Expense Initial Analysis

First problem I ran into is this is the Christmas period and income was increased due to a nice bonus and outgo was unusual due to the extra cash and the holiday spending.



But here is what I could work out:

Rent $1400
Bankruptcy Payment $1350
Sons School $650

There is half my money gone and not much I can do about those. Rent is cheap since we know the landlord and have an excellent deal, the Bankruptcy payment is what it is and my sons school is awesome and have no interest in either changing or decreasing his time there.

So the rest is going to Food, Car, Cable, Phone, Utilities, Clothing and Entertainment. Lets see how this breaks down.

Car: This includes upkeep, gas, insurance and parking. I spend $9 a day parking for 20 days in the month which equals $180, Gas is around $160, Insurance is $80 and upkeep averages to $50 so that brings car expenses to $470 per month. I bet we can do something there, especially on Parking and possibly gas.

Cable: This is the Phone, internet and cable package from Comcast for $99. Maybe I could drop the landline since myself and my wife both have cellphones. Our main consideration is we have family abroad so long distance has to be looked at. Last bill was higher by far than this so I will have to investigate.

Phone: Namely cellphones. I have to look into this. These get expensive and I have seen web services that can chop these down.

Utilities: Wife said the last bill was $120. It is winter and we have been using the heaters a lot.

So far, of my remaining $3000, $690 is accounted for with Food, Clothing, Cellphones and Entertainment making up the remaining $2300. That seems like a lot. This, I suspect, is the area we will make our greatest gains.

The plot thickens!