Once again, I must apologize for waiting so late in the month to post this report. November has really gotten away from me, and the spending reports have really been bringing me down. I know October will turn out to be a particularly expensive month, since I went on a little visit to San Francisco and paid for a lot of restaurant food. Several of the places I bought food didn’t hand me a receipt, so I’m not positive I included all expenses this month, but I think I did.
If you are interested in how this spending report project came about, you can read this post: http://www.rubbertrampartist.com/2015/12/31/spending/. If you want to see spending reports from previous months, type “spending report” into the search bar.
10-1 through 10-2-16 I was still on the mountain with nothing to buy. Nothing spent
10-3-16 Today I went to civilization for my days off. Total spent: $251.13
$2.17 to Taco Bell for breakfast
$100 for debt repayment
70 cents for money order
$18.31 to Wal-Mart for supplies
$6.33 for groceries
$9.99 for glucosamine
$16.26 to the sporting goods store for a new Luci Light
$68.11 for gasoline
$19.51 to AutoZone for new windshield wipers
$9.75 to Panera for lunch and internet accesss
10-4-16 I picked up a few things before I went back up the mountain. Total spent: $37.83
$2.05 to Panera for coffee and internet accesss
$6.02 to Little Caesar’s for a pizza
$1.19 to Dollar Tree for 2.5 liter bottle to use with my Simple Shower
$28.57 for groceries
10-5-16 I was back on the mountain with nothing to buy. Nothing spent
10-6-16 The autopayment for my phone went through. Total spent: $34.99
10-7 through 10-9-16 I was on the mountain working, with nothing to buy. Nothing spent
10-10-16 Today I was in civilization for the days off before my last week of work. Total spent: $9.99
$3.28 to Panera for a bagel and a drink and internet access
$6.71 for groceries
10-11-16 Today I ran errands before going back up the mountain for my last week of work. Total spent: $70.35
$6.27 to Panera for coffee and breakfast and internet access
$15.02 for groceries
$1.49 for ice
$47.57 for gasoline
10-12 through 10-16-17 I was on the mountain for my last week of work with nothing to buy. Nothing Spent
10-17-16 Today I left the mountain at the end of the season. Hello civilization. Total spent: $23.51
$3.01 breakfast/lunch at Taco Bell
$20.50 gas
10-18-16 Today I visited California friends. Total spent: $15.21
$2.88 for lunch from the supermarket
$12.33 for dessert and tip (My friend bought dinner, so I treated for dessert.)
10-19-16 Today I started my visit in San Francisco. Total spent: $24.60
$7.10 for public transit
$17.50 for gasoline
10-20-16 Today I ate lunch, walked around the Mission District, and bought some cute clothes for my friend’s kids at a thrift store. Total spent: $14.21
$8.50 for lunch and tip
$5.71 for kid clothes
10-21-16 Today I did more walking in the Mission District. I ate lunch and bought a couple of little things. Total spent: $12.30
$1 for a used book by one of my favorite authors. (I read it in about 15 minutes and decided I didn’t want to keep it. I think I wasted the dollar.)
$1.30 for cookies from a Mexican bakery
$10 for lunch and tip
10-22-16 I spent most of the day in a great library, working on my blog and otherwise using the internet. In between working at the library, I had to eat. Total spent: $19
$10.50 breakfast and tip
$8.50 dinner and tip
10-23-16 Today, I only spent money on breakfast. My friend treated me to the opera and dinner! Total spent: $10
10-24-16 Today I left the Bay Area and headed to my house sitting gig. Total spent: $38.45
$8 for breakfast
$4.30 for public transit
$26.15 for groceries
10-25 through 10-28-16 I’ve been staying in the house with the dogs, working on my book. Nothing spent
10-29-16 I went to the grocery store today. Total spent: $10.57
10-30 through 10-31-16 More staying home and working on the book. Nothing spent
Total spent for the month: $572.14
You are doing a fantastic job keeping your expenses low. Tracking everything must be a lot of work so thanks for the reports!
Thanks for the encouragement! I appreciate it!
Tracking my spending is a pain in my neck, but I think it’s a good exercise everyone should try once. I think even doing it for three months would be eye-opening.
“Total spent for the month: $572.14”
Would you like to feel better? My brother lives with the retired woman across the street. She has income from three sources, totalling $4,600/mo. My brother has an income of $1,600/mo. Combined, that’s $6,200 per month.
She is losing her newish stick-built home on an acre of land to foreclosure because she buys everything she sees and pays her bills last (and late). She has a Scion that she’s making payments on, but she has to hide it in the garage because she’s several payments behind. She also bought a pickup truck, but she’s hiding that out of state, and is probably behind in those payments, too. While they were gone, I was feeding her cats. I found a power shut-off notice hanging from the doorknob, and a water shut-off notice stuck to the front door. Mind you, she’s STILL behind, and hasn’t made any of the $2,400 house payments for well over a year.
Can you even IMAGINE how well-off you or I would be with that income and our penny-pinching ways?
Yes, you spent a little more, but you’ve not been outrageous. Living expenditure-free is virtually impossible. You’ve paid down several debts just since I joined in here — GOOD FOR YOU!
WOW! Yes, Sue, this did make me feel better about my spending, although sad for your brother and his lady friend.
Yes, with $6,000 (or even half of that) I could live HIGH!
I know that many people who seem wealthy to me are living off credit and not doing too well overall.
This is the first post I read by you — well, the one where you had to spend $600 for the plane ticket didn’t count. I did notice that you spent over $100 on eating out. I guess all-in-all, that’s what you enjoy, and if you can still keep expenses that low with doing that, kudos for you! Me, I’m a cheapskate. I’d find a free place for wifi instead of paying $10 for food at Panera to use theirs.
But I will say one thing. You make me think I can do this on $700/month. Of course, I haven’t read enough to see what your vehicle insurance and maintenance are, or how much income you have every month.
Welcome to my blog, Amie. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Yes, I did spend quite a bit of money eating out. I could have cut down on that expense if I had used the internet at the library and cooked meals at the park. I have to say, I get REALLY tired of my own cooking. Actually, I hate to cook, so I am a sucker for having someone do the cooking for me. I’m willing to pay to have someone else do the cooking when I can afford it. When I can’t afford pay for prepared food, I know how to do without.