$60K Savings Challenge SEPTEMBER Totals...This Won't Be Pretty!

I have posted my SEPTEMBER End of Month 60K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right(near the bottom) for the specific numbers.

Ok, I am hanging my head as September was an utter failure!
I know I had 2 HUGE payments this month--#1 son's Tuition/Room/Board bill for the 1st Semester and then the New Roof bill that nearly doubled in price from the estimate we had gotten.
UGH.
But those items were paid for from other savings pots we have--the College Fund & the Home Repairs Fund.
They didn't figure into the September money pool at all.
There are other reasons why this month was a financial disaster.

With deep regret, I have to report that we finished up September IN THE RED!

The amount we ended the month of September with was -$1163.35.
That's a NEGATIVE Savings of $1163.35.


We had no rolled coins and I am still sitting out on eBay.  I think it's time to get back into selling there for the Holiday Season.

On the recurring utilities front, we saw an increase of $.44 in the electric bill from August, so that bill basically stayed the same.  Once the heat gets turned on in this month, it's a slow steady increase in electric usage until the PEAK Month of Cold known here as February.
Ugh.

The water bill saw an increase of $20.64.  That's about a 45% jump from August.  It was expected as both kids were home from camp and since starting school, are showering more and having me do more loads of laundry.
All other regular bills...Cable, Internet, Phone, etc. were within normal parameters.

The Food Budget costs for September are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food/Toiletries spending in September was my lowest monthly total for the year.  I'm hoping to stay out of the stores more this month and am dropping the October Food/Toiletries Budget to $200.

So where did things go horribly wrong?
I'll tell you.
*  I paid the Garbage bill(which is due monthly)ahead to the end of the year. That was an extra $126 that didn't HAVE TO come out this month.
*  The quarterly Sewer bill also came due this month, so add on another $90.  At least I got a break for paying it on time. woohoo....lol
*  The 3rd car(the Family Heirloom)needed it's yearly checkup and maintenance.  There goes $914.97.
We figure this car will cost us about $1K a yr. to keep it roadworthy so it's not unexpected having to spend this.  It's just that the cost snuck up on me in September.
*  Then the school taxes came due.  Around here this is a separate tax from any municipal, city or local taxes. I always pay them during the "discount period" so we get a small break on the amount.  I should have paid them last month and would have if I had remembered that the Family Heirloom had it's yearly repair appointment in September.  This tax adds another $1800+ to the budget.
So that's just shy of $3,000.00 of non-monthly recurring expenses.

Add to that a higher than usual Credit Card bill I paid in September for August charges, that included the hotel lodging/meals/gas for taking #1 son to college, some modest back-to-school clothes shopping, college textbook rentals, #1 son's new laptop for school, pool supplies, the graphing calculator that daughter's class required me to buy, breaking down and paying through the nose for #1 son's graduation photos(ouch!), and a bit too much of eating out from August because it was too hot to cook(yah, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!lol).....and we get a CC bill for $2,333.31.
Gulp.
Oh.
My.
Clear as mud now why I am over $1163.35 on my budget for September.

It's a good thing there is money saved at times like this.
*  I don't have to resort to getting a cash advance on my credit card to cover this amount and pay the outrageously HIGHER Interest Rate on Cash Advances as opposed to the rate for regular purchases of goods & services.
*  I don't have to borrow money from a relative or get a payday advance loan from one of those predatory snarky Payday Loan places.
*  I don't have to pawn or sell things to cover this shortfall.
*  Or worse, not pay the bills and have things shut off or repossessed.

Nope.
Because I had extra money at the end of the month for 7 of the last 9 months AND I tucked it away and did NOT SPEND IT, I can easily cover the extra bills this month.
Piece.
O'.
Cake.

Of course, it totally sucks and is disheartening to see In The Red at the end of this month.
But it makes me more determined NOT to let this happen again this year.

We are Nine Months into this $AVING$ Challenge, and we have a Savings Total of $14,472.06 for the year.

What's ahead for October....
Even less food spending.
Trying to get hubby to make less large cash withdrawals from the account and trying to get him to keep receipts/account for the money.  I don't think he has any idea how much he spends since he won't track it.
No travel this month so no unusual hotels, gas, food expenses.
The credit card bill should be substantially lower.  With 2 days to go before the statement closes for this period and we are under $1000.  And that includes the new bed purchase for #2 son.

I'd love to stash away $2K this month.  It should be do-able unless something comes up.  I really need to make up for September's loss in the savings column.  And it would be nice to have a low expense month before the Holidays hit because even though we don't go HOG WILD on stuff at the Holidays, expenses do happen.

Be sure and check out how others are doing with their finances this month at Money Saving Mom.

Sluggy