My Frugal Miser - September 2021 Expenses

 

Besides heavier than normal spending on fun stuff, my expenses for the month of September were reasonable.

• I drove to Orlando twice and Cocoa Beach for work.  My boss reimbursed my gas for the Cocoa Beach trip.  Often the Orlando jobs are considered "local" which means my travel expenses aren't reimbursed.  Orlando has such an established labor force in the meeting industry that I don't have any negotiating leverage for reimbursement.  
• I paid $194 for another year of AAA membership.
• Food expense remains stubbornly high.  We spent Labor Day with a friend in Naples and ate out twice there; we also had a nice lunch in Atlanta the day we returned from Music Midtown.  Still, the majority of my spending went to grocery stores (Aldi and Walmart).  Our low-carb diet is healthier but also costs more.
• I gifted a family member a large amount of money to pay rent.
• I had to take one of the cats to the vet.

Fun

We love adventures.  Spending on experiences makes us better humans.  

• Since I had already paid for our tickets to Music Midtown, and the hotel was paid with points, the trip expenses were minimal.  We spent $14 on two Breeze passes to take MARTA into the city, plus had a few rideshare expenses.  I had planned to walk everywhere but it was a rainy weekend and I had to make an unexpected trip to the pharmacy.
• For almost half the month I wasn't feeling well.  I thought I had COVID (yes, I am vaccinated) but took two tests which were negative.  I'm 95% better but am still dealing with congestion.  It must have just been a bad cold.
• I spent a lot of money on our future cruise vacations.  I made a $547 and $560 payment towards our 2022 Australian cruise to take advantage of a 10% cashback offer on two of my credit cards.  I also paid for a new cruise we are taking at the end of November.
• I booked our flights from Sydney, Australia to Brisbane for the cruise.  I still need to book the flights that will take us to Sydney.
• We ended the month by spending a couple of days in Napa Valley - our very first trip there.  I used points for the hotels and vouchers for the airfare.  

September Expenses:  $5,539

$548 Auto (service, gas, insurance, AAA, etc.)

$0 Bank Fees (annual fee on Marriott card)
$38 Clothing/ Personal Care
$2,158 Fun (vacations, movies, gambling, alcohol, concert tickets)

$637 Food

$157 Health and Dental

$1,050 Household/Home Repairs

$57 Unreimbursed Job Expense

($378) Reimbursed Job Expense income this month

$0 Interest Expense

$544 Miscellaneous

$654 Taxes

$73 Utilities