July 2026 Expenses
I review our finances at the end of every month. This post is focused on the expenses. I am curious to see how our July 2026 expenses compare to our July 2025 expenses and if we are sticking to our 2026 goals. Categories and differences are explained below the table.
July was an expensive month with loads of kids activities, travelling, hosting and just enjoying the warm weather.
Category
2026
2025
Change
Mortgage
$2,646.97
$2,139.75
+$507.22
Insurance
$575.34
$500.61
+$74.73
Household and House Maintenance
$215.87
$4,816.43
-$4,600.56
Property Taxes
$0
$0
-
Utilities
$393.38
$398.40
-$5.02
Cell Phones
$214.98
$90.40
+$124.58
Internet
$101.68
$0
+$101.68
Car Payment
$425.06
$425.06
-
Car Maintenance
$75.63
$297.64
-$222.01
Streaming
$27.11
$0
+$27.11
Food
$515.46
$598.44
+$82.98
Fuel
$571.64
$976.68
-$405.04
Kids
$1,728.38
$1,371.52
+$356.86
Restaurants
$1,016.23
$1,107.89
-$91.66
Banking Fees
$22.07
$11.50
+$10.57
Fun Money
$1,387.53
$4,028.51
-$2,640.98
Clothing
$33.89
$266.95
-$233.06
Personal Care
$292.46
$787.21
-$494.75
Alcohol
$203.96
$30.00
+$173.96
Parking
$7.00
$0
+$7.00
Gifts
$275.93
$346.14
-$70.21
TOTAL
$10,730.57
$18,193.13
-$7,462.56
Let's explore what each category includes and some reasons for changes:
- Mortgage - we renewed for another 5 years, switched to weekly payments and decided to increase the payments by $100/week.
- Insurance - insurance rates went up and we added a third vehicle.
- Households and home maintenance - we upgraded our HVAC system in 2025 by adding an ERV. Just lawn stuff this past month.
- Property taxes - no taxes due this month.
- Utilities - gas, water and electricity.
- Cell phones - had to travel and did a lot of roaming.
- Internet - internet went up.
- Car payment - no changes
- Car maintenance - new wipers and filters.
- Streaming - Netflix. Others are paid annually and Apple TV is free for the next year or so thanks to a bunch of Apple gift cards I got 2 years ago. I had a Netflix gift card in 2025 so didn't pay anything that month.
- Food - very similar.
- Fuel - didn't travel as much as we did last year.
- Kids - more summer camps and activities.
- Restaurants - lots of outings and take out for hosting.
- Banking fees - had to borrow from a line of credit for a week or so.
- Fun money - coffee, books, games, etc. Small daily purchases and fun expenses. In-laws watched our kids for one night so we spent a night away last month. In 2025, my wife went away for a girls weekend to attend some concerts. Travel, hotels, tickets, merch and drinks quickly add up.
- Clothing - this is only for adult clothes. Kids' clothing is covered under the "kids" category.
- Personal care - self-explanatory. Had some dental work done this month.
- Alcohol - self-explanatory
- Parking - decided to split parking out of "fun money".
- Gifts - had to go to a few kids birthdays.
Another expensive month but when compared to a super expensive month last year, we did very well cutting $7,462.56 in spending. Granted, over $4,000 of that was for an HVAC upgrade and the rest was from a girls weekend away to see some concerts.
