December is quite the opposite of November in terms of our spending. If November is low, December is high and the highest since we retired. This is expected because of the holidays.

In December 2019, we spent $8,748.80

Gifts

It is the holidays and the highest line items we have is our holiday gifts specifically for my family. It is a tradition in our family for the kids to give parents cash during Christmas, once the kids are independent, have a job and out of the family house. My older sister and I have been doing this since we graduated from college and start earning real money. I’ve increased the amount significantly since we had MBP. My parents have done so much to help us without expecting in return. Since we have some surplus, it just make sense to me to give some to them.

Health Insurance and Medical Expenses

Next line item is health insurance and medical expenses. This is the last month that we are paying COBRA and I expect this line item to go down considerably this year. We paid some drugs and doctor’s fee as part of our deductible. The good news is the I hit my out of pocket expense and was able to get a Willow pump fully covered by my insurance. I don’t think they fully covered this kind of pump since it is considered out of network, bus since I hit my out of pocket, they fully covered. I have to pay for the accessories, but the pump alone cost $464.2

iPhone 11 and a King Mattress

After contemplating for many months (even years) to upgrade my phone, I finally gave in and bought a new iPhone 11. I’ve had my iPhone 6 for 4 years. The memory doesn’t have enough capacity to hold the OS upgrades, my videos and my pictures. I use my phone as a camera to take pictures and video of MBP and I’m happy with this upgrade, considering that I use it everyday.

Another purchase this month is a king size mattress. We actually purchased one in Costco back in August but ended up returning it because it caused some back pain. I need a softer mattress to provide support as I am a side sleeper. I gambled and bought a Serta mattress online. It was on sale as part of the cyber monday. It’s been good so far and I’m planning to keep it.

A new Christmas Tree, Christmas Cards and Other Items

I also bought a new, unlit Christmas Tree. We donated my old 6.5 ft, pre-lit Christmas Tree that I got in 2009 for $25 at Walmart when we moved to this house. I’ve been telling myself that I want a new one since the old one really doesn’t have any leaves and just look sad. Considering that I bought it for so cheap, I can’t really expect anything more. The tree cost $168.94 on Amazon. My mom gave me all her red ornaments. She has a different theme every year and has been collecting ornaments since I can remember. I even got some ornaments that was from Manila. I still need to buy some lights for next year.

I also sent out 19 Christmas Cards on December 26th. I was late, I know, but I can’t get a good photo of the family. We finally got one from the actual Christmas Day. I went to Canva and design a card and printed 20 in FedEx. It actually cost more to print it than to order the cards online, but I want it to go out that day and not wait for shipping, so I suck it up. My husband got the envelopes and the stamps and the card went out that day. I’ll try not to procrastinate next year.

Our other items includes annual car registration for my 2011 Volkswagen Jetta, LED lights and about a dozen plain T-shirts for my husband.

And here’s our expenses for December 2019

November is surprisingly an inexpensive month for us. Most of what we buy are starting to become a routine, with the exception of those one time expenses.

Our November Spending is $3,512.61

Health Care

Health insurance is still the biggest expense for this month and will continued on until December. With our projected low income next year, my research suggest that we will received a substantial subsidy for our health insurance. I’m still finalizing the details of our next year’s insurance. To that note, I maxed out my out of pocket expense this month. I have a maximum out of pocket expense of $3k for the plan year. My health insurance is covered through March until it resets for another year. In theory, I can keep this until February to cover for all child birth expenses. This is part of the reason that I’m still finalizing our insurance for next year. We also have to buy some iron and vitamin c supplements. My 28 week blood draw showed that I am slightly anemic.

Food

Groceries are surprisingly cheap considering that we hosted Thanksgiving for 8 people. We kept it simple with Turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry and rolls with pumpkin pie for dessert. We also bought some beer for the occasion. My father received either a free turkey or ham from his work. My family is not a fan of turkey, but since this is one of the rare times that we are in town and celebrating Thanksgiving, he asked for a Turkey and gave it to us to cook. My husband cooked all Thanksgiving food and my parents brought some traditional Filipino food. Everyone enjoyed a wonderful meal while watching football and MBP singing “You Are My Sunshine” with his Ukelele.

Our eating out is limited as well. There’s just no good restaurants in the area. MBP is pretty happy with Costco/ Food Court and Happy Meal food. I really miss the restaurants in Seattle, especially the Dimsum places that MBP loves.

Utilities

Our utilities are low because our garbage and water bill are paid every two months. We only have to pay for sewer, electric and gas for this month. The change in weather definitely reflected in our gas bill since we are heating more. It is still cheaper than our old oil furnace in our old house in Seattle. Our Electric and Internet remain constant for the most part. Our cell phone bills from Xfinity for 2 lines is still $18.24. This is very low since we never go over 1 GB of data.

Gym

We are still a member of the Y. MBP is still enrolled on swim lessons twice a week and gymnastics on Saturdays. This is something that we’re evaluating since we’ve missed some classes. For now, it will be in auto pay. MBP still goes at least twice a week, so we will see.

Kids

The only expense that MBP added this month is his class photo for $35. Other than that, we didn’t have to buy him anything aside from food of course!

December will most likely double this with presents and some other “one-time” expenses. So far though, we’re happy with the November expenses and surprised on how low it is, considering.

And here’s our expenses for the month of November

Tell me, how was your November?