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Saturday, April 3

My Frugal Miser - March 2021 Expenses


In March I kept expenses below income once again, but it wasn't a frugal month.  We spent a fair amount getting ready to move.  This included landscaping the new home (my partner's passion is gardening), moving costs, etc.
  • The household expense includes $1,423 for the mortgage.  We moved at the end of the month to a house I already own outright, so this expense is going away.
  • Spending on food was stubbornly high because of the expense of our low-carb diet.  We are still preparing nearly every meal at home, which saves on restaurant meals.
  • I placed two new Healthy Wagers.  I have made a total of 5 bets that I can lose weight.  Two of those bets have ended and I won.  This helps motivate me to lose weight.

Fun

We love adventures.  Spending on experiences makes us better humans.  
  • We visited Atlanta for 2 nights. 
  • Jetstar canceled our August flight to Australia, and soon after Carnival canceled our cruise.  I opted to apply my cruise deposit towards a future cruise but took a refund for the flight from Honolulu to Sydney.   Conveniently, we salvaged our vacation plans:  last year I signed up for a timeshare offer through Hilton Grand Vacations that includes a 5 night stay in Hawaii.  I had already booked a flight from Tampa to San Jose, CA and from there to Honolulu for the Australia trip, so I simply switched the second flight to Kona for the same dates.  

March Expenses:  $6,251

$414 Auto (service, gas, insurance, AAA, etc.)
$595 Bank Fees (annual fee on Chase Hyatt card, trustee fee for Self-Directed IRA)
$0 Clothing/ Personal Care
$518 Fun (vacations, movies, gambling, alcohol, concert tickets)
$649 Food
$307 Health and Dental
$2,786 Household/Mortgage Payment/Home Repair
$139 Unreimbursed Job Expense
$0 Interest Expense
$0 Miscellaneous
$324 Taxes
$520 Utilities

Although the mortgage is going away, there are many projects we plan to take on at our new home.  This should increase the value of our home, but we are doing it to improve our quality of life.  We will be building a fence in April.  Soon I plan to have concrete poured for a patio area.  Eventually I am planning to remodel.

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