February to March Spending Breakdown

I keep track of my expenses down to the last yen.  I do this in Microsoft Excel and do it for the purpose of seeing where I am putting my life energy.  According to YMOYL money is nothing more than a representation of our life energy.  Life that we have given up at a job in exchange for money.  By tracking my expenses I hope to target unnecessary spending and kill it where it stands.

Let's take a look at my expenses from February 15-March 14 (this is my pay period).

Total Income:  JPY 376,279

This was a nice jump!  This month I worked extra at my part time teaching gig and I also brought in a little extra as an interviewer for the Eiken (an English proficiency test).

Expenses:
Rent  JPY 50,100
Eating Out  JPY 31,677
Groceries  JPY 17,236
Transportation  JPY 10,010
Bills  JPY 6,815
Entertainment  JPY 5,760
Grooming  JPY  3,980
Alcohol  JPY  2,288
Misc  JPY 2,880

Total Expences:  JPY  130,746

Savings Rate:  65.25%

I was really hoping to hit a 70% or even 75% savings rate this month but a few things came up that made me miss my goal.  First I missed my goal on lowering my eating out spending.  I was shooting for JPY 25,000 or less and was just about there but some friends that will be leaving Japan for good came out my way and I really wanted to see them.  They aren't exactly on the FI bandwagon so getting them to come over to my place for beers was out of the question.  We hit up some good Izakayas in Akihabara and Tokyo but just those two nights hit my expenses hard.

I also went over my groceries budget.  In Japan there is Valentines day in February and White Day in March.  Valentines is generally a day when girls (or women) give to guys (or men).  On White Day traditionally the guys who received goodies will then give back with other chocolates, cookies, etc.  I hadn't planned on receiving so many valentines (I work at an all girls school) and had to run out and buy some brownie mix.  Imported stuff like brownie mix or cake mix can be pretty expensive and so this holiday put me over my grocery budget.

Entertainment was for a baseball ticket.  On March 25th the Seattle Mariners (my home team) will play against the Hanshin Tigers and both my GF and I really wanted to attend.  We got a few other guys to go so I think it will be a really good time.  I don't do this often so I'm not too worried about this expense increasing.

Same with the grooming category.  A recent article on MMM talked about shaving and ways to save money on it.  I really don't know how people can use the same razor for months and months.  My skin is really sensitive and my beard very thick.  I tried to challenge myself and use the same razor for 2 weeks but around the start of the second week my shave just felt cheap and very dirty.  I usually also shave my head with my razor and after doing that and then going back to my face...  well, it wasn't pretty.  I'm going to go back to doing what I always do.  Shave for a week, shave my head, then change to a new razor.  A pack of 14 razors is about JPY 4,000 yen at Costco and it will last me for 14 weeks so a total yearly cost of JPY 12,000.  After ten years JPY 120,000.  I am willing to pay this to keep myself well groomed.

This next month won't be so pretty and I am sure that I will miss my savings rate goal.  I will be paying for my plane ticket home next month which will put a huge dent in my savings but it's something I have to do.

How have your expenses been?