Author Topic: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread  (Read 20083 times)

Zamboni

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The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« on: November 30, 2013, 07:38:27 PM »
Celebrate here whenever you have a new monthly spending low!

I don't plan a "budget" but do track my spending every month.  Some months, like last month, look awful on the spreadsheet and graph because of a big purchase (like cash for a car or plane tickets for the whole family.)  Some months, like this month, I am amazed to see that I've spent less that I ever have before . . . more that $100 less than the previous monthly spending low, at least since I started tracking a few years ago.  In this case I think low utilities bills because of mild weather helped, because we certainly all ate like kings around here so food costs were higher than average.  I also had to go to the doctor a couple of times and make co-pays and buy medicine, which fortunately is unusual.  Otherwise I guess we were just so busy living our lives that we didn't buy anything.  :-)

The Money Monk

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2013, 11:59:17 PM »
Nice work, congrats.

Charlotte

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #2 on: December 02, 2013, 05:24:49 AM »
Our lowest month in 2013 was October at $2254.

I have immediate access to our spending back to 2007, and our lowest over the last six years was December of 2012 at $1880.

I am going to challenge myself to beat both those numbers in 2014! Thanks!!

JessieImproved

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2013, 06:09:22 AM »
Lowest on record is August 2013 @ US $5207.  This is with a mortgage and childcare. 

What's more interesting is that my 6 month moving average is $6408, which is down by almost $1000 from a year ago, and we added a second child in this time!
« Last Edit: December 02, 2013, 06:14:05 AM by jpcrowe »

nikki

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2013, 06:31:23 AM »
Here's my current low: April 2013, 336,900w / ~$318.44 USD

O__O  I can TRY to get lower, but I don't even know how I pulled that off in the first place. Well, I do, but I'm not sure that sort of behavior is repeatable. Certainly not during winter or summer when heating or air con come into play!

meadow lark

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #5 on: December 02, 2013, 08:24:51 PM »
Wow.  Yeah, that is the number to beat!  Well, it is unbeatable for me, unless I moved in with my parents and stopped eating.

Le0

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #6 on: December 02, 2013, 08:52:32 PM »
Started using YNAB in July.

Our monthly low is, November 2013 $3449.25. I know we can do better than that since we bought +$300 worth of cloth diapers in November.

July 2013 was $4105.81. That is a 16% drop in 5 months. However instead of a 15% increase in savings that put us in the black. So now we can finally start saving.

Russ

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #7 on: December 02, 2013, 09:39:13 PM »
thought this was a new perpetual motion thread

glad it's not

my lowest month was probably somewhere around $700. That'll definitely happen again, but not until I'm FI and travelling. I'm way impressed by the $318.

nikki

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #8 on: December 02, 2013, 10:14:00 PM »
My $318 is only because my apartment is provided by my employer. It covered utilities, phone, food, birth control, one taxi ride, and some cleaning supplies. If I recall (I'm at work--spreadsheet's at home), my restaurant/convenience food spending was under $20 for that month.

I can post exact numbers when I get home.

Charlotte

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #9 on: December 03, 2013, 05:01:05 AM »
Revision! My spreadsheet to track spending included savings as an expense category. I can only (easily) revise for the past three years, but it isn't quite as bad....

February 2013 - $2212
December 2012 - $1880
August 2011 - $2000

And there are other months in the low $2000's range. Phew!

This next year  am concentrating on paying off my vehicle, but 2015 I am going for under $2000 on a regular basis!!

Thank you for opening my eyes!

limeandpepper

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #10 on: December 03, 2013, 06:15:09 AM »
My $318 is only because my apartment is provided by my employer. It covered utilities, phone, food, birth control, one taxi ride, and some cleaning supplies. If I recall (I'm at work--spreadsheet's at home), my restaurant/convenience food spending was under $20 for that month.

I can post exact numbers when I get home.

Just out of curiosity, how much do you think your monthly expense would be, presuming a frugal lifestyle, if you didn't have those things covered by your employer? The reason I ask is because my boyfriend and I may be interested in slow-traveling some Asian countries, and wouldn't mind considering South Korea.

Back to the topic, I don't track my monthly spending, so it's hard for me to participate. If I am to guess, on a really good and "lucky" month I may get close to as low as AUD$1000, but then there may be months where it's more like AUD$2000, too. Some of my bills come once every 2 months, some every 3 months, and some every 6 months, and then there is the occasional one-off expense, hence the discrepancy. Maybe I should start tracking just to see how much I'm spending exactly! I used to do that but stopped when it didn't do much for me anymore, but it may be fun to do it again for a bit.

Le0

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #11 on: December 03, 2013, 06:36:33 AM »
My $318 is only because my apartment is provided by my employer. It covered utilities, phone, food, birth control, one taxi ride, and some cleaning supplies. If I recall (I'm at work--spreadsheet's at home), my restaurant/convenience food spending was under $20 for that month.

I can post exact numbers when I get home.

Just out of curiosity, how much do you think your monthly expense would be, presuming a frugal lifestyle, if you didn't have those things covered by your employer? The reason I ask is because my boyfriend and I may be interested in slow-traveling some Asian countries, and wouldn't mind considering South Korea.

Back to the topic, I don't track my monthly spending, so it's hard for me to participate. If I am to guess, on a really good and "lucky" month I may get close to as low as AUD$1000, but then there may be months where it's more like AUD$2000, too. Some of my bills come once every 2 months, some every 3 months, and some every 6 months, and then there is the occasional one-off expense, hence the discrepancy. Maybe I should start tracking just to see how much I'm spending exactly! I used to do that but stopped when it didn't do much for me anymore, but it may be fun to do it again for a bit.

Does mint or something similar work in your country. Sounds like it would be a perfect fit.

limeandpepper

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #12 on: December 03, 2013, 06:48:41 AM »
Does mint or something similar work in your country. Sounds like it would be a perfect fit.

I've not tried Mint. I did download a YNAB trial but I didn't really feel compelled to keep using it. I'm happy with my savings, so I don't really need to budget or track, it's just something I might consider for fun or as a challenge to spend less, instead of a serious ongoing thing.

matchewed

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #13 on: December 03, 2013, 07:04:24 AM »
About $1300 (USD) for myself. I removed my various savings so this is only living and non-savings expenses.

Le0

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #14 on: December 03, 2013, 07:36:11 AM »
Does mint or something similar work in your country. Sounds like it would be a perfect fit.

I've not tried Mint. I did download a YNAB trial but I didn't really feel compelled to keep using it. I'm happy with my savings, so I don't really need to budget or track, it's just something I might consider for fun or as a challenge to spend less, instead of a serious ongoing thing.

I'm a huge YNAB fan. But if I am honest with myself it sounds like you don't need YNAB. However mint is like the report card for your money. It will automatically track your spending with a little input from you now and then.  But I wonder if it works in Australia.

1 Quick Google later and... I don't know. But I found this https://getpocketbook.com/

limeandpepper

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #15 on: December 03, 2013, 07:51:04 AM »
I'm a huge YNAB fan. But if I am honest with myself it sounds like you don't need YNAB. However mint is like the report card for your money. It will automatically track your spending with a little input from you now and then.  But I wonder if it works in Australia.

1 Quick Google later and... I don't know. But I found this https://getpocketbook.com/

Thanks! The PocketBook looks like it could be pretty nifty. I'm signing up just to see if I might like it. :)

etselec

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #16 on: December 03, 2013, 10:24:35 AM »
January won for me this year, totaling $970. Rent was ~$500 of that. I struggle with determining which months were actually frugal though, because I often pre-pay for things like plane tickets, admission to events, etc. in a different month than the event actually occurs.

nikki

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #17 on: December 03, 2013, 05:51:06 PM »
My $318 is only because my apartment is provided by my employer. It covered utilities, phone, food, birth control, one taxi ride, and some cleaning supplies. If I recall (I'm at work--spreadsheet's at home), my restaurant/convenience food spending was under $20 for that month.

I can post exact numbers when I get home.

Just out of curiosity, how much do you think your monthly expense would be, presuming a frugal lifestyle, if you didn't have those things covered by your employer? The reason I ask is because my boyfriend and I may be interested in slow-traveling some Asian countries, and wouldn't mind considering South Korea.

My employer only covers rent.

I live in a very small one-room apartment, and I think the rent is about 400,000w a month. If I were to find my own housing, I think I'd be given a stipend of 300,000w a month. I'm not exact on the number for my apartment because I never see rent bills.

So monthly rent is very cheap for a small place.

HOWEVER, many places require large key deposits upfront. We're talking 5 million won, or around $5000 USD. It really varies, and some places in fact do not require key deposits.

I'm really not knowledgeable enough to give great advice for renting in South Korea. I keep things simple and live in the employer-provided housing!

I'd probably be spending at least $800 USD a month, each month, if I had to pay for rent as well. My expenses are still low because I don't have a car, transportation and health costs are low, and other frugal choices.

Zamboni

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #18 on: December 03, 2013, 07:09:46 PM »
Started using YNAB in July.

Our monthly low is, November 2013 $3449.25. I know we can do better than that since we bought +$300 worth of cloth diapers in November.

July 2013 was $4105.81. That is a 16% drop in 5 months. However instead of a 15% increase in savings that put us in the black. So now we can finally start saving.

Congratulations on making it into the black in November! (along with all of the retailers.)

Sounds like we've got similar expense levels.  If you count everything including all travel and gigantic purchases like cash for a used car, my average monthly expenses are $4250 these past couple of years thanks mostly to two kids and a mortgage.  Not exactly mustachian, but in November we only spent $2995.

@nikki:  Wow yeah that's low.  I managed that when I was a student, but nothing close since.

Zamboni

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #19 on: December 03, 2013, 07:28:37 PM »
January won for me this year, totaling $970. Rent was ~$500 of that. I struggle with determining which months were actually frugal though, because I often pre-pay for things like plane tickets, admission to events, etc. in a different month than the event actually occurs.

I do that also, but I just count it as an expense for the day when the money is actually spent (not when the event occurs and not even when the bill comes.)

$470 after rent is pretty low, well done!

Dork alert:  I keep track of everything in a gigantic multi-page excel spreadsheet with columns for categories, rows for every day, and pages for every month in addition to other pages for assets, earnings (this page includes a take home pay versus expenses versus theoretical income from investments only running graph), monthly averages, and purposes.  Started it years ago when I first read your money or your life.  It has been eye opening how much money I spend on things like pets and gifts.  I make a new file every year, and it's fun to look back at previous years files to see how far I've come.  Only the census guy and my children have seen it.  Census guy got to see it when he started asking for average electric and water bills, for example.  I try to group things, but sometimes I break things apart, like 6 different columns for food categories.  I total them below to get the overall food number, but I like knowing how much was groceries and how much was snacks at work, dinner, etc.

limeandpepper

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #20 on: December 03, 2013, 09:21:42 PM »
HOWEVER, many places require large key deposits upfront. We're talking 5 million won, or around $5000 USD. It really varies, and some places in fact do not require key deposits.

I'm really not knowledgeable enough to give great advice for renting in South Korea. I keep things simple and live in the employer-provided housing!

I'd probably be spending at least $800 USD a month, each month, if I had to pay for rent as well. My expenses are still low because I don't have a car, transportation and health costs are low, and other frugal choices.

Interesting to know about the popular requirement of a large key deposit. I'll keep that in mind! USD$800 wouldn't be too bad either. Thanks for your insight. :)

Ian

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #21 on: December 16, 2013, 07:37:47 PM »
Living in the third world with rent/utilities covered by your employer and eating locally, you can go very low. I'm not going to count that part of my life, though, and review the months since moving to South Korea.

My low is this October, spending $182.60.

I'm not going to go that low again for a while due to winter gas bills. Hypothetically I could go lower this summer: pick a month in which I don't need to travel, stock up on staples beforehand, then just don't buy anything. But there's no point gaming the system - what matters is that we're spending money consciously on things that matter instead of mindlessly on things that don't.

savedough

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #22 on: December 17, 2013, 05:11:13 PM »
I'm embarrassed to include mine.   $4996.  The good news is our income is quite high.

Oh life..

PeachFuzzInVA

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #23 on: December 17, 2013, 08:42:33 PM »
$2331 was my low, but I've only been tracking since September. My average is closer to $2500. $400 will surely be coming off by the end of Q1 2014. The big one will be when student loans are gone, that will be another $545 every month. Looking at my budget, I have $2469 budgeted every month. Looking everything over, I see $1095 in monthly expenses that I would consider to be in areas where I can't change them immediately, but could (and will) be ridding myself of them in a 2-3 year time frame, student loans included.

Le0

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #24 on: December 18, 2013, 07:21:50 AM »
I'm embarrassed to include mine.   $4996.  The good news is our income is quite high.

Oh life..

Don't be. I would report back in a year or so. Take a shot at getting it down.

golfer44

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #25 on: December 18, 2013, 11:44:25 AM »
Doing well this month, $600 so far which includes Christmas shopping and auto registration renewal. Still have rent, but I'm on a good clip. Yeehaw, buddy.

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #26 on: December 24, 2013, 04:51:01 PM »
Im not a super low spender, however I was curious and since Mint tells me these things I thought I would check it out. My lowest month ever (since I started using mint 2 years ago) was Feb 2012 - $2881, and second lowest was Feb 2013 $3250. It shows me its possible. My FI planning is for just under 4k/mo...

Were doing some funny money stuff as we shift gears toward FI. Were buying properties, using low interest $ for leverage etc, so I am very surprised to come in so low...

Our highest spending month in two years was April 2013.. 98k, buying and rehabbinb a rental property -duplex (with a mortgage)... so that's how wide our spending swings these days:)




nikki

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #27 on: December 24, 2013, 10:27:21 PM »

My low is this October, spending $182.60.

Wow--I'd like to see this break-down! My monthly bills alone (including school lunches) make up over 80% of this.

Ian

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #28 on: December 25, 2013, 10:57:37 PM »
Wow--I'd like to see this break-down! My monthly bills alone (including school lunches) make up over 80% of this.
Here you go:
Food: $117.36
Transportation: $8.18
Phone: $9.09
Gas: $13.72
Electricity: $18.20
Winter Sheet: $10.91
Gifts: $5.14
Total: $182.60

I have a bunch of advantages:
 - Rent covered by employer (you know this, but for anyone else reading).
 - Relatively inexpensive gas/electricity, water/trash/internet included in rent.
 - Cheap school lunches (3100w), some of which become free because I teach at multiple schools.
 - No need to commute, all standard stores in biking range, the biggest city in the province is just 1000w by bus.

There's no way I'll be able to do this again soon thanks to my ondol bill, which approaches $100/month on the lowest settings. This summer we'll see if October was just a fluke.

stripey

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #29 on: December 26, 2013, 04:25:20 AM »
I think this is a fantastic thread!

Zaga

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #30 on: December 26, 2013, 09:01:24 AM »
We've been using YNAB for a full year now, and our low month was February at $2,810.  Then the high month was July, but property taxes were due that month, so threw it way off.  Also, I omitted debt payments and Roth contributions from this total, because I want to get a handle on what we will be spending without those added it.  Oh, and I bought a car this month too, and left that out.  We've been saving for a few years for that, so it's not coming out of one month's income.

Zamboni

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #31 on: December 27, 2013, 11:10:40 AM »
^That seems reasonable:  saving for something specific and not counting it as a monthly expense during the month it's purchased with cash.

I'm impressed at some of the posters having all time new low months in December.

December will most definitely NOT be a monthly new low for me.  We went on vacation to see family the other side of the country, my gas stove popped a leak in a spot that would be difficult for me to DIY, insurance bills came, $300 went to expenses to play for an athletic team, and I did the annual car routine maintenance.  I just count this all in the single month (I realize some people spread this out in their budget, but I have enough money slack not to bother.)  So, some months are just spendy and never going to be my low month, and that's okay.

Anyone else with a new low in December?

nikki

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #32 on: December 27, 2013, 06:45:32 PM »
Anyone else with a new low in December?

Almost :-(

$339.87--about $20 higher than my previous low.

If I hadn't gotten Christmas pizza or three months worth of birth control... Haha!

AccidentalMiser

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #33 on: December 27, 2013, 08:42:28 PM »
Low water mark was Sept 2013 at $4479.  February 2014 should be lower (we're on the "quest for 4k" next year).

For some context, our 12-month rolling average has dropped from 9150 in December 2012 (when we found MMM) to $7100 this month.  We are committed to get that 12 month average number to $5000 by Dec 2014.

This sounds like a lot, but we have five adults in our household, own three houses and drive 25 miles to work (don't ask, we're working on all of these issues).

I'll be back to this thread in February to post a new low (hopefully <4k!) Wish us luck!

(Next month is property tax and car insurance month.)

stripey

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #34 on: December 28, 2013, 04:57:26 AM »
I'm tipping for January to be a new low (<AUD1900). December/Christmas, with its interstate travel, ballooned out this month's expenses quite a bit.

Zamboni

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #35 on: November 30, 2014, 07:34:00 AM »
Reviving this thread because it's taken me a full year to record a new monthly spending low.  I managed to shave over $300 off last year's monthly low!  Somehow for a family of 3 we only spent $1017 (not counting the mortgage payment, which is more than that amount I'm afraid, same as last year.)  We weren't really trying not to spend, but the habits have just made it easy.  Some of you do even better, and I know we can get it lower still with some more optimization!

And, of course, we are still living in the luxurious life here.  Eating lots of good food, playing sports, watching DVD's from the library, and enjoying friends and family.  I traveled a bit, bought some clothes and books for the children, and my elderly cat is still eating two cans of fancy feast per day.  Some MMM-style optimization, low fall weather utilities, and the blessing of good health for everyone here helped, of course.

Has anyone else had a new low month in the past few months?

stripey

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #36 on: November 30, 2014, 08:15:14 AM »
Funnily enough,  I kind of have. Let me explain. ..

I actually don't budget in months,  but in quarters,  as this tends to even out a lot of bimonthly and quarterly bills, months with three paydays instead of two, etc.

Last quarter (Jul to Sept) was AUD 6k. Sounds like a lot, but I am in a high COL city and rent is AUD 3.6k of it.

Zikoris

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #37 on: November 30, 2014, 11:08:04 PM »
Our lowest month since starting recording was this February, $1183. The breakdown was:

Housing: 747 (rent + insurance)
Entertainment: 188 (a Valentines symphony for both, Taboo sex show for both, opera for just me, West Side Story performance for both)
Food: 130
Bills: 74 (two phones and internet)
Shopping: 30 (cookbook holder, tupperware, running shoes)
Personal care: 12 (laundry and soap)

Ian

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #38 on: December 01, 2014, 05:22:33 AM »
Wow, in the year since I last posted in this thread, I've improved substantially. I still have all the advantages I listed last time, so I won't compare my numbers here. But I'm glad the thread was bumped.

nikki

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #39 on: December 04, 2014, 05:03:46 AM »
Wow, in the year since I last posted in this thread, I've improved substantially. I still have all the advantages I listed last time, so I won't compare my numbers here. But I'm glad the thread was bumped.

Ya I forgot about this thread! It's awesome to see how different situations impact the numbers. We're pretty lucky with our set-up, Ian ;-)

Also: I beat the $318/mo in May with ~$268.54. Booya!

But the monthly average for the year is $809.71/mo once international travel and acquisition of a husband is thrown into the mix.

I need to re-frame my numbers now that I'm married, so the new all-time low for us as a married couple is... ~$534.19!

Zaga

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #40 on: December 04, 2014, 09:17:15 AM »
It took until last month, but I finally beat the $2,810 number with $2,796!

Sadly my rolling average is a bit up, but that's in large part to the temporary roommate we had August to October.

Also, we're starting to pay our own health insurance instead of having it deducted from paychecks, so we will have that added expense on the books.

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #41 on: December 11, 2014, 05:30:00 PM »
My lowest was $426.33 in October 2014. For one person. Mortgage is paid off and I do not amortize things like car insurance and property tax, so other months are much higher. Highest this year was June at 1569.62, due to a vacation we took that month.

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #42 on: December 11, 2014, 08:16:04 PM »
I've been tracking expenses in a spreadsheet that goes back to January 2012, but it was not until I saw this thread that I learned I spent my all-time (i.e., 2012-2014) low last month: $1079.02. After rent and tithe (in a month with 5 Sundays), I spent $137.39.

December doesn't look to be too shabby, even though I accidentally paid my gas/water/sewer/trash bill twice and now have a -$3.32 bill for next month. Will January be my new all-time low?

Taran Wanderer

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #43 on: December 11, 2014, 08:44:43 PM »
So are you tracking income tax withholdings in the monthly expenses?

johnny847

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #44 on: December 14, 2014, 11:56:46 AM »
Technically my lowest spend month was March at $500.74. But that doesn't include rent or utilities, because I'm a student living in on campus housing, so "rent" is assessed three times a year (fall, spring, and summer).

If I look at my lowest spend month excluding rent, school fees, and health insurance (the last two being assessed at the same time as rent), then it's August, at $155.72.
$20.55 on household supplies
$101.78 on groceries
$33.67 on eating out

Zamboni

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #45 on: December 14, 2014, 05:18:00 PM »
Sounds like a pretty good student budget, johnny847.  That will be hard to beat.

^^I don't count the income tax withholding in my spending, although I do track it on an excel graph because I'm such a nerd.  I suppose the point is to just keep track however one wishes.  As long as you are consistent in how you do it from month to month.

johnny847

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #46 on: December 15, 2014, 07:37:28 AM »
Thanks!

While I do keep track of income tax withheld, I don't consider it an expense. Mostly because it's not really in my control (I mean, yes, there are certain things you can do to lower it, like IRA and 401k contributions (well not that I have a 401k, but w/e)). If I can't control it, I don't exactly consider it an expense. The same way that I don't exactly consider my school fees an expense, because so long as I want to be a student I have to pay them. So I calculate my savings rate as (gross income - taxes - school fees - expenses)/(gross income - taxes - school fees). I mean, I suppose I could just stop being a student (I'm a PhD student, so I could leave and just use my BS) but that's not what I want to do.
Similar to how people are reporting spending rates with and without rent. Some expenses are fixed in the short term, though still malleable in the long term.

In the end though, like Zamboni said, it's more about being consistent than anything else. And I guess when comparing to others, being explicit about what you consider as an expense and what you don't.

mochila

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #47 on: December 16, 2014, 06:39:27 PM »
I also don't track tax withholdings, though my spreadsheet does include the $18.00 I owed last year. Otherwise, it tracks how I spend my net, so after not only taxes, but also the $17500/24 403b contributions.

Excel's pie charts are so enchanting, especially the slice that tells me 22% of my net for 2014 so far went into savings. That may not be so impressive around here, but I am on a half-pay sabbatical and am pretty chuffed to have been traveling overseas and cross country while living in ridiculous comfort all year.
« Last Edit: December 16, 2014, 06:42:30 PM by mochila »

Zamboni

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #48 on: March 29, 2016, 02:48:55 AM »
Necroposting on my own thread because it took me this long to hit an all time monthly low value for spending again: $58 below the last record low for us.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: The Perpetual New Monthly Low Thread
« Reply #49 on: March 29, 2016, 04:36:04 AM »
Going to start tracking this as well.

I'll start with this months spending.

~$20,250 almost 90% of which was a car purchase and the related tax, title, Reg, inspection, insurance premium.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!