Utilities: This is the category I have not been able to get under control. It's made up solely of my monthly cell phone bill and is driven largely by data usage. I have a 20 GB Verizon Plan and 25 GB T-Mobile Plan. In May I couldn't find much T-Mobile access and ended up increasing my Verizon plan to 30 gigs. BUT I am making a change to reign this in quite a bit. For $1,295 I have acquired a grandfathered Verizon Unlimited Data Plan that will run me $44.95 a month. This will enable me to reduce or eliminate my other plans. Once everything is set up and in place, I think my monthly expense will be between $150 and $200 a month. The one time $1,295 is almost exactly the amount I am over budget this month.
Travel: At $461 this was a little over budget but not as bad as last month. This includes things like maintenance & repairs, propane, insurance and a storage unit I have as well.
Food: This was a tough category in May and I'm not sure why. I spent $512 for groceries, which is more than $200 over budget. That's the most it's ever been. The good news is that I am not too far over on dining out expense, which I thought might be a tough one for me.
Camping: My highest month so far ($302) but I knew that as summer came I would be spending more time in campgrounds. However, YTD I've spent only $1,069 which is an average of $213.80 per month or $7.03 per night. This is definitely gonna keep increasing through the summer months as I visit some national parks but I expect to still come in way under my annual budget of $6,300.
Fuel: Gas prices continue to rise bit by bit but are still lower than what I budgeted. That plus driving fewer miles per month than I expected have kept me under budget.
The basic details are below!
| Expenses | ||||
| Planned | Actual | Diff. | ||
| Totals | $3,013 | $4,224 | -$1,211 | |
| Camping | $525 | $302 | +$223 | |
| Dining Out | $200 | $220 | -$20 | |
| Entertainment | $100 | $52 | +$48 | |
| Fuel | $533 | $233 | +$300 | |
| Groceries | $300 | $512 | -$212 | |
| Healthcare | $613 | $629 | -$16 | |
| Personal | $100 | $235 | -$135 | |
| Pet Care | $25 | $9 | +$16 | |
| Travel | $417 | $461 | -$44 | |
| Utilities | $200 | $1,570 | -$1,370 | |
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