I am posting my October expenses a little late, but better late than never. My October expenses were off the chart! This is due to our two-weeks vacation planned for November to Japan. The personal care category was also above budget in October.
| Monthly Expenses By Category | October |
| Fix Expenses | |
| Mortgage | 828.70 |
| HOA / Property Tax | 473.81 |
| Insurance (HO/Car) | 682.15 |
| Utility (Electricity, Phone, DSL) | 105.61 |
| Total Fix Expenses | 2,090.27 |
| Variable Expenses | |
| Gasoline/Car Related | 38.08 |
| Dining Out/Grocery | 309.19 |
| Clothing/Personal Care | 105.66 |
| Household | 14.76 |
| Entertainment/Leisure | 34.99 |
| Medical/Health | 44.00 |
| Childcare | 58.15 |
| Misc | 1,632.13 |
| Total Variable Expenses | 2,689.89 |
| Total Monthly Expenses | 4,780.16 |
| 2018 Expenses YTD | 33,898.13 |
We are planning a trip to Japan in November before baby Butterfly turns two, so we don’t have to buy a seat for her. A lap child versus buying a toddler seat saves us over $600. My plane ticket to Japan is $1,019 and we also bought rail passes that allow us to travel all over Japan for the two weeks duration for $556 each. The rail pass is pricey, but considering the amount of travel we plan to do, it is saving us a ton of money.
My Clothing/Personal Care again is higher than usual because I bought a new purse and a couple of tights to replace my old ones(broken zipper/torn). Since I am visiting my partner’s relatives for the first time, I figure I needed to be more presentable instead of wearing torn leggings and a dirty old purse. I also bought some toiletries for travel and use at home.
My partner and family paid for most of the dine out meals, and we were eating our freezer down again, so I didn’t spend much on the food category this month. In October, my partner’s brother gave us all his good frozen meat because he moved, so our freezer is completely full again. My food category will probably be low for the rest of the year.
Monthly Passive Income = $ 1,419.36
Monthly Expenses = $ 4,780.16
Shortage = $ 3,360.80
My October passive income covers about 30% of monthly expenses. Year to date is now down to 32%. If I don’t count the mortgage overpayments, my passive income now covers 42% year to date. Passive income does not include the dividends earned in my retirement accounts. I will wait for the end of the year to give the final numbers for with and without retirement accounts.
Cheers,
Lady Butterfly
Cheers To Your Wealth! 