The excitement of our first child’s birth in September overshadowed our pretty normal income and expense month (click on spreadsheet below).

In addition to our regular paychecks, my wife received a $25 reimbursement from her company for internet. We also sold some items on craigslist for $25 and earned $26.82 in interest income from our online savings account.

We ended up spending a total of $5,819.22 in September, including $500 for an insurance co-pay for the hospital and $156.69 for a tux rental. The $1,850 cord blood banking bill and $400 balance due to the doula were not paid this month, but will be paid in October.

I’m not sure what to expect in October. Our net income from my wife’s company will drop because her 10% 401(k) contribution begins in October; at same time we are adding our baby to her insurance, increasing the cost from $75/month to $325/month. My wife will be taking 1 week PTO and then 4 weeks short term disability (full pay). After that, she will need to take 1 week unpaid and then begin Paid Family Leave (55% of your highest gross quarter).

August was another very good net income month (3rd in a row over $9K), but also a wild and crazy spending month (click on spreadsheet below).

In addition to our regular paychecks, my wife earned a Q2 2011 bonus $1,006.83 gross ($937.87 net)! These funds will go into savings for now, but are earmarked for a 529 plan for our son. She also received a $25 reimbursement from her company for internet. We earned $170 in credit card cash back rewards and sold a portable A/C unit for $175. My wife scored us a $50 target gift card for giving blood. We also earned $25.09 in interest income from our online savings account.

We gave in to some serious communism this month – $9,022.40 worth to be exact. Some of the bigger ticket items include a $2,715.30 watch for my wife (retails for $4,200), a $532.50 gun for me, a $250 shooting range membership for me, $147.72 for a friend’s wedding shower, $106.46 for a new safe, and much, much more. Hopefully, we got it out of our systems.

September will announce the arrival of our baby boy – we are so excited. With the birth comes a few costs: $400 balance due to doula and $1,850 for cord blood banking. We also need to add the baby to my wife’s insurance so that will increase from $75/month to $325/month. Once the baby is born, my wife will take 3 months off of work using a combination of PTO, short term disability (full pay), Paid Family Leave (55% of your highest gross quarter). As a result, our income will be a bit less until December.

We had another very good income month in July ($9,800.70 total), however, we also had a higher than average expense month ($6,975.51 total) (click on spreadsheet below).

In addition to our regular paychecks, my wife received a third “extra” check in July and a $25 reimbursement from her company for internet. We earned $25.00 in credit card cash back rewards. We also earned $23.04 in interest income from our online savings account.

Our expenses lower than June, but still high, totaling $6,975.51. This included a number of large bills: $400 for a 50% payment to our doula, $327 for a traffic ticket, $320 for 20 prepaid chiropractor visits, $233.50 for life insurance, $213.48 for clothing, and $185 for new brakes.

August should be a pretty standard income month, but may be an above average expense month because we have purchases for the baby, including possibly $1,800 after discount cord blood bank.

We had our best income month ever in June ($14,358.74 total), but ended up spending a good deal too (click on spreadsheet below).

We were shocked to receive a $4,470 class action settlement from my wife’s old company at the end of June. This was a windfall was a total blessing. In addition to our regular paychecks, I received a third “extra” check in June and my wife received a $25 reimbursement from her company for internet. We earned $125 in credit card & hotel rewards and made $90 selling items on craigslist. We also earned $21.11 in interest income from our savings.

Our expenses were high in June, totaling $8,633.86. This included: $1,464.90 for auto insurance (Cars 2 & 3), $376.82 for rental insurance, $447.59 for Cobra insurance, and of course, more baby items.

July will be another great income month (>$10K) thanks to a third “extra” paycheck that my wife will receive. It could also be a pretty reasonable expense month even though we have a few good size bills to pay: $233 for 6 months of life insurance premiums (Husband & Wife), $400 for a 50% prepayment to our doula, and a $327 traffic ticket.