Legal Fees, Thanksgiving in Mexico, and Sayonara to the bats living in the attic.
Why share the details of what we spent? Because I always wish more people would. It’s an interesting way to see how people are living their lives. No two people spend money the same way.
I’ve always posted a summary to Instagram, but I’ve also always loved the way The Frugalwoods post each month. So I’m trying out something new. It’s a surprising amount of work to type it all out, but also strangely satisfying.
November was expensive
We went on vacation. We paid our estate planning attorney. I got a head start on Christmas and bought ridiculously expensive tickets to see family over the holidays.
This is total spending for a month for two adults in a medium-to-high cost of living city.
| Food | ||
| Groceries | $257 | How?? Out of town for a week plus did a big stock up at the end of last month. A win is a win! |
| Restaurants | $0 | But lots of eating out while on vacation, that goes in the vacation budget. |
| Takeout | $69 | Pizza delivery and a couple trips through the drive thru. |
| Coffee | $70 | Supporting local coffee shops is always in my budget. |
| Beer and Wine | $275 | I got a little excited at Trader Joe’s. Their store brands are so inexpensive I bought a lot to stock the fridge. |
| Vacation | ||
| Mexico trip plus Chrismas airfare | $5,695 | Made a last minute decision to go to Mexico for Thanksgiving. (Worth it!) and bought plane tickets for Christmas. Both spendy! |
| Christmas | ||
| Cards plus stamps | $536 | Everyone has their weird splurge. This is mine. I just have so much fun picking photos and designing everything! |
| Tree! | $204 | Tree from Target, Ornaments from Michaels. |
| Gifts | $366 | Started my shopping a little early. |
| Legal Fees | ||
| Estate Planning | $3,000 | So happy to have this almost done. A will, trust, healthcare directive, etc. |
| Home | ||
| Bat removal | $3,000 | It is done. They are gone. So long, bats! This is the final payment. The initial estimate was $10,000! Total costs landed around $4,000. |
| Water & Power | $234 | About average I think? |
| Home supplies | $115 | Toilet paper, mouthwash, etc |
| Streaming/Internet | ||
| Cell phone | $203 | Both phones are on annual plans with Mint Mobile. One renews in October and the other in November. |
| Hulu | $16 | To watch Bachelor in Paradise |
| Netflix | $10 | To watch Greys Anatomy |
| Audible | $16 | Listened to Atomic Habits. I have a lot of thoughts to share another day! |
| HBO | $2 | I think this was a Black Friday deal! Got it to watch the new seasons of Gossip Girl and The Sex Lives of College Girls. Also just started a SATC rewatch. |
| NY Times | $8 | Not sure why but I got charged twice this month. |
| Apple storage | $3 | Cloud storage |
| Internet | $49 | It’s a series of tubes |
| Games | $6 | We both became obsessed with the Drop the Number game and paid for the ad free version. |
| Transportation | ||
| Gas | $58 | I really want an electric car but my 10 year old gas car is annoyingly holding up really well. |
| Insurance | $106 | This is mostly car insurance but I think also umbrella insurance on the same bill. |
| Tolls | $0 | Not sure why I didn’t get charged this month. |
| Parking | $7 | I hate paying for parking. I loath it! |
| Ride shares | $0 | I’m sure we took a Lyft to the airport to go to Mexico but that went under “Vacation.” |
| Giving | ||
| Hosting | $459 | Hosting out of town guests. Picked up the tab for a couple meals out and activities. |
| Charity | $0 | Already hit my goal for the year! |
| Gifts | $63 | Flower delivery for a birthday. Christmas gifts are under “Christmas” |
| Personal | ||
| Grooming | $224 | One of us got a haircut and one of us got a facial. |
| Medical | $595 | Custom orthotics and physical therapy for me. For my Tibial Tendonitis. |
| Gym | $48 | Peloton! I love it. |
| Clothes | $651 | Shoes, jeans. A sweater. Nothing too exciting here. |
| Joy | ||
| Pets | $160 | $86 for food and $74 for medication. But they’re worth it! |
| House cleaning | $440 | It’s $220 each time. They are so nice! And my house is (almost) always clean. |
| Not Joy | ||
| Fees | $13 | I accidentally let a balance sit on a credit card and got dinged on interest. I’m getting sloppy! |
| TOTAL (Not including the mortgage) | $16,958 | I don’t know why I got a different number when I put together a post on IG. At this point I just don’t care, ha. Either way, it’s too much! |
How did November treat you? I am so ready for a clean slate in 2023. There were just so many big one time expenses this year. I’m over it! Fingers crossed for a boring new year!
Favorite purchase lately? I have to say, my permanent holiday lights are still my favorite! But second is probably my custom inserts/orthotics. Walking without pain is pretty special!
Questions? Comments? Side eye? Let me know in the comments. ❤
Liz Gets Loaded 
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