My Expenses for First half of the Year

Well the midway point of the year is creeping up and I wanted to check to see how much I am spending, and how much i can typically live on for a whole year. All of the numbers stated were what I have spent so far multiplied by 2. (I dont see many expenses really changing too much, besides rent going down since I moved and miscellaneous gifts and travel for Christmas). I did not include internet and electricity because it is included in my rent. Gas is tough to say, I factored a little higher due to higher prices.

Rent = $7,090
Car Insurance = $960
Car Loan = $2,040
Cell Phone = $840
Food = $3,850
Gas = $4,026
Miscellaneous = $6,876

Total = $25,682

I did not include my credit card payments and extra debt paid off which are still expenses and costs of living. However, since I have not used a credit card once in 2008 I simply wanted to see how much it costs to live on my current (and not past) lifestyle.

Some things of note:
- My car is paid off however I extracted out the payments for the rest of the year, obviously I will live on $170/month less.
- My miscellaneous category is too broad, I should make other categories such as clothes, gifts, and entertainment. It is also too high for my liking. It is $573 a month right now, even just lowering that $100 a month will be good for my financial outlook. I think it should go down because Ill probably not have to go out on dates nearly as much. One right women is better than many not so right ones.
- Gas costs more than food! And if I can tutor 6-8 clients a week Ill be spending even more there. Gas is wierd, the more I work the more I spend there with no way around it.. Unless I were like the Simons with their super gas saving cars!
- The rent category is quite a bit more then it will be, since I am living for $400 a month. Before I was living for $700 a month, and I had to pay a reletting fee and double rent for most of January.

So I am essentially living for $2,100 a month. My teacher pay will be about $2,700 a month, which gives $600 a month into credit cards. I am planning on building my tutoring business, which will cost a few hundred dollars but should pay back about $1000 a month. I also might deliver pizzas one day a week if the tutoring doesnt work out as planned. I will put $150/month into my Roth IRA, and the rest goes into debt.


P.S. I have a blank worksheet you can use to write down your expenses and budget. Email lancekaminsky@gmail.com for a free copy (its copywrited by me... just kidding, I didnt copywrite anything.)

P.P.S. There’s nothing inherently wrong with purchasing things that bring you joy. But problems come when you finance these purchases with debt. If you’re meeting your other financial goals and have money left over, it’s good to indulge your interests and passions. I need to remember this.