Sorry about the hiatus in posting. I've got a few things to write about so I'll drip feed them on here in the coming days.
I had a thought that some of you may be interested in where my money comes and goes, so here is my spending report for September. I use Quicken for all expenses, so it's pretty easy to whip a report together.
A couple of things to note - one unusual expense for the month was a piano, which cost a lot, but my parents have chipped in and paid for a big chunk of it. I played a lot of piano growing up, but have lapsed quite a bit since I left school, so have been keen to get back into it for a while. It may seem a bit extravagant to spend the best part of $3 000 on an instrument, but it's something I will get a lot of pleasure out of, and I've got a quality instrument which will not depreciate much (if at all) and will last many years.
Also, with my investment accounts, I don't have the most sophisticated way of tracking the rises and falls of individual managed funds I'm involved in. I tend to just update the balances in Quicken, and therefore these don't all get into the income/expense reports. So if you try and compare my net worth reports with my income/expense reports they may not make complete sense. Basically - my net worth report is 100% accurate while my income/expense report only shows my non-investment income and spending. Confused? Well here are the numbers anyway.
IncomeSalary $2 416.26
Interest $75.48
Parents $2 000 (for piano)
Total Income $4 491.74
ExpensesAlcohol $16.99
Auto $387.57
Bank charges $0.25
Gifts given $10.00
Groceries $315.77
Home $78.02
Legal/Prof $40.00
Library $2.40
Misc $2 840 (piano)
Recreation $228.99
Rent $678
Tax $14.71 (excluding income tax)
Utilities $36.42
Total Expenses $4 649.12
