to get a complete picture of my finances as of July 31, 2007, please read my latest balance sheet if you haven’t done so already. This is the second part of my monthly reporting, the income and expense statement.
This was another out-of-the-ordinary month. The lease on my new apartment began at the end of June and I officially moved in during the first few days of July. I had a lot of furnishing expenses this month, and unfortunately that is not over. I still need to buy two major pieces of furniture, a desk and a dresser. My old desk is functioning for now, but the dresser is more of a high priority item.
Despite this, I won’t be able to think about it until I return from my vacation. Keep reading for the numbers and explanations.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
- The report is made with Intuit Quicken and Microsoft Excel. Here’s an income and expense report Excel template.
Explanations and Details.
As usual, salary has held steady. I’ll have three paychecks this month resulting in a boost in August. My year-to-date salary is lower than my 2004 and 2005 amounts because I no longer have an opportunity to earn overtime, though I still qualify legally. That’s the trade-off for a shorter commute, better job, and more time to work on my side projects.
Speaking of side projects, my business income is remaining healthy. I am going to have to revisit my estimated taxes to ensure I don’t incur any underpayment penalties. Is there a tax accountant in the house?
I paid about $650 for my 75,000 mile service thanks to the dealership’s naturally high prices in one of the most expensive towns in central New Jersey and new brake pads. Unlike my first service on the car at 20,000 miles, I am now comfortable for paying more than a local mechanic would charge. I won’t go back to the dealership for regular maintenance, however, until something major is needed, which hopefully won’t be until around 150,000 miles.
My rent expense is stabilizing at $1,425 and my cable television and internet expense will continue to be extremely low since most is included in the rent. The rent was lower this month thanks to a partial refund of my security deposit from my old apartment. The internet services expense contains more than just my monthly access fee to the cable company; it includes domain name purchases and website hosting, which will increase as I move websites from Dreamhost onto a dedicated server.
My power bill (gas and electric) was higher this month because I paid for some overlap in my two apartments as I moved from one to the other. However, I expect to pay around $200 per month in my new apartment. The loft configuration is difficult to cool and heat efficiently.
My $71 vacation expense is for the tickets to Blue Man Group in Boston, which I purchased in advance. My girlfriend and I will be leaving on Saturday to visit Newport, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts for several days.
This year is going by too quickly.
Subscribe
10:02 am (reply)
Did someone ask for a tax accountant? :)
Okay I may not be one yet, but I’m in school to be a CPA… this should be the form you need.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf
10:35 am (reply)
If you don’t mind me asking, what app do you use for this chart? Is that Quicken or MS Money?
10:40 am (reply)
Eric: I actually answered that in the “Frequently Asked Questions” section. :-) I export a customized Quicken report and import the resulting text file into an Excel template.
2:33 pm (reply)
Who reads FAQ’s anyways? :) Thanks!
9:43 am (reply)
Now that you no longer have a ~$1,300 payment on your car. How do you plan to use this additional boost to your net cash flow? Will you apply it towards saving for a down payment on a house? Pay down your student loans? Some other combination?
12:05 am (reply)
Glodime: Great question. I’ll boost my student loan payments and contribute what’s left over to savings, to be applied to a house downpayment at some point and more of a cash cushion for car-related expenses.