June 2016: Income & Expenses

   June is quite a ways behind us now, with summer in full swing now that August has begun! Either way, here is my income and expenses update for the month of June. Which all things considering went quite well for me. Now that I have been in my new job and position for a few months now, it is getting a lot easier and I am better able to help the customers who come to me. The only 'downside' is that at the end of June, and throughout a good portion of July I had not been getting as many hours as I would have liked, so my income from working is lower than usual, especially considering it was a triple pay month.

Income	$
Work	1315.21
Bonus	95.02
Dividends	93.97
Total	1504.2

    Dividends however came in nice and steady as usual and continue their approach to hitting $100 in one of my 'slower' dividend months. For my other sources of income I got a 'bonus' from the government, which is a regular payment from them, but one which I do not control. I also redeemed some of my credit card rewards to the tune of $38. I did have Ad revenue from this site, but I only report it when I actually get a payout from Adsense, since I do not really view it as income till it hits my bank account. Hopefully in the next few months I will be able to report it!

Expenses	$
Rent	750
Phone	22.60
Travel/Commute	87
Groceries	146.13
Restaurants	51.6
Entertainment	88.92
Other	198.57
Total	1344.82

     For the most part expenses were fairly in line with my usual. Grocery costs are a little higher than  I would prefer them to be, but it seems to be the new normal with some general price increases in food. I expect though that the price for produce will decrease for the rest of the summer as fresh produce is grown and sold in Ontario and less is imported from the States where the exchange rate inflates prices. Although the temptation to barbecue fresh meat may counteract that... mmmm slow-cooked smoked ribs!

    With barbecuing also comes buying beer, drinks and some entertaining. We had a bunch of friends over for a party and so my entertainment costs were up some preparing for that, also contributed partly to the higher grocery bill. Well worth the fun times though! We also had buns on hand for days!

    My 'Other' costs also contributed heavily to my spending with the majority of it being getting a good haircut and getting dental work done. Luckily I have pretty good dental coverage from work, otherwise the dental bill alone would have been $620, yikes! And $46 of the total $198 was my share of groceries and gas money staying at a friends cottage for a few days. Which meant more delicious barbecuing and some swimming.

    All in all, not too bad of a month, I managed to make more than I spent with a savings rate of 11%, and got to enjoy the extra time off going to a friends cottage and just relaxing a bit more with my girlfriend.  :)