May 2021 Expense Report

I'm getting to this late in the month because I was super nervous about tallying it all up. This is the month that I kind of, sort of, dipped my toe back into "normal." I got a hair cut and my nails done and then there was Hannah.

 

Hannah's a true delight, but she's not inexpensive to keep around.  You'll note here that the big piece of the pie that is 49% is our dear darling pets.  And I want to make it clear that a small portion was birdseed and kitty litter, but the rest was all Hannah. There were medications, many trips to the vet, and a pesky MRI.  I have you given you percentages here, but that MRI alone was about three-quarters of my take home pay for the month. Most of that came from our savings account. So I have given you the truth (above), but I'm readjusting it as if the MRI had not happened.

When I do it this way, this seems much more in line with the world I want to live in.  

Savings (27%): Not quite where I want to be, especially considering I took a bunch out for the MRI, but at least I'm being intentional about it.

Pets (16%): Hannah had several prescriptions, vet appointments, and  it just all added up.

Groceries (17%): We've gotta eat. I guess we could cut this back, but it would be a challenge.

Health and fitness (13%): Ugh. I had an eye appointment and ordered contacts, which was quite pricey.  I also got my normal fitness class passes, ordered new insoles for my cross trainers, and paid for a prescription. It is what it is. A bunch of it came out of my Health Savings Plan, but that's money I earned and spent.

Other (4%): This category is pretty large this month. It includes all my charitable contributions and some odd bits and bobs, like a Kindle book, getting my shoes resoled, and paying our water bill.

Cars (7%): Gas a few times and both cars needed new registrations this month ($105 per car). Next month I'll have to do even more with cars because I'll go on a road trip to Michigan!

Gifts (10%): Big gift-giving month. Dr. BB's birthday and my twin niece and nephew.

Personal care (5%): Hair cut, mani/pedi, and some facial care products. I refuse to apologize for this expense. My hair situation was dire after about eighteen months without a cut.  

Eating out (1%): This will go up next month because of my trip to Michigan, but I think it's reasonable to get a coffee out once a week.  

I was really nervous to put all this together because it just felt like I was hemorrhaging money all month long, but when I lay it out like this, it's actually not too bad.  We had planned on the MRI, so that wasn't a surprise and the fortunate outcome of the MRI is that Hannah shouldn't need surgery, so we dodged a bullet there.  I don't know how to feel about this, but I'm going to go ahead and say that it's okay to get a few luxuries here and there since I haven't really done much since March 2020.