November was a strong income month and reasonable spending month (click on spreadsheet below).

Our expenses totaled $8,434.66, but $2,925.74 of that was to pay off our auto loan. That brings us down to $5,508.92 in other expenses. Not to shabby when you consider we purchased Christmas gifts, took a road trip to see my family, and went over budget in our “Goceries” and “Household Items”.

The big boost in income in November came from a $4,872 ($2,255.97 net) quarterly bonus my wife received. In other good news, my company increased my salary another 2.1%. We also earned $75.00 in credit card cash back rewards and $0.63 in interest income from our online savings account.

December is here already and it’s an “extra” check month for me. Plus, we’ll be receiving $330 worth of reimbursements that my wife is due. Our expenses should be pretty normal, with the exception of a trip out of state planned at the end of December.

Our income in October was a bit above average and we did an good job keeping our expenses down (click on spreadsheet below).

For the 3rd month in a row, my company increased my salary 1%. In addition to our paychecks, my wife received her $110 company reimbursements, I sold my old gym membership for $480, and we earned $85.89 in credit card cash back rewards. We also earned $0.95 in interest income from our online savings account.

If you pull out the extra $1,150 we paid to our auto loan, our total expenses were only $5,266.53. That includes being dinged with a $342.50 towed bill. I was out of town 2-1/2 weeks of the month, so my wife gets credit for keeping expenses down.

Next month brings more good news. My wife may receive her quarterly bonus (early) and my company will be increasing my pay again.

We had a pretty average income and expense month in September (click on spreadsheet below).

Our largest expense for the month was our amazing 6 day vacation to Hawaii that cost $1,787.69 (not too bad, huh?).

Here’s a breakdown of our vacation costs:

Flights: Free thanks to frequent flyer miles

Hotel: $773.70 (wife found a good deal)

Rental Car: $244.55 (wife found a good deal)

Food & Entertainment: $769.44

Other large expenses for September include an extra $1,900 payment to our auto loan and $116.75 at the shooting range.

Our income for the month consisted of our regular salaries and my wife’s $110 company reimbursement. My company bumped everyone’s salaries up again, resulting in another 1% increase to my salary (it was also increased 1% last month). We also earned $1.48 in interest income from our online savings account.

Next month, there are no large expenses planned, other than continuing to pay down our auto loan at an accelerated rate with a goal of having it paid off by the end of the year.

Our income statement spreadsheet (click on spreadsheet below) for August shows total expenses of $12,685!

While that number is startling, August was, in fact, a pretty reasonable spending month. If you subtract $6250 in extra auto loan payments and $850 for a boat tower, our expenses only totaled $5,585. That’s pretty close to our $4,919.55 budget.

In addition to our regular salaries, we earned $111.35 in credit card rewards and my wife received a $896 ($480.84 net) quarterly bonus and her $110 company reimbursements. We also earned $4.26 in interest income from our online savings account. My wife’s 15% 401(k) contribution (increased from 5%) kicked in her 2nd check in August.

Next month, there are no large expenses planned, but our net income will be less because we increased my wife’s 401(k) contribution from 5% to 15%.

We did a great job of keeping our spending down and bringing money in this month (click on spreadsheet below), that’s $1,200 less than last month.

We only spent $5,214.45 this month. That includes $233.50 for 6 months prepaid life insurance for my wife and I, $120.09 on gifts, $149.34 for the 4^th of July, and $47.88 on a new tire (pro-rated).

In addition to our regular salaries, I received a third “extra” check, my wife received her $110 company internet and cell phone reimbursements, our old insurance company gave us a $371 refund, and we earned $25.00 in credit card rewards. We also earned $6.50 in interest income from our online savings account.

Next month should be a pretty standard income month, but we may have a couple of large expenses.

Last month I said we’d tighten our belts in June, and I’m happy to report that we did pretty good controlling our expenses this month (click on spreadsheet below).

We spent just over $6,444.45 this month. This was our first full month of living in our rental unit, which helped reduce our costs of living. One large unexpected bill, we do to switching insurance companies in June. We had to pay a total of $1,296.70 for 12 months of auto and renters insurance. We also had to have my wife’s wedding ring appraised for insurance purposes, costing us $135.94. If you subtract out the large insurance related costs, our expenses for the June drop to $5,011.81.

In addition to our regular salaries, my wife received her $110 company internet and cell phone reimbursements and we received a total of $131.02 in credit card rewards. We’ve both been charging a lot of business expenses to our rewards credit cards. Since we are both reimburse for these expenses, the credit card rewards are truly free money.

Next month should be another very reasonable month for expenses. Incomewise, I will receive a third “extra” paycheck next month but my take home per check will drop slightly because my 3% contribution increase to my 401(k) will kick in. We should also receive a small prorated refund from our old insurance company.

As I outlined in my May Net Worth post, it’s been a crazy month (click on spreadsheet below).

As far as income goes, it’s actually been a above average. In additional to our regular salaries, my wife received an unexpected $1,000 bonus ($536.65 net), $110 in reimbursements, and we received $125 is credit card rewards. Pretty good.

It terms of expenses, money absolutely flew out of our accounts in May. We spent ~$9,500 with our short sale and move. In addition, we spent $980.46 for a new bedroom set, $204.79 for my Wife’s medical bill, and $270 for our dog’s annual shots and teeth cleaning. Since we were blowing through money, it was easy to get a bunch of misc little things too that added up to a few hundred dollars.

Next month, we tighten our belts.

April was a pretty typical income month (click on spreadsheet below) and a reasonable month in terms of expenses.

My wife’s paycheck was reduced because she began her 5% 401(k) contribution and a $50/check HAS contribution. She also received $66.80 Citi cc reward, $100 wife’s internet and cell reimbursement, and $14 state tax relief check.

After spending too much last month, we worked hard to keep our expenses down in April. It helped that I was on a business trip for 1 week this month. Our expenses totaled only $6,201.35, but that included a large $1,100 payment for 15 months of my gym membership. So, we would have been well below our $6,040 monthly budget if if the gym bill was not due this month.

Next month should be another average income month. Outside our regular paychecks and my wife’s standard monthly internet and cell reimbursement, we should receive $50 HSBC cash back credit card reward. We have a $204.79 medical bill for my wife and might be spending $160 to get our dog’s teeth cleaned.

March was a strong income month (click on spreadsheet below), but a large month in terms of expenses.

In addition to my two paychecks, my wife received two paychecks for March and a paycheck for her first week of work at the end of February for a total of $4,196.26. She also received her final $405 unemployment from February and a $490.91 bonus check from her old company and $61.12 check from her old company for an insurance deduction mistake. All said and done, my wife brought in $5,153.29 for us this month. Oh, I earned a $25 HSBC cash back credit card reward (go me!). Our interest income on our savings account was $4.20.

Thank God we had a good income month because our expenses were insane ($9,104.29). Some of the larger expenses were: $2,024 total for federal and state income taxes, $229 to resurface my cars rotors and replace break pads, $215.36 for my wife’s medical bill, $344.77 for a Wii and accessories, $175 for my car registration, and $170.29 for a new phone for my wife (she will be receiving a $70 rebate next month). We were also apparently very hungry this month because we spent $506.50 on groceries and $335.04 eating out. We had our 3^rd year anniversary, so $165 of dinning was for one REALLY nice dinner. I am going to increase our groceries budget from $400/month to $500/month, since this is what we have been averaging for the last 11 months. With

my wife’s new company car and company gas card, our fuel expenses were only $92.94.

Next month should be an average income month. In additional to our regular paychecks, we have ~$75 in credit card cash back rewards coming in, my wife will begin receiving her cell phone and internet reimbursements for a total of ~$110/month, and she should also get a $70 rebate from Verizon. In terms of non-monthly expenses, I have a $1,100 gym membership bill and we have a $50 Costco membership bill. I will be on a business trip for 7 days, so that may help reduce some of our expenses. To save some extra money, my wife will be canceling her $19/month gym membership and use our condo gym and Wii instead. She has also been cutting our dogs nails to save us a few extra bucks.

February was an okay income month (click on spreadsheet below) considering it was the first full month of my wife being laid off and my company reduced my salary 10% (from $70,460/year to $63,423/year). Like January, it was also a good month for keeping our expenses low.

In addition to my two paychecks (the 2^nd of which included my 10% salary reduction), my wife received a $2,025.00 in unemployment and $180 for babysitting. We also received $20 from selling two items on craigslist.org, and earned interest income on our savings account of $8.27.

We were able to continue keeping our spending down for the second month in a row and only spent $5,759.69 in February. That’s just a bit above our January total and well below our budget. That’s pretty good considering I took my wife with me on a week long business trip to the East Coast. We split meals as much as possible because my company pays for me, but we still had a larger than usual “dining” and “entertainment” totals this month.

Next month should be a strong income month with my wife’s new job and her final bonus check from old company. Expensewise, we have ~$2,000 in Federal and State taxes to pay and ~$800 in medical bills that may come due. Our fuel costs should go down a bit because my wife is getting a company car and gas card.