My Frugal Miser - April Expenses: $10,113

Even though my April income was solid, my expenses were also high.  The largest expense was in the home repair category, and this expense will continue to be high for the next couple of months.  I hired a contractor to remodel both bathrooms and do a few other minor repairs.  I am paying him in increments as the work is completed.

I made another payment to my periodontist for my second implant.  When done, this one implant is going to cost around $7,000, which seems like a lot for one tooth.

We didn't go on any vacations in April.  I bought a $500 Carnival gift card to take advantage of a promotion at Winn-Dixie.  I'm sure we will use it eventually, but no cruise is currently planned.  I also paid the AirBnB for our August trip to Belize.

Food spending remained high because we traveled so much for work.  Entertainment was also a little high.  Wal-Mart had several bottles of liquor on clearance (less than half price), so I stocked up.  I bought concert tickets to see Cyndi Lauper and Rod Stewart, paid for 6 months of satellite radio, and we went to a couple of concerts at Busch Gardens, where we spent some money on alcohol.

April Expenses:  $10,113

$598 Auto ($74 gas, $0 repairs/maintenance, $524 depreciation)

$0 Bank Fees (annual self-directed IRA fees)
$135 Clothing

$0 Computer

$287 Entertainment (movies, gambling, alcohol)

$358 Food

$0 Gifts Given

$5,336 Household/Housing/Home Repair

$28 Health and Dental Insurance (prepaid 2017 health insurance premiums in December 2016)

$0 Investment Expense
$670 Interest Expense*

$1,399 Medical/Dental

$147 Miscellaneous

$0 Personal Care

$0 Subscriptions

$0 Taxes
$63 Sharing Economy Expenses (dedicated phone, tolls, car washes, etc.)

$244 Utilities

$848 Vacation

*Interest expense includes student loans and the loan on my car.  As both rates are below 2%, I am completely comfortable paying the interest each month and investing the money that I would otherwise use to pay off these loans.  In April, I paid $650 to E*Trade for "hard to borrow" interest on a short sale of Sears Holdings stock.