My Frugal Miser - February Expenses: $2,501

In February I represented Frugal Misers wholeheartedly.  I spent just $2.39 per person per day on food, for example.  Thanks to mystery shopping I spent nothing on gas and got a free oil change, too.  Even my spending on rental properties was reasonable.

If you exclude special items (6 months auto insurance, $178, and cancellation fees paid to AT&T, $207), I only spent $816 in February.

February Personal Expenses ($1,201)

$144 Auto

$0 Bank Fees
$0 Clothing
$35 Entertainment (movies, gambling, alcohol)
$144 Food
$0 Gifts Given

$4 Household
$0 Homeowner's Association Dues

$139 Health and Dental Insurance
$0 Medical
$0 Miscellaneous
$388 Mortgage Interest (primary residence)
$12 Personal Care

$0 Subscriptions
$0 Taxes

$335 Utilities
$0 Vacation

February Business Expenses ($1,300)

$757 Mortgage Interest (rental properties)
$354 Interest on Debt (not including Mortgage Interest)
$189 Rental Properties - Maintenance and Repairs


Total February Expenses : $3,002


Notes

• Thanks to all the mystery shopping I did at gas stations, I only spent $144 on transportation.   I actually made money on gasoline this month by selling some of my excess gas, but I spent $178 on six month's auto insurance.
• Bye, bye, high utilities.  In February I paid a cancellation fee to AT&T from when I switched to Republic Wireless.  Absent that fee, I would have spent less than $150 on utilities (electricity, phone, Internet, water and natural gas)!  Now that's frugal.
• My food budget was for two people. I averaged $4.78 per day for two people in January. Most of our meals are at restaurants so this isn't too bad.  Mystery shopping and heavy use of Buy One Get One Free coupons helped keep our food costs low. 
• You will see Interest on Debt start to fall fairly quickly starting next month.  I've begun aggressively paying down debt and of course I am starting with the most expensive debts first.