May was a very good income month and an relatively low expense month (click on spreadsheet below).

This was my wife’s first full month at her new job. She takes home $2,142.21 (net) each bi-weekly check. That’s a total of $444.84 per check more than her previous company! In addition to our salaries, my wife received a $45 reimbursement from her company for internet. We earned $20 in credit card rewards, received a $100 gift from my parents, and sold an old GPS for $40. We also earned $19.34 in interest income from our savings.

Our expenses were pretty reasonable, at a total of $5,708.25. We have worked hard to spend less and save more and were very successful in May. It helped that both my wife and I were traveling on business part of the month. Some of the larger expenses in May were: $223.80 for cobra insurance, $285.49 in clothing, and $424.01 for a little vacation.

I wish I could say we will carry over our low expense level into June, however, we have some large bills due. We have to pay $1,464.90 for auto insurance (Cars 2 & 3), $376.82 in rental insurance, and $447.59 in Cobra insurance. Thankfully, I will be receiving a third “extra” check for $1,781.07 in June.

April, for how chaotic it was financially, ended up looking pretty benign on paper. Our bottom line income and expenses remained pretty typical (click on spreadsheet below).

This was a transition month, with my wife leaving one company to join another company for a higher paying position. Because of this, she only received one (much larger) paycheck in April. In addition to our salaries, my wife received $1,037.55 for her cashed out vacation, and a $75 reimbursement from her old company for her cell phone. We earned $100 in credit card rewards, sold a table for $50 and received a $2,325 tax refund ($2,155 Federal & $170 State). We also earned $16.63 in interest income from our savings.

Our expenses were much lower than the insane spending we had in March, but still high at a total of $6227.99. Some of the larger items were: $447.59 for cobra insurance, $763.50 in vet bills, and of course more baby stuff.

May should be an interesting month. It will be my wife’s first full month employed at her new company. We will also both be traveling for business in May, so hopefully our expenses will be lower than normal (living on the company dime).

As expected, March was a “spendy” month and a relatively standard income (click on spreadsheet below).

In addition to our paychecks, my wife received two $75 company reimbursements (Feb & March) and we earned $125 in credit card rewards We also earned $15.47 in interest income from our savings.

Our expenses totaled a whopping $11,033.55! Some of the larger items were: $2,954.60 for paying off the student loan, $346 registration for cars, $205.40 flight to see family, $119.42 hotel, $523 pet care (vet), and a lot on “nesting” for our baby.

April should be a very good income month. In addition to my wife starting her new job, she also receives gets paid for her remaining vacation time (5 days). Plus, we will receive a combined Federal and State refund of $2,325. No large expenses are forecast for April.

As I mentioned in our February Net Worth Update post, we were blessed to learn that my wife is pregnant. Our expenses are going to be higher than usual as we prepare for the new arrival (due in September). February was an outstanding income month and we did a pretty reasonable job managing our expenses (click on spreadsheet below).

Our total income in February was $10,614.56. In addition to our paychecks, my wife received a Q4 2010 bonus of $6,041.28 gross ($3,499.51 net). She received a $30.78 H.S.A. reimbursement and a $50 Chase credit card reward (her $75 company reimbursement for February will come next month). We also earned $15.11 in interest income.

Our total expenses were $5,394.78, not to much higher than our budget of $4,900. As first-time parents, we’ve been buying a few things for the baby’s room and also taking time to enjoy ourselves a little more while we have free time.

It’s hard to say what March may bring. My wife’s company may be doing raises in March, which would be icing on the cake for how well she is doing. We’ll be doing our taxes as well and I don’t have a clear picture at this time on what the outcome will be.