DPR as a dragon

The big event of the last two months was our trip to Virginia for my sister’s wedding. We were gone for ten days at the end of October. It was quite a spendy occasion between the travel and the attire, but well worth it of course. Absolutely nothing went wrong at the wedding! I plan to write a whole post on my expenses as a bridesmaid (this was the first time I’ve been in a wedding party). We also bought a bunch of stuff to make traveling with a toddler (!) easier. One good frugal step we took was that we caught a ride to and from the airport from a friend and thereby avoided Uber expenses.

Regular Fixed Expenses

Rent $1645 and 1645: Our rent is going down starting next month!

Water/Sewer/Garbage $130 and 130

Internet $74.45 and 74.45

Student Loan Minimum Payment $101.99 and 101.99

Co-Op Preschool $92 and 92

Netflix $10.74 and 10.74

Cloud Backup $5.99 and 5.99

Regular Variable Expenses

Power $0 and 114.32 ($80 budgeted): We have turned the heat on in our apartment but it hasn’t been running too much yet.

Groceries $573.49 and 597.79 ($600 budgeted): Wow, two months in a row under budget! What a miracle! We did use up a gift card we had lying around to make it under in November. I think our lower spending is mostly due to us going off of our regular eating plan and sneaking in some lower-cost grains and so forth.

Restaurants $26.15 and 57.40 ($50 budgeted): We actually ate out together a few times in these last couple months! It’s been lovely. Kyle also went out a couple times on his own.

Gas/Parking/Public Transit $47.14 and 44.86 ($60 budgeted): Gas and a few dollars for parking, as usual.

Phones $64.37 and 64.37 ($65 budgeted): Both months we paid our regular bills, and at the end of November Kyle signed up for Google’s Project Fi and bought a phone.

Miscellaneous $75.77

• $9.40 pH test strips (for our cloth diapering wash routine)
• $6.27 prescription co-pay
• $49.11 disposable diapers for our trip
• $0.99 iTunes (we have no idea what this was… maybe DPR bought something?)
• $10 laundry quarters

Bottom Line

We spent $5,755.10 of $6,188.411 available over the two months. We saved the excess into our Baby account (see below), which is always in need of a cash influx.

Targeted Savings

We contributed $1,742.10 and spent $1,870.55 in total.

Cars

Starting Balance $565.06

Saved $79.44 + 79.44

Spent $11.59 on windshield wipers

Travel

Starting Balance $959.35

Saved $100.00 + 100

Spent $278.49

• $139.74 bachelorette party expenses
• $36.05 gas fill-up while traveling
• $16.70 airport meal
• $11 thank-you gift for airport rides
• $75 Alaska Airlines credit card annual fee

Gifts

Starting Balance $714.94

Saved $70.00 + 70.00

Spent $236.86 on Christmas gifts

Appearance

Starting Balance $405.50

Saved $221.67 + 221.67

Spent $368.89: Assorted wedding attire expenses, DPR’s Halloween costume, shoes for Kyle.

Electronics

Starting Balance $1,668.61

Saved $0

Spent $338.61

• $273.07 graphics card – the last purchase for Kyle’s new desktop!
• $65.54 tax on a new phone for Kyle (we financed the phone itself)

Baby

Starting Balance -$43.64

Saved $386.14 + 604.01

Spent $636.11: Many travel-related expenses (e.g., stroller, car seat, presents), preschool fees, doctor co-pay, books, zoo membership, etc.

Insurance

Starting Balance $891.64

Saved $108.33+108.33

Spent $0

What unusual expenses did you incur the last time you traveled? Have you ever been in a wedding, and if so how much did you spend?