Jason – yes, the cigarettes went up a bit for August. My normal “cheap” rolling tobacco was not available so I bought another brand that I am used to (it’s more expensive). I also didn’t spend much in July, so my spending is higher in August. Overall, cigarettes should average out to around $20/month. Of course, though – I will be attempting to quit soon. Right now I am figuring out my game plan.

As for the telephone, I didn’t split out the internet so once I fix that, it will be a little lower. What we have for telephone is just a basic, local calling plan. I then purchase airtime on an AT&T Sam’s Club calling card (~4 cents/minute). We make very few calls in total (would you believe only around 8 local calls/month!). As for the long distance, I call my mom about once a week and my husband calls his mom about once a month. That is the extent of our telephone calls. Our cellphone is emergency only, but we have been racking up some minutes every two months (it’s a tracphone). We have been using that to make some long distance calls, but we always shoot to keep 200 minutes on the phone, just in case.

A lot of the features found with telephone plans are found elsewhere, but not where I live Plus, with our DSL plan, we have to have at least the basic land line (which we have). In August, I refilled our telephone card. I will look into Skype, however, for the long distance. I have heard buzz about it, but I admit I have not looked into it. Thanks for mentioning it.

Thanks to you both for your comments!