Hi Reader -

May is a more normal month for us than April was. No tax refund padding the income side this time. Total expected income: $14,443.15, which covers disability, both W-2s, and a freelance budget of $800.

Here's exactly where it goes:

Essentials first.
No tuition this month. That line is officially gone for the summer, which frees up $469 that's going straight toward other priorities.

Our mortgage went up slightly this month. Our escrow got re-evaluated, and county taxes went up, so that adjustment is now baked into the payment.

The water bill is also worth flagging. We're turning the sprinkler system on this month for two waterings per week, so I'm expecting the June water bill to be higher. We'll adjust when we get there.

• Mortgage - $4,130.86
• Utilities (gas, water, electric, internet, phones) - $591.25
• Insurance (life, car, health) - $932.53
• Groceries - $1,000
• Gas and tolls - $200

Spending categories.​
Spending is lower this month compared to April. No trip costs or home maintenance appointments lined up, so the miscellaneous category dropped from $1,300 to $300. I am budgeting more towards sports (I started taking jiu-jitsu classes, too).

• Personal spending (x2) - $100 ech
• Kids' spending (x2) - $100 each
• Sports - $450
• Restaurants and drinks - $400
• Miscellaneous - $1,300

Debt payments.
We consolidated our Amex, our USAA credit card, and a previous USAA loan into one debt consolidation loan in April. All three had higher interest rates than what we locked in with the new loan. Over the two years we'll be paying it down, that move saves us about $7,000 in interest. It also freed up about $100 a month in minimum payments, which goes straight into the debt snowball.

• USAA CC - $209.37 (this will be paid off with this payment!)
• PatientFi - $387.50
• Apple Card - $2,000.00 (halfway there!)
• Car loan - $414.17
• Greensky Windows - $462.16
• Debt Consolidation Loan - $1,269.96

Savings and sinking funds.
The travel fund and business savings aren't getting contributions this month. The Hawaii savings is in a good spot from what we put in last month, and we're keeping business savings flat for now.

• Subscriptions (Netflix, Disney Plus, 1Password, etc.) - $360
• Emergency fund - $100
• Gift fund - $400

That's May. We use Every Dollar to track all of this, and having transactions sync automatically on the pro account makes it a lot easier to stay honest about where things actually land versus where we planned them.

I'll report back at the end of the month.