Blogging Away Debt

May 2007 Income and Expense – Much Better than April

Oh my…it’s the 15th and I have my income and expense report ready! Yay! I’m getting better with this 🙂

Without further ado, here’s how May turned out for us. My comments are after the report.

Clothing: We ended up going to the thrift store in May to purchase some more summer clothes for my son as well as myself. I also bought some clothes to work-out in. We left the store with three brown grocery bags full of clothes so we did well. I also bought some clothing items from the department store that I won’t purchase used (undergarments).

Entertainment: $15 of this was for a carnival for my son to go to. He was so happy and it was worth every penny. I also bought a DVD to work-out to and we rented some movies to watch while I was nursing an injury.

Groceries: We ended up spending less in May for groceries and it was very close to $400. It could be that we stocked our pantry and freezer less. We’ll have to see how June turns out.

Household: Again, this category is a little higher in May due to shipping some items out. Sometimes it’s costly to live away from family.Â We also purchased some tools to be able to save on doing some needed home repair ourself.

Insurance: The amount here is for my life insurance. That is due every three months unless I decide to change the frequency.

Health Insurance: Our payment is too high for health insurance. I originally got the plan we did because it had maternity coverage. I think I will be shopping for coverage without maternity. Even though I would like another child, I need some time to take care of my weight issues beforehand. Why pay the high price in the meantime? I can always go back when the time is right.

Pets: Oh my. We “adopted” a stray that took refuge in our garage during a late winter storm. We fed it and called the shelter. They said we had to put an ad in the paper and wait two weeks before they would take the cat. We were able to catch it a little while later and we brought it into the porch. Hmm…it is a she and she looks pretty plump. We never called the shelter back because we thought she was pregnant. She sure was. Right now we have her and 4 kittens to take care of. Litter and food costs are jacking up our pet costs big time. In a few weeks we can start trying to find them homes.

Recreation: One big cost here was for equipment for my son to practice sports at home so we could play with him. We did find one piece of equipment used, but it was in horrible shape so we decided to buy it new. The other big cost was for fishing licenses for my husband and I since we enjoy going fishing and I love to eat perch.

Taxes: It’s pretty high again in May because of a payment we made for what we owed.

OVERALL: By golly, even though we had major expenses in May, we managed to still have some money left over to have a positive month. Thank goodness for some extra income.

I definitely want to cut more costs and I’m going to start with the health insurance. It’s time to find a cheaper plan. I am also seriously considering stopping my 401(k) contribution.Â But, we’ll see.

An Interesting Way to Earn Some Extra Money – Become a Lab Rat

by Tricia

I caught this article on Yahoo about college students participating in studies to get some cash:

“Yochim, a self-described “lab rat,” says she has made more than $3,000 by participating in more than 30 medical studies at Boston’s world-class research hospitals.” [via Yahoo.com]

That’s some serious cash. They don’t say how many hours total the woman interviewed spent participating in these studies, but from the ones that I have seen they pay fairly well for your time.

I did a bit of research and found that for healthy individuals who want to participate in drug research, they can make a decent amount of money. It’s also possible to participate in other non drug studies that still pay well, but not as much as the drug research studies.

I have been tempted to participate in medical research before for the University of Michigan. They were looking for adults who smoke and their parents who smoke/used to smoke. All they needed was some blood from everyone and a few questions answered and I believe everyone involved received $100/each. We never pursued it any further than discussing it.

When I’m bored, sometimes I check their research page to see if there is anything I would be interested in doing. I don’t think I could ever do something that involved taking new medications or having them cut me open. But they can draw blood or ask questions. I’m fine with that.