It's October! Here is our September month budget update

Sorry for going silent, I was attempting daily budget and accounting of our days in September, but it only took a few days of that for me to realize it was too complicated and time consuming for me to do right now. Perhaps when we get into the house and settled, we could do a month or so of accounting for every single day. For now, instead, we're going to do a semi-full accounting of our monthly budget with a summary of what we did/accomplished that month. This will be very matter-of-fact, if you have questions about what was involved in a line item, please ask questions and we'll try to answer! Also, the food budgets are still very high as we have not cooked dinner many nights, been out and about and also been trying some very random or cliche restaurants that we wouldn't go to during normal life.

First off, the budget:

Income: $5,671 after deductions

Regular Expenses: $4,732 total (no rent/short term rent included)

• $102 - Vehicle Gas
• $295 - Parking & Tolls
• $270 - Train/commuting
• $70 - Home items
• $107 - Phones
• $26 - Electricity
• $71 - Subscriptions
• $1,261 - Groceries
• $138 - Snacks/Konbini stops
• $752 - Restuarants
• $177 - Fast Food
• $128 - Nails (2 people, 2x)
• $180 - Hair (2 people)
• $92 - Pet Supplies
• $84 - Amusement/events
• $210 - Tickets
• $140 - Kids misc. expenses
• $122 - Books
• $87 - School Supplies
• $88 - Health
• $82 - Misc. Needs
• $250 - Annual fees (monthly charge that hit this month)

Major or irregular expenses: $15,766

1. $6,735 - Kei car (N-Box)
2. $2,052 - Prius car (private sale)
3. $1,348 - Car Rental
4. $1,485 - Clothing
5. $880 - Misc. wants
6. $3,266 - Furniture and Appliances

Second off, the paperwork:

• Solar panel contract and electric company details;
• Registration of our jitsuin and learning how to print seal certificates from copy machines;
• Unenrollment of government pension and insurance; switch to employer-sponsored;
• Local government paperwork for child health care (also switch to private);
• Parking permit for full-sized vehicle;
• Visa debit card for Japanese bank account;
• Application for a successful purchase of concert and event tickets;
• Registration of online account for water and electricity;
• Registration of online account for arcade game Ongeki

We are still working on a ton of stuff everyday. Some examples:

• Bank paperwork- authentication of I.D., name mismatch (they don't have the - at the end of my first name katakana and it's havoc in systems) and paperwork for debit card;
• Sending our first goods package at the post office;
• Finishing house paperwork;
• Hopefully making our first Japanese bank transfer (it's been a thing!);
• Driver license transfer;
• Going to the doctor for flu/COVID vaccines
• Attending our first dome concert!

Stay tuned!