April 2011: What we spent

Ch-ch-ch-changes! I added two new categories this month, and am kicking myself for not doing it earlier! I’m breaking out “bus fares” and “car maintenance” from Vehicle and Transport, which will now just cover petrol, registration and warrant costs. I’ll probably create a motorbike category when T replaces his. Click here for more info on my monthly spending roundups.

Bus: Pretty on par. I did catch the two-stage bus a couple of times due to the horrendous rain a couple of times, and probably will do more often now we’re coming into winter, which’ll up costs slightly.

Car maintenance: This was our first warrant in our “new” car and it passed no problem. Woo! It wasn’t all roses though – some asshole swiped the car on the road earlier that week and didn’t stop, smashing the left hand wing mirror. Luckily the garage I booked for the warrant was very near Mazspare, so T was able to pick up a secondhand mirror for $30 before the WOF test.

Clothes: I love opshopping. About half my wardrobe today has come from the Recycle Boutique. Latest additions: a blazer and a couple of tops, jeans, and a skirt. I also picked up jandals for both of us for our upcoming Raro trip. Can’t go wrong with buy one get one free.

Debt: Non interest-accruing, his.

Dining out: I cannot believe we made the $160 threshold! We used a couple of vouchers from my new Entertainment Book, which is probably why. Also, I’m trying to keep a regular stash of things like frozen lasagnes in the freezer for those nights.

Entertainment: Possibly a new record for us? $65 was for the entertainment book. We spent another $40 at the Easter Show. I bought new guitar strings. And we went bowling for a friend’s birthday.

Groceries: Um. Yeah. We kinda blew it, huh? We replaced basically all cleaning products/items in the house. And spent $40 at the Mercer Cheese shop. Will have to tighten up this month (came in under budget this week already!)

Mystery shopping: One expensive evening at a restaurant.

T fun: Where to start? There was $480 on bike gear (jacket, boots), $120 on a basic skills course (at least we still have those…), and some XBox games. Plus the usual don’t ask, don’t tell allowance.

Vehicle: $147 for six months of registration. A little on motorbike petrol. A helluva lot on car petrol. (Are we ready for $4 a litre? No, I don’t think we are…)

Utilities: Lower than usual; now that we’ve been here a year, my power company applied my $150 bond toward my account, so no bill this month and probably not next month either.

Work expenses: Mainly T. His company subsidises a lot of courses, but not completely. This should, hopefully, be a long-term investment.

Elsewhere, I saved 31.7 per cent – less than usual as I brought in slightly less and T T brought in quite a bit less. Also, I netted a whopping $15 in extra income ($100, but most of that was reimbursement for one very expensive restaurant meal).