As a reminder, my husband pays the "big bills" like mortgage, phone, car, and electricity. I pay for groceries and the pets and that somehow evens things out. Only, to be honest, this doesn't actually work out evenly. We had a discussion recently about how I make a lot less than he does and he has agreed that he's going to take over the Costco runs. We'll see if this works out.
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Groceries ($893.73, 42.8%) - Look, we keep eating.
Pets ($374.17, 17.9%) - Once again I am asking who thought it was a good idea to get a dog? (Me, it was me. I'm my own problem.) Litter, food for the dog AND cat, flea and tick prevention for the dog, litter for the cat. The list never ends.
Savings ($300, 14.4%) - Boo.
Bills ($168.37, 8.1%) - Insurance. It went up by eight dollars AND DON'T THINK I DIDN'T NOTICE, insurance company.
Cars ($142, 6.8%) - I gassed up once and paid for registration for the new car.
Clothing ($131.71, 6.3%) - I bought some stuff for work.
Personal care ($27.20, 1.3%) - Some face lotion.
Eating out ($24.17, 1.2%) - Okay, this is where I splurged this month (outside of HAVING PETS). I got coffee A LOT. June was rough at work and some mornings I just need a pick me up.
Entertainment ($13.70, <1%) - Spotify subscription.
Gifts ($12.63, <1%) - A couple of greeting cards.
Why am I broke all the time? Well, I think we just need to look at those first two categories. *sigh*
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What's something fun you spent money on last month?
Pet expenses are no joke.
ReplyDeleteI am really impressed that you got coffee "a lot" and still only spent $24. My kid occasionally gets a drink from Starbucks (I am personally Done with Starbucks, so I haven't joined her, but don't think I haven't Starbucksed it up in the past) and it's like $8 for her weird butterfly-with-boba drink. If I'm going to splurge on a fun drink, I prefer to go to one of the local businesses, but their drinks are just as spendy.
I mean, I normally only get coffee once or twice a month, but I allowed myself coffee EVERY Friday and a rainy day and that's a lot for me. I didn't actually eat out, though, so that's a thing. I just get a decaf americano, so I'm not getting a "fancy" drink, although it feels like a splurge to me.
DeleteGroceries are really expensive these days. I try to shop at Aldi but have noticed in the past few months that the prices there are going up up up. It doesn’t feel like much of a saving anymore.
ReplyDeleteI rarely go to Aldi, but their prices still seem reasonable to me. I just wish they had a better selection.
DeleteOther than postcards at the Kruger airport, I had a few fun things: I bought three books - including Maya's! So exciting - lunch out with a friend, and a ton of cherries. It's cherry season here and the farm market is open, so I've been indulging a lot. My husband has taken over the Costco cost as well but that's because we got new credit cards to optimise airline points, and my new Visa isn't accepted at Costco (they only take Mastercard). Although, this week he is going camping and I need to go to Costco so I guess I'll have to use my debit card.
ReplyDeleteI don't consider $24 on eating out to be a huge splurge, so I am still impressed! Everything is so expensive these days, though. I went to coffee at a fancy little French pastry shop with my girlfriends, and this is what I got: a chai latte with oat milk. This is what it cost: NINE DOLLARS. WHAT EVEN.
Nicole, I have been buying cherries like a crazy woman. The season is so short and I want all of them! They are my absolute favorite fruit.
DeleteI think it's fascinating because in the States, Costco will not take Mastercard, so I had to get a different Visa card that I almost exclusively use for Costco. It's crazy how different it is.
I bought new tire ( 5 in total for two cars), balancing, and pressure sensor fixes- is that fun? My husband bought a paint sprayer to do basement walls- that was a lot of fun compared to brushing over the irregular surface, missing huge spots because of mortar lines, and having to go back to paint the gaps.
ReplyDeleteAs you can guess, I have a different definition of fun than many.
None of that is fun in my mind! I guess it's a great thing that people on this planet are so different.
DeleteHey, you're not broke. Think how rich Hannah and Zelda make your life! Think if you didn't have them and were putting that money in savings instead... what a bleak existence that would be.
ReplyDeleteI like how spending $24 eating out FOR THE WHOLE MONTH is a "splurge" for you. Has anyone ever told you you're incredibly frugal?
You're absolutely right. I would not trade in Hannah and Zelda for all the $$$$ in my savings account. They are my precious angels.
DeleteI'm obviously not incredibly frugal or we would have a much smaller house, no pets, I'd thrift my clothing, and I'd do my own pedicures. Everyone decides where they spend money. I rarely travel, I rarely eat out, and all of our furniture is from antique shops and estate sales. It's just priorities.
And people aren't wrong if they choose to prioritize things differently than I do! It's just that you have to be honest with yourself about what your personal priorities are and I think that's hard to do sometimes.
Yes to paying bills proportionally by income. It puts too much stress on the lower earner to try to split things, and there's no reason for it. Obviously my marriage isn't a great example since we're not together right now, but it did make things easier when we went from totally separate "you pay this, I pay that" finances to us each paying a fixed amount into a joint checking account for the household expenses. We both set up automatic withdrawals every two weeks so that we never had to think about it. Anytime we had an unexpected expense and needed to top up the balance, we just made an extra payment into the checking account. We did 50/50 since our incomes were similar, but you could just as easily do 60/40, 70/30 or whatever the split is. Anytime we received money, such as tax refunds, we also plopped that into the joint account.
ReplyDeleteIt is funny how different households handle finances. I physically recoiled from the idea of a joint checking account. LOL. The way we do it works for us, but we do have to talk about it once in a while. My husband recently got a very sizeable raise (long story short - there was salary inversion in his department and they worked to undo that through A PROCESS) and so we had a discussion about how things were going - we do this every six months or so - and now we have a new Costco strategy.
DeleteI'm broke too, but that's for entertainment and eating out. Pets are always worth it, even when they're being furry little brats! (Shirley's sitting in my lap as I leave this comment, making me feel all kinds of guilty for even saying that.)
ReplyDeleteThe cat has been so low cost compared to the dog! Even though she was radioactive! (Shirley, you're never a brat. Don't listen to him.)
DeletePets are so expensive, right? (Cut to Maysie lifting her head off her mat and to side eye me…) In June, I bought two shirts that feel so much more like “me” than the pandemic desperation ones I’ve been forcing myself to wear. Hopefully that sort of intentional spending / cleaning out can continue in July (although I’m sure Maysie will need something pricey as she always does).
ReplyDeleteIsn't it funny how you can think you'll have inexpensive pet month and all of a sudden they start puking or something?
DeleteIntentional purchasing and knowing where an item will fit into your wardrobe is so important. I don't wear things that I can only wear to one event or with one other item of clothing - it's a holist approach to my wardrobe.
I had my hair done this week which was VERY spendy, and I took myself to lunch a few times which was not cheap either.
ReplyDeleteI like having my money separate from my husband’s, but a joint account like Birchie described is what works for us. We both put money in there for bills, and pay them from that account. Though I do grocery shopping for 4 days a week, he does two and he pays for dinner out on Fridays. Is it even? Who knows. I guess whatever works for you is what is best, and as long as you revisit it to adjust when needed, that’s good.
Pets are so expensive. I’m saving so much right now by not having any. Boo, I would much rather have a pet and have to deal with those bills. SIGH.
Yes, I do think every couple figures out how to do it together. There is no "right way" to do finances!
DeleteI would rather have a pet than not, but I do watch the money drip away and sigh sometimes. :)
Something fun I bought was a gnome sitting in a rocking chair holding a cup of coffee. I couldn't resist!
ReplyDeleteAnd why would you resist?! That's perfect.
DeleteI need to ask: do you keep accounts separate and do you think of it as "your" and "his" money? Since you're married and splitting bills, isn't it all YOURS?
ReplyDeleteYour car registration must be super-cheap... we'll have to pay in August and it $500+ (OUCH!).
I am trying to think if I bought anything fun this month... does food count? Ha.
That was me (San).
DeleteYes, I do think of the money in his checking account as his and the money in mine as mine. We have a shared savings account and that is ours. I mean, yes, it is all OURS, but we both really prize our own financial independence. We talk about money a fair amount, though, so it's not like it's set in stone the way it is.
DeleteYes, our car registration is super cheap. It's $105 once a year and we don't have any emissions tests or anything. You're welcome to join us in the Midwest for our sweet, low cost of living! Also, our shitty winters.
Food definitely counts if it stands out to you!
We are Olds, so all of our money is commingled. I mean, we even opened a joint checking account before we officially got married in order to pay wedding expenses. THOSE WERE THE OLDEN DAYS, RIGHT?
ReplyDeleteWe had a lovely getaway to Niagara-on-the-Lake in June and bought a LOT of wine. We'll be making a few more fun purchases in July--at least fun for us. We already bought a set of Amish-made Adirondack chairs, and a few more outdoor improvements are in the works.
My grocery bill has gone up exponentially. I am outraged by the cost of coffee, produce, and really, everything else.
Why do we have to keep paying Car Stuff?! Why the constant recurring charges FOR SOMETHING WE ALREADY PAID FOR? GRRRRRR.
We created a savings account together before we got married, but have never had a joint checking account. I don't want to have to explain to him why I spent $X at Sephora and he doesn't want to explain to me why he spent $Y at Dave's Guitar, you know?
DeleteI have to say that our grocery budget has not really gone up much. I think that's because we were already buy super expensive things! Our egg price have stayed the same. I mean, produce has gone up, but not as much as I feared. I am waiting for that to skyrocket.
That makes sense to re-visit the distribution of expenses when someone makes a sizeable amount more than the other person when you have separate accounts. Everything is joint for us so it's just one slush pile of funds.
ReplyDeleteThe most fun thing I bought last month was season passes to the Edina pool for the boys and me. It was something like $130/person which is not cheap (it was $30 more than the listed price since we aren't Edina residents). But the pool is a really fun outing for us now that the boys are decent swimmers. So now we can go all the time and for as little or as long as we'd like. So far our visits have been around 3 hours so we are there a decent amount of time. We've gone 3 times and need to go 8-9 times to make it worth the expense. But it is nice to have a default weekend activity that we all enjoy!
That pool membership will be worth EVERY PENNY, I guarantee it. I mean, you still have to supervise, but at least you can be in the pool, too!
DeleteI *wish* $24 a month on coffee was a splurge for me, lol. That would be a frugal month!
ReplyDeleteSomething fun in June... my new bookshelf! I love it so much. :)
Yeah, I tend to only eat at home and pack my lunches, but coffee five times in one month is CRAZY for me! Summer Me is YOLO, I guess.
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