January expense report

I'm posting this now for a few reasons. First of all, I generally sit down and go through every single transaction once a month, though I check our account 2x weekly. As we are about to embark on the delivery of Child2, I wanted to make sure financially everything was going to plan. Next, it gave me a last chance to re-calculate the how much wiggle room we will have for the additional daycare expense and rental expense as our family expands.

Monthly expense estimate (JaneMD salary 5,100	January expenses
Rent + gym + housecleaning $1188	$1188
Cellphone + internet $160	$158
Car lease $190	$190
Home/car insurance $125	$126
Daycare $670-770	$770
Utilities $160	$93
Car Gas $150	$147
Groceries/Toiletries $800-1000	$920
Personal expenses $500	$447
Charities/religious $400	$461
Onetime expenses $300	$100 + autosave $42
Total budgeted monthly expenses $4643	$4642

I really can’t claim to be such a great budgeter that I was within $1 of my estimate.  This particular month, due to pregnancy issues, we had to send Child1 to daycare every day instead of 4 days a week. In the winter, our heat is covered, so we came under budget on those. Groceries/toiletries were a little high because I had to replace a frying pan and buy a replacement infant carseat after a car accident. (Insurance will reimburse us for the $75) Our charities looked high this month because all of our end-of-the-year donations appeared on this months statement.  I also never account for our autosave account that our bank has since I treat it like adding a dollar to each transaction and just place it under onetime expenses.

What did we do with loans this month?

Hubby JD Salary $4700 + FSA reimbursement $770 = $5470

Savings $1300

Minimum loan payment $1650 (Jane MD’s started this month)

Extra loan payments $2000 + $1300

Total $6250 ($1300 savings + $4950 loans)

If you are really into math, you’ll notice we had $10,570 input and paid in expenses/loans/savings $10,892. Since most of Hubby JD’s salary is always accounted for, we were able to make an extra $1300 in loan payment from the excess from JaneMD’s salary and the FSA dependent care reimbursement - or you could say the amount covered our usual savings.  I always reassess the situation right before my payday to see how much we can put in above our goal of an additional $2000.

For February, if we are lucky, we’ll break near even on the month.  Gas will be down because, I will be on maternity leave, and my parents are coming to help with the baby for a week. While Child1 will be out of daycare that week, we’ll spend the equivalent on dog kenneling. The community will cook meals for us, but we will be throwing a party for the community and paying a moyel, putting us behind. I’ve saved gift certificates for buying the party equipment which could help. Most of our baby stuff is nearly new, so we won’t be buying much for Child2 – thought I can’t account for the grandparents plan . . .

Really, next time will be the Breastfeeding: Opportunity costs.