Frugal October

Vacation months are a little weird. Obviously, there's a spike in Travel expenses, but the rest of the line items tend to be much lower. 

Auto & Transport: 79% lower than last year solely due to not having a car payment.

Bills & Utilities: 7% lower this year. I would've liked to see a much lower Utilities bill, but we've learned that there's a high floor for this expense. We try to control the cost by keeping our house cool in the winter (around 60℉) and warm in the summer (around 80℉).

Entertainment: 59% lower this year. We went to the Orchard last year. This year's only expensive was advance tickets for the Festival of Lights. 

Fees & Charges: No expenses last year, but this year, we paid an annual fee for a new United MileagePlus credit card. This was offset by a $100 statement credit, but I left this recorded as Income.

Food & Dining: 56% lower this year. This category is probably our biggest savings opportunity when we're not home. I lump all food expenses while on vacation into Travel, so they don't hit this line item.

Health & Fitness: 69% lower this year. I had a migraine prescription last year. This year, the only fee was for Francisco's HSA account. At some point next year, we'll finally have enough funds in this account to avoid the monthly fee.

Home: No change.

Pets: No expenses last year, and just "litter" this year.

Shopping: Bahaha, we are -1,739% lower this year. As I mentioned in last month's frugal post, we've been testing a few different cameras, and the returns went through this month. 

Travel: It's ok. That absurd shopping percentage is offset by our Travel variance, which is +1,768%. Our only travel expense last year was one night in a hotel when we went to Asheville.  Honestly, our trip to Paris and Iceland was one of the most cost-effective vacations we've ever taken. I may need to do some kind of expense summary post of that trip, but I can't promise I'll get around to it. 

Summary: We came in at a solid 35% less spending than last year. Obviously, the Shopping returns did some weird things to our budget, but they were offset by the additional travel expenses.  There are two more months of this year to report on, and I am really interested to see how things end up looking by year-end. I am confident we will have spent significantly less.