Wednesday, August 8, 2012

$20K Savings Challenge Report for JULY 2012

Ok, here is my JULY Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against "unconscious" spending.

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 is $20,000.  It's well below what I've saved in previous years I know.  But we also have a goal of paying for 4 home improvement projects at Chez Sluggy this year.  We plan on cash-flowing these projects with the additional money we save and/or our income tax refund. 
Our background info--We are a family of 5(kids are 21-16)with one living away from home.  We have 2 dogs. We own 3 cars at present and live in/own free & clear a 4 bedroom house in a small town.

On to the July report.....

I have posted my JULY End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up July in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of July with?.......$1641.83.

Income
We had $1639.44 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $2.39 in interest income(HAHAHAHAHA!) and  you get a total of $1641.83.

Outgo
The usual along with a couple of large irregular bills......1 expected and 1 out of the ordinary.
As for the expenses this July......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* The water bill decreased by $30+.
* The electric bill decreased by $21+.
* The credit card bill decreased by $702.
* The cash withdrawals went down $1170.....even with that they were high!

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Home owner's insurance was due, but expected. $596.
*  Bill came in for the Minivan from last month's repairs. $1496.68.

The Food Budget costs for JULY are in another post, which is located HERE.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 7 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is $15,613.23.
We missed our monthly goal in July by $24.84. Since June's savings but us ahead for the year, I am not sweating a shortfall of $25 in July.
With 7 months done, we should be at $11,666.69  saved for the year, so we are $3946.54 ahead for the year as of now!

In the next 2 months we have largish irregular expenses coming due.
August is semi-annual car insurance at about $1500.
September is school taxes about another $1950.

They are irregular because they don't come every month....like the water or electric bill.  But two things about irregular bills--
1.They are usually for large amounts(due to the fact that they don't come round every month).
2. You KNOW THEY ARE COMING!  Yep, every year....so don't stick your head in the sand and ignore them.  Plan for them. Set a 12th of their amount aside each month so that when the due date rolls around, you have the money saved up to pay them in full.

We may actually get a break with our car insurance.  #1 Son is buying himself a car.  Since it will be in his name, he will need to have his own insurance policy, therefore we can have him taken off of our policy.  We tired to tell him that with our driving records, ages and the fact we get multiple discounts on our coverage, he's better off putting the car in our name and staying on our policy, and just paying us the extra it costs us to cover him and his car.
But 21 year old men want to feel virile and independent I guess, and paying through the nose for their own policy must be a testosterone inducing manly thing.  
But what do I know....... ;-)

At this point, I need to come up with $4386.77 for the rest of the year to make my $20K goal.  This breaks down to $877.35 per month for the next 5 months.


As for a look ahead at AUGUST.....
* Car insurance due.
* No celebrations here, no parties, just Boring McBorington at Chez Sluggy.


So how was your July financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
How much did you save in July?
 Even if it doesn't look like a lot of money, figure out what percentage of your income you saved.  You might feel that it's a more substantial amount in those terms!
We saved 28.74% of our take home income in July.  My goal is to shoot for 50% each month. If we hadn't had that car repair bill, we could have achieved saving 55% of the take-home income. 
Dang that car repair bill! lol

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.
Did you have debt you were able to pay on?
Did you pay off a car, a house or a credit card?
Did something financial blow up on you last month?
What are you doing financially to change your life?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

5 comments:

  1. Wow, I could only dream of such a challenge... and such achievements! Many congrats. I havent paid off anything, but I did make all of my scheduled payments. Bo-ring! I'm just going through the motions until the end of Sept, when I can finally get some savings built. I want my EF back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Boring is good.....if it's a choice of that or spending wildly!
      Here's hoping Sept. comes around quickly. ;-)

      Delete
  2. You know what Sluggy? You really are an inspiration!!!

    Due to a few things way beyond our control, money had been very tight, that we did not know what saving was. We were just trying to not sleep in the rain. Guess I should someday do a post about that...but it would be very boring. Things changed once we moved out of San Diego(our insurance did go up $50 per month...smaller town, go figure).

    Well, there is so excuse now. I have not done the figures, but I believe we also could save 50% of our income. Especially since I believe the government will be clipping away at my husband's military retirement and VA benefits. Saving should be our number one priority.

    After cleaning up from Hurricane Jilly, I will spend the weekend adding up those figures and seeing just where we stand and just how much we can save.

    Thanks again for the inspiration. I do not think your bragging, those folks may be up to their eyeballs in debt.

    blessings, jill

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw thanks Jill!

      You should post about your financial past as it might help someone struggling with similar things.

      Saving for retirement is more important now than it ever was! Even though we have lived below our means for ages, retirement still snuck up on Hubs and I. One day we woke up and it was like, "Hello....I am your retirement and I am happening in the near future!" We always thought we would have Plenty of time later to save for it......but later turned into NOW. ugh
      Being tail end Boomers we will get a little SS $ but how much and for how long remains to be seen. We are planning so that we are NOT relying on that govt. money to live in retirement.
      If we get some, great, but if not?.....we'll be ok.....hopefully.

      Glad I helped you shine a spotlight onto your finances. ;-)

      Delete
  3. I get a total of $717/month with $35 in food stamps. I had to borrow $155 for June and July car insurance. The last week of the month, I barely scooted by. I wrote a check for $10 on the 30th for gas and the owner I knew agreed to hold it out of his next day's deposit. He did not, so I was hit with $38 nsf charge! The bank agreed to return it to my account since I have not had a bad check in over 18 months. If things are not spelled right, it is because I don't have my glasses on as hair color is on my hair. AND, I don't have the $188 for my new lenses to put in theold frames. I am happy for you. I feel no jealousy or animosit. But, you asked for the bad.

    I can touch type, but ssometimes, I touch the wrong key. I hope this is just understanable.

    ReplyDelete

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