Blogging Away Debt Our Journeys to a Debt-Free Life

by Tricia

I’m still missing one receipt for April and I’ve officially declared it missing. So, I guessed where a receipt went (more on that below). I’m trying to get our income and expense reports posted earlier in the month but what can I say? Keeping tabs on receipts is still something we are working on.

So, here is April’s spending. As always, my comments are below.

Income: The hardest part for me with looking at this income and expense report is the income. It decreased almost $1,500 from March. We were spoiled with March…that’s for sure. Our income will probably hover around this mark for a while. For those curious, the income here includes all income (blog income, employer match for 401(k), even finding money on the street).

Food: Lots of money going out for groceries in April, but it might not be as bad as it seems. The missing receipt I alluded to earlier was a Walmart purchase for $138. When we spend that much, it usually means we bought groceries. Chances are good we purchased something else as well, but since I can’t remember and the receipt is missing, I put it all under groceries.

Overall, our grocery spending will be going up. Since starting on my weight loss journey, I’ve been spending a lot buying fresh fruits and healthier foods. It is dipping into our pocketbook. May should give us a pretty good idea of how much the impact will be.

Holiday: I still love the holidays and Easter is no exception. Everyone in the household received a nice Easter basket. My son’s was filled with goodies like a Magic set and coloring books. He also hunted for eggs and some were filled with money. Of course, there was lots of candy and I splurged and bought some good chocolate bunnies. This is not my proudest category, and I still am dealing with spoiling my husband and son with surprises. It has always been a weak spot for me.

Household: The household category holds many things related to house and home. Here’s this month’s breakdown (I usually link to it, but I decided to include it right here this month since there is significant spending here).

The biggest spending here was for our bathroom. I spent over $30 on a good scale for keeping track of my weight and body fat for Blogging Away Fat. The scale I had was old and the glass was broken. Turns out it was underweighing me by quite a bit. The other spending for bathroom was for doing a little redecorating. I haven’t started it yet, but I bought a medicine cabinet, shower curtain, border and paint.

The other big spending was for stamps! Yikes! Much of that was to ship my husband’s camera under warranty to be repaired. It was so expensive due to insuring the package. The warranty place also required $20 to ship it back. Add in a few packages to relatives and sending our tax forms via certified mail and it all added up.

Interest Expense: This is the cost of interest for our mortgage and school loans.

Medical: The medical insurance here is for two months. I have another bill due at the end of the month. I’ve been paying it a little late to buy more time, but I’m going to try to pay it on time this month.

Recreation: This is for my son to play a sport. So, those types of expenses are starting up now, but the smiles on his face show how much it’s worth it.

School Supplies: This includes school pictures and my son’s lunches.

Taxes: Big huge jump here for our taxes. That’s because we owed money for the Federal and State for our 2006 taxes. I really don’t like underwithholding so I will be increasing my withholding at work shortly once my husband’s side jobs start kicking in.

Utilities: Now that the weather is getting warmer, our electric and gas bills will be shrinking. I am so happy about that! Time for a little relief and hopefully some extra money to pay towards our debt!

FINAL THOUGHTS

April was a rough month. It was the first month since starting this blog that our net worth decreased. By looking at the bottom line of this report, you can see why. We spent more than we made.

Some of it is due to paying our medical insurance that is due every two months. Another chunk was for the money we owed for 2006 taxes. I can’t deny that there is spending that was more of the “want” nature than a “need.” I wanted to have nice Easter baskets for the family. We didn’t need that stuff and I do feel remorse for that spending. It didn’t make the day any more joyous or enjoyable for us. In fact, the previous year we had a really nice Easter that was very inexpensive. I’m not sure why I lost my focus here and ended up making a big dinner this year.

Just goes to show that even after a year I’m still trying to figure myself out.