couple of meals to catch up with friends, I cooked at home most of the time. I am slowly eating away the food in my freezer and pantry, but I still have quite a lot of food. The great thing about making meals at home is that I cook a lot with fresh produce, so I don’t use a lot of precooked or canned/boxed food in my freezer or pantry. I think I can safely say that I will still have frozen/pantry food left when the 5% bonus grocery category kicks in in April.
Not included in this table is an extra monthly payment of $700 to mortgage* principal and a $150 monthly expense for half of a rental property.
February Passive Income = $ 542
February Expenses = $ 2,713
Shortage = $ 2,171
My February passive income covers about 25% of my monthly expenses.
Cheers,
Lady Butterfly
Cheers To Your Wealth! 
Wow way to go. Is your goal to have all of your passive income cover your monthly expenses? Either way, you are doing great.
Thanks Pamela. Yes, my plan is to reduce expenses and increase passive monthly income to eventually have passive income cover all my expenses. I want to reach financial independence and retire early.