October is a month of getting into a routine and anticipation of the election results. We are starting to get comfortable with our new normal. Our routine includes going to outdoor preschool 2x a week, seeing my family every 2 weeks and getting groceries once a week. This month, MBP’s class visited the Thomassen Family Farm for their annual pumpkin patch. We made it a family trip and AHP tag along. We ended the trip with a drive thru order from McDonalds for lunch. The farm was outdoors and all adults are wearing masks. We had fun and glad that this field trip happened despite some restrictions.
I also had my annual exam and established care with a new physician closer to our area. Luckily, my new physician was able to get a women’s physical therapist. I started seeing her this month and so far it really helped my back and get back some of my core strength. All of these expenses are covered by our insurance.
Alright, for our expenses, we spent $5,033.77 this month
Property Taxes – $3,043.39
We paid our second half of property taxes this month. It is expensive and will likely jut increase next year. Our property taxes is base on the value of our house. There are a lot of demand for single family housing. Two of our neighbors in the cul-de-sacs sold their houses for $650K+. I appeal our taxes in our old house in Seattle twice and won. I know that the assessment was reasonable so I’m not going to appeal this one, but I do keep an eye on this because sometimes, the county assessment is higher than the market.
We don’t include the value of our house in our net worth, so I probably shouldn’t care too much. I am happy to pay that tax if it means better public school for our community.
Food – $537.61
We spent over $500 for food. This is probably our normal spending now. This includes $507.42 on groceries and $30.19 on fast food. My husband is our primary chef but I’m starting to run some errands now. I can see this go up once the pandemic is over when we venture out more and start eating out.
Transportation – $218.09
We paid $198 for a 6 month auto insurance for our 2014 Toyota Prius. I still have my 2011 Volkswagen Jetta that is park in the driveway. We need to get rid of it at some point. Maybe once the vaccine is out and I can actually go to the dealership and get the recall and the tire fix.
Education / Hobbies – $198
This month, I also sign up for a one year membership at CPE Depot. I need to complete some continuing professional education to maintain my CPA license. This can fulfill the CPE needed for 2 years, as well as the ethics program. I also attended a virtual summit Mama Talks Money. I paid $69 to access the content after the summit. It was great to hear from more women talking about money. I still need to act on some of our to do’s particularly our will.
2 more months until the end of 2020. Our spending is considerably low this year because we basically stay in. I expect this to be drastically different next year as we start traveling, eating out more, preschool expenses and healthcare (on another post)
Here’s our every line item we spent this October:
| Description | Amount | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Property Tax | 3,043.39 | Second half of property tax |
| Groceries | 507.42 | |
| 529 College Fund | 200.00 | |
| Auto Insurance | 198.00 | 6 month auto insurance of our prius |
| Education | 129.00 | CPE courses to maintain my CPA license |
| Water | 120.74 | |
| Furnishings | 83.85 | Heater for AHP's room |
| Shoes | 78.86 | I bought some rainboots but returned it. The return wasn't processed until November |
| Electric and Gas | 75.39 | |
| Garbage | 75.21 | |
| Hobbies | 69.00 | Mama's Talk Money Virtual Summit |
| HOA Dues | 68.25 | |
| Kids | 60.25 | Class Photo and MBP's Big Bird Costume |
| Sewer | 60.16 | |
| Pet Food & Supplies | 52.45 | |
| Internet | 45.00 | |
| Fast Food | 30.19 | Trips to McDonalds |
| Entertainment | 29.96 | My husband bought some game and one ticket to Thomassen Family Farm |
| Home Improvement | 28.35 | |
| Shopping | 25.23 | Some school / craft supplies |
| Gas & Fuel | 20.09 | |
| Mobile Phone | 16.29 | |
| Pharmacy | 7.09 | Some OTC medication for my husband |
| Subscription | 6.55 | |
| Parking | 2.50 | |
| Electronics & Software | 0.55 | Last AWS billing to host this website. I moved to Google Cloud Platform |
| Grand Total | 5,033.77 |
How’s you October?