For the first time in 5 years, I missed reviewing and posting my monthly budget and spending. 😥 However, in the spirit of being kinder to myself, I’ll give myself some grace. I was gone for almost 2 weeks on my international trip and I was quite busy the weeks before finishing up preparations for the trip.

The whole truth though is that I was getting burned out. I even debated whether I should continue this blog. But I’m back, and rather than all or nothing, I think my approach for the future is to take breaks when needed. The last thing I want is for this blog to become a chore. I love the interactions I’ve had with other bloggers or readers over the years because of this blog. Most importantly, I truly enjoy being able to look back on some of my memories throughout the years.

With that said and without further ado, I will move forward with combining my recap of September and October.

September Budget

Fixed Spending

The notable item for this month is my huge spending on cell phone. After almost 5 years of no upgrades, I finally got the iPhone 15 Pro! I’m doing the installment plan so starting next month, my budget will increase to $67. This month’s drastic increase is the one-time down payment.

Variable Spending

Only a couple of notable items in my variable spending. I was mostly on budget for most of September.

Travel – As mentioned in my August recap, I actually booked more places than I intended to stay at for my trip. This was to give my family options and once they chose, I was able to cancel some of them which led to the refund this month.

Miscellaneous – I actually got some money back as I was preparing to pay my second installment of supplemental property tax when I realized I had overpaid by sending a simple email. So worth it.

October Budget

Variable Spending

Gas – I was gone for half of October on my trip hence no gas expenses.

Shopping and Personal Care – South Korea is home of fabulous skin care products and skin clinics! So, I definitely overspent on getting both while I was there.

Food/Drink – My mom took care of most of the dining expenses while we were there since I took care of lodging hence not too big of an increase from my normal spending.

I will say food there was also much cheaper than in the U.S. I was especially shocked by their big portion size! I thought America owned the big portion size stereotype.

Home Insurance – I’ve obviously been overpaying for things the past few months since I also got a refund for an overpayment on my home insurance that just came in the mail unexpectedly.

Student Debt

Student debt paid in September: $880.77

Student debt paid in October: $880.77

Student debt remaining: $13,875.14

Investments/Savings

Tell me why this is the first time I’ve noticed that the “Investments” line on my monthly budget has been misspelled since who knows when! 🫠

While I was happily investing my money these past few months, I forgot that I have my property taxes (and a supplemental bill) coming up! So this is likely the last investment I’ll do this year.

Goals for Next Month

Missing two month’s worth of budget and spending review made me realize how critical it is. I am actually having to transfer money once again out of my savings account because I will be hit not just with one but two property tax bills next month totalling over $8,000. This is thanks to my regular 2023-2024 tax plus the second installment of my supplemental tax.

I was not expecting the regular property tax bill to come (I’ll chalk that up to new homeowner experience aka rookie mistake). Unfortunately, that means I’ll have to dig into my savings account once again.