The Year of Living Frugally – Week 4

One Month Budget Checkup

Two years ago, I was living in a 4-bedroom 3-bath 2600 square-foot home in the midwest. The last year and a half, my home was down-sized to a 850 square-foot cottage in far northern coastal California (strangely enough, the rent on the cottage was the same as the mortgage on the Minnesota house). Now, I’ve downsized again – into a 8′x9′ bedroom with a 8′x5′ storage unit (~150 square feet).

I hate moving.

Not all aspects of moving… moving can represent fresh starts, new places, new living situations.

I hate the fact that moving the first 90% of your stuff takes 10% of the total time needed – while that last 10% (and cleaning) seems to take forever.

The pre-check-out cleaning seemed like it would never end… (because I’m not going to pay someone 25$ an hour to clean for me). The bleach, the soaps, the simple green (which is neither simple nor green), the windex. My skin has been completely stripped of all of its protective covering – but the work is finally done.

Just in time, too – it’s time to see how much I spent this month (now that I’ve had a couple days to recover and get my computer set up).

If you recall from the “Baseline Budget“, which was taken from the average monthly expenses for 2007 – my budget looked like this:

Monthly Expense, 2007

Total Housing & Utilities $1036
Total Debt Maintenance $636
Transportation Total $337
Total Dog $200
Subscriptions Total $33
Food total $390
Webpage Total $22
Emergency Fund $100
Vacation $300
Misc Total $170

Expense Total $3224
Income Total $2675

Hemorrhaging $549/month

The “normal” expenses for the month of February went as follows:

February 2008 Expense, Simple

Total Housing & Utilities $1119
Total Debt Maintenance $636
Transportation Total $107
Total Dog $141
Subscriptions Total $15
Food total $227
Webpage Total $17
Emergency Fund $100
Vacation $0
Misc Total $54

Expense Total $2398
Income Total $2675

Savings $277/month

My housing expense actually went up last month. This is due to having all of my initial monthly expenses, and adding a storage unit ($34/month plus deposit), and a Skype account ($60 – paid for one year). Next month my housing costs should show a huge reduction – primarily because my rent went from $850/month to $275/month.

My debt maintenance remained the same. Actually, I sold over $700 worth of items on craigslist, and I made a $700 extra payment on credit card #1.

After a dedicated effort, my food costs were much lower. I made my lunch more. I tried to use up the food in my pantry (so I wouldn’t have to move it). The only eating out in February was associated with the “dog-dinners” and not counted there.

Other costs showed some slight decreases. The dog costs were slightly lower – due to the fact that I took my friend to dinner only 3 times during the month. The subscriptions only reflect a payment to Netflix (which should be my last payment at that plan level), and I let the Surfer magazine expire without paying for another year.

Finally, I did receive my final overtime paycheck – which I promptly spent on a plane ticket to Central America. I need to go on vacation, otherwise I start losing vacation time in the summer (I am nearing my accumulation cap). Perhaps the plane ticket is not frugal – but the vacation destination can be frugal (as you will see in upcoming installments).

Above, I presented February in the context of a “normal” month. Adding in the additional income and expenses it looks like:

February 2008 Expense, Total

Total Housing & Utilities $1119
Total Debt Maintenance $636 + $700
Transportation Total $107
Total Dog $141
Subscriptions Total $15
Food total $227
Webpage Total $17
Emergency Fund $100
Vacation $521
Misc Total $54

Expense Total $3619

Normal Income $2675
Overtime Income $749
“Sell my Stuff” Income $700

Income Total $4124

Savings $505/month

I am stoked that I came out over $500 ahead for February. I’m thinking of making an additional credit card payment, but I need to do my taxes first and see if there is a surprise waiting for me.

It is also important to note that I had very little in the way of “yearly payments” to make in February. The yearly budget was easier to make because all expenses could be averaged over the 12-month period. It is much more difficult to account for those expenses one month at a time. There could be some surprises in the future if two big payments fall on the same month. I imagine that those more organized than I save money each month to cover those payments…

I’m glad that moving is out of the way – one month down, eleven to go. My living space may be much smaller now, but moving forced me to examine what I held as important in my life. I’m glad I took the time to re-prioritize my hobbies, possessions and lifestyle – it is too easy to become comfortable in our ruts. The biggest shock is not having central heating… but I’m already starting to acclimate (and in a month it won’t matter when the weather warms).

As my dog would ’say’ with head cocked to one side looking expectantly – “What next?”

(continue on to Week Five)