Last updated: August 11, 2023
The last expenses post I did was for our first quarter 2023 expenses, and that seemed to work pretty well, so now it’s time to review our second quarter 2023 expenses.
Expenses for each Month
Below are tables of expenses for each month of Q2 2023.
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April 2023
| Childcare (Daycare) | $825 | We really love the Montessori preschool that our daughter attends, worth every penny |
| Mortgage | $762.51 | We’re rocking a pretty low 3.125% interest rate on our mortgage, from back in the good ol’ days when mortgage rates were crazy low. We plan to hold on to this mortgage until it’s paid off in Jan 2050! |
| Groceries (Food) | $627.09 | $627.09*12/52 = $144.71/week, a bit high |
| Gifts | $229.77 | Bday presents and party supplies |
| Transportation | $186.10 | PHEV inspection, registration, oil change & tire rotation, cabin air filter, fuel additive |
| Restaurants & Bars | $156.08 | Six outings |
| Medical | $122.50 | Copays, meds |
| Water | $70.40 | |
| Childcare (Other) | $69.35 | Diapers, yearbook |
| Electricity | $66.81 | |
| Work expenses | $65.29 | Work lunches and various things to have at the office that aren’t nominally covered by our employers – which we consider discretionary, since if we fully retired we wouldn’t have these expenses; Includes a couple new insulated cups for my office |
| Misc | $60.00 | Pool membership for summer |
| Internet | $55.28 | |
| Home Repairs | $50.44 | New cold and hot sink faucet cartridges |
| Household | $57.72 | Paper towels, tissue |
| Toiletries / Hygiene | $49.08 | |
| Gas (House) | $48.02 | |
| Travel | $25.32 | Banff shuttle booking |
| “Fun” Food (groceries) | $23.52 | |
| Charity | $10 | |
| Alcohol | $9.73 |
Required non-yearly expenses: $2,165.3
Required yearly expenses: None this month, $10,953.28 nominally per year
Discretionary expenses: $1,404.71
12-month average annual expenses projection: $57,012.40
12-month average annual expenses projection, no daycare: $46,447.36
May 2023
| Car Insurance | $881.60 | Paid twice annually, much higher than before |
| Childcare (Daycare) | $825 | |
| Mortgage | $762.51 | |
| Groceries (Food) | $559.39 | Meh: $559.39 * 12 / 52 = $129.09 / week |
| Clothing | $370.07 | I hate shopping for clothes, so I tend to rip the bandage and try to get new clothes in larger amounts so I don’t have to shop as often. Mostly some pants from REI during their anniversary sale and shirts from Amazon. |
| Medical | $242.03 | Copays, meds |
| Restaurants & Bars | $157.57 | Seven outings |
| Childcare (Other) | $147.42 | Lots this month: new shoes, baby wipes (best ones we’ve found), new toothbrush, new swimsuit, school field trip fee, etc. |
| Miscellaneous | $95.00 | Annual fee for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, which we received a 60K point sign up bonus for. |
| Water | $86.17 | |
| Electricity | $83.61 | |
| Internet | $55.28 | |
| Gifts | $41.66 | Birthday party expenses, printed photos for grandparents, new insulated cup |
| “Fun” Food (groceries) | $37.28 | |
| Gas (House) | $34.95 | |
| Gas (Car) | $30.20 | From Dallas trip – we only buy gas when we take a 200+ miles trip with our PHEV |
| Toiletries / Hygiene | $20.19 | |
| Charity | $10 | |
| Household | $8.80 |
Required non-yearly expenses: $2,000.35
Required yearly expenses: $881.60 for Car Insurance this month, $10,953.28 nominally per year
Discretionary expenses: $1,566.78
12-month average annual expenses projection: $57,418.84
12-month average annual expenses projection, no daycare: $46,958.80
June 2023
| Childcare (Daycare) | $825 | |
| Travel | $795.04 | California Trip |
| Mortgage | $762.51 | |
| Groceries (Food) | $666.19 | Much higher: 666.19*12/52 = $153.74 / week |
| Medical | $592.20 | Dental work, copays, meds |
| Home Repairs | $259.78 | New master bedroom ceiling fan |
| Restaurants & Bars | $154.9 | Eight outings |
| Childcare (Other) | $119.99 | Diapers, giant indoor playground admission |
| Toiletries / Hygiene | $92.41 | |
| Electricity | $90.45 | |
| Clothing | $88.44 | |
| Water | $81.5 | |
| Internet | $55.28 | |
| Gas (House) | $32.27 | |
| “Fun” Food (groceries) | $26.01 | |
| Alcohol | $15.99 | |
| Entertainment | $15.25 | |
| Charity | $10.00 | |
| Household | $4.97 | |
| Gifts | $3.00 | |
| Transportation | -$5.00 | $5 back from credit union when closing account, negative transportation expense since they used $5 from our EV purchase to open this account |
| Work expenses | $1,032.48 | Hotel in New Orleans for FinCon! We haven’t paid cash for a hotel in quite a while, usually we can use points. Unfortunately there were no good options close to the conference for the dates of the conference using points. I’m amazed how much hotel room prices have increased in the last few years. Seems like a $100 hotel room now costs $200. Inflation! |
Required non-yearly expenses: $2,752.55
Required yearly expenses: None this month, $10,953.28 nominally per year
Discretionary expenses: $2,966.11
12-month average annual expenses projection: $60,053.32
12-month average annual expenses projection, no daycare: $49,593.28
12-month Average Expenses
See our first quarter 2023 expenses post for why I compute our 12-month average expenses each month, and why I subtract all daycare expenses.
So after Q2 of 2023, our 12-month average annual expenses projection without daycare included is $49,593.28, which is $2,854.32 more than the end of Q1 2023. Big increase! Over 6%.
Besides general inflation catching up with us, I think the biggest culprits are:
- Paying cash for the hotel for Fincon, which we didn’t do last year (used points)
- Our trip to California
- Some lower than average expense months from 2022 dropping out of the 12 month average
So we definitely need to keep an eye on our expenses, make sure they don’t continue to increase so substantially.
As always, if you have any ideas for reducing spending, especially OUR spending, please let me know in the comments or shoot us a note!
Our Most Favorite Expenses For the Quarter
Mrs. EYFI and I both got some new insulated cups, which are very handy to have for the very hot Texas summers, which we both really love.
And every year we pay $20 per person for a summer pass to our fantastic neighborhood pool, and it’s always some of the best money we spend each year. Incredible value for the money. And this was the last year our daughter was young enough to not need a pass. So next year it’ll be $80, and that’s fine.
Our Least Favorite Expense For the Quarter
Definitely car insurance. I know that insurance rates are aggressively rising across the country these days, so we don’t really feel like we’re being singled out or anything with higher rates. Still painful though.
As always, it’s best to self insure as much as you can, since mathematically that’s how you win on average.
What were your most and/or least favorite purchases for Q2?
Let us know in the comments or shoot us a note!