by Hope
I’ve put this off long enough, it’s time to come up with a new monthly budget for our new life and space. Bear with me as I haven’t started receiving utility bills here yet so I’m not sure how they are going to run. I will tell you that we’ve had no A/C or heat running for the past month as it stays really warm in here with all the surrounding units running theirs constantly. Even now, the windows are open. So here’s my first pass at the new budget:
| Category | Estimated Monthly Total |
|---|---|
| Rent | $1214 |
| Water | $125 |
| Electric | $150 |
| Life Insurance | $25 |
| Auto/Renter's Insurance | $150 |
| Storage | $70 |
| Entertainment | $18 |
| Kids Misc - school, activities | $275 |
| Kid's "Allowance" | $480 |
| Car - Gas & Maintenance | $350 |
| Groceries | $600 |
| Subtotal Personal | $3457 |
| Business Expenses | |
| Phone Service | $215 |
| Internet | $66 |
| Technology | $10 |
| Misc | $15 |
| Subtotal Business | $301 |
| Total Monthly Expenses | $3758 |
I did not include my debt in this budget as I really don’t have a plan in place for that yet. Since the house closed yestarday, I will start receiving the final bills from all the utilities and that will eat up a good chunk of any extra debt payments. I anticipate being able to get back on the debt payoff race in January once those extra utility accounts are closed out. Through today, I’ve paid these additional monthly bills on the old house:
Electric $196
Gas $57
Waster & Sewer $232 (this is a quarterly bill, so some is from when we actually lived there)
Trash $36 <- This is the final amount for this bill as I cancelled the service once all the renovation was complete. So I should have one more set of the top three of these to deal with in December and then I can officially close the chapter on that part of my life.
