November brought some normalcy to our lives again. While we weren’t running around for soccer, we were at the doctor’s multiple times this month for a majority of or family. Some appointments were simply annual specialist checkups, while others were illness visits. Here’s a complete rundown of our November 2016 budget & debt repayment update.
Salary: $3,935.51
Monthly Expenses
Mortgage**: $500
Cell Phone: $47.42
Home Phone / Internet: $75.26
The majority of our bill is for internet service. One of my goals for for remainder of the year is to look into other internet providers for us since we have speeds that are not much faster than dial up. I really wanted to see if we could get this bill any lower. After some research and calling around, based on our location there are no other service providers for our area. I could pay for dish internet, and while the speeds would increase, the connectivity is more unreliable than what we currently have.
Credit Card 1: $106.93
The payments on this are reoccurring bills whose payments are made online that we don’t feel safe enough leaving our bank information in their account records.
Credit Card 2**: $1,378.07
This month we were able to pay a lot more on this credit card than we had been throughout the summer and it felt really good!
Student Loans**: $160
Electric: $99.37
Cooler weather has arrived, and it’s showing in our electric bill! It’s on the decline, and it’ll continue to do so as we fire up the wood stove for the winter.
Insurance: $246.77
Our insurance payment includes our car, house, and life insurance policies.
Piano Lessons: $0
Bookworm’s piano lessons are a generous gift from my mother-in-law.
Newspaper Subscription: $13.45
Our monthly, weekend only subscription.
Additional Expenses
Donation: $100
At the end of October, our area experienced a lot of damage from flash flooding. While we weren’t directly effected since we’re up on a mountain, Hubs knew quite a few of the families who were since he grew up in this area. This monetary donation went to a family Hubs has known most of his life, and are the parents to his childhood best friend.
Groceries: $597.24
Fuel: $125.25
I hoped our fuel bill would go down this month, but between doctor’s appointments and having to take the long way to town to washed out bridges, that didn’t happen.
Lawn/Heat: $10.01
With winter on the way, there’s no more need for fuel for our lawn mower. But since Hubs has been going over to cut and split wood for next winter, he’s needed some fuel and supplies for that. I do know that we purchase fuel for these two categories so infrequently, but I don’t know how much we spend on either over the course of the year yet.
Pet: $16.94
Date Night: $28.80
At the beginning of the month, Hubs and I had gone out for dinner and a movie. We went to see Dr. Strange {HUGE Marvel Cinema fan here!} and ate out at Moe’s since I had $10 in rewards I could use.
School: $30
This month was Book Fair month at Monkey’s school, and he had a $10 budget just like Monkey last month. The boys also requested $10 each to for their lunch accounts. Bookworm went through all his, while Monkey still has a balance above $5.
Savings
Each month I put an allotted amount of money into our savings accounts to pay for expenses that vary throughout the year. Here, you’ll find a break down of what we put away in the account throughout the month, as well as any expenses through the month that came from that account.
Annual Savings Account: $240
Every week I put money aside into this account, and on months with an extra paycheck, I put even more into this account. Some months we don’t use anything that I put aside, other months we use a lot. To read more on how much we try to put aside and what we use it for, you can check out this post.
Medical: $149.45
In the beginning of the month, I needed to fill some prescriptions for Bookworm and myself. In the middle of the month, I had to take Monkey to the pediatrician, and by the end of the month, I was back at the doctors for laryngitis and another viral induced asthma attack. I swear we’re not at the doctor’s this often!
Prescription: $225.17
This is the cost of one inhaler, the pink one, after our insurance pitched in their portion. o_O After my last asthmatic episode in September, my doctor said that if I were to go through a similar situation again, to not wait until the same point I had. Loud and clear. With the laryngitis came, as the doctor called it, a moderate asthmatic reaction, with a peak flow at 310 {500 is the norm, and 220 is where I let it get to in September}. Per her advice, and with a lot of kicking and screaming on my part, I was prescribed an inhaled steroid. While I do not want to be on the medication at all, at this juncture in my life it seems like I need to be. And it’s better than going back on another 3 week bend of prednisone. Until I find a safe and effective alternative, or my lungs decide they’re done reacting to viruses, I’ll continue to budget for this one inhaler. Besides, it’s cheaper than what I paid for September’s nightmare.
Gifting Savings: $160
I also add money to our gifting account each week. It helps us to stay on budget each month and still have funds available for when birthdays and holidays come up.
Christmas: $71.63
This month we continued to get some presents for the kids and our family.
Debt Repayment
After paying off some debts earlier in the year, we are down to our mortgage, two student loans, and one credit card. Since we started getting serious about our repayment at the beginning of 2014, we have paid off 3 credit cards, a small student loan, and our car. We have also ended our payment plan on Bookworm’s orthodontic work, as well as our lease on his trumpet. We have come a long way since we started two years ago, but we still have a long way to go.
Mortgage**: $500
Credit Card 2**: $1,378.07
This is our current snowball. After increasing our emergency fund a bit, this is currently in repayment.
Student Loans**: $160
Next month Hub’s student loans are scheduled to adjust the balance to his updated Income Based Repayment amount. But since his due date has been advanced so far ahead, I’m not sure if he’ll be required to pay for at the new amount next month or not.
Well… there you have it. A complete rundown of how our budget and debt repayment went throughout the month. How did your November 2016 budget & debt repayment go?
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