One of the major benefits of working 11 hour days every day is that you don’t spend much money.  But there is a tendency when the assignment ends to spend some cash, and that’s pretty much what we saw in December.  Overall we did OK in the month of December with total expenses of $3438.61 but we certainly could have done much better.  The good news is we ended the month with around $735 left over from the beet harvest money, so all of the money we made here will be living expenses going forward.  Since we still have not gotten paid, I am not including that revenue in this month.  Details are below. (I want to also point out that we had some expenses in December that normally we wouldn’t see in a regular month. Namely, $142 for our truck registration, $247 for tobacco and cigarette tubes, which is a quarterly expense) $100 to replenish the money in our mailing service account, which is also quarterly, and $250 for the on site tech visit to fix our furnace, $150 of which will be reimbursed to us. If we remove those, then the monthly expenses are more like $2850. – Lee)

Campground Fees – We had a free place to stay with the work kamping job, so we saved $600 here.  Since we are consistently under budget in this category it will be adjusted for 2017.

Groceries – We stayed on budget and were actually $30 to the good.  Making a big Costco run in January and going to start cooking meals again (need to get that recipe book finished), so we will see.  This category will probably be adjusted in 2017.

Dining Out – $100 over budget for the month which is almost exactly what we spent on our Red Lobster dinner.  I almost consider that a business expense, but since it’s not deductible we are putting it here. 

Truck Fuel – This was our best month ever because we only tanked up one time and spent a measly $76.10.  Another benefit of never going anywhere and working where you live.  

Gifts – For the first time ever we did not buy Christmas gifts for the kids.  I had budgeted the money last year, but since at this point they are all actually making more money than us and I bought them small gifts while we were in Alaska, we decided to stop doing this.  I would never have thought I would be OK with skipping gifts, but it’s a great indicator of how much I’ve changed.  I am firmly in the camp of buying them presents from a cool place regardless of the time of year, which is where my husband and mother-in-law have been all along.

Home Repair – We did well in this category, the only expense being $100 for our deductible on getting the furnace fixed.  This category is always interesting in the yearly view  which will be coming up next. 

So that’s December, and now I can start the annual budget review.  We will be making adjustments in numerous categories and providing lots of info for you data junkies out there so stay tuned!

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