Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals, personal savings and social security payments, I am still going to keep track of our monthly spending and income, and hopefully we'll still be able to live BELOW our means and I'll have some leftover monies each month to tuck aside.
We went into retirement in June of 2017 with no debt, no mortgage, nor a car payment.
I am trying to be as transparent as I can with how much is coming in and how much is going out. 8-)
On to the April report--
I had 2 goals for April....
The 1st is to actually finish the month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to try to have a little cash leftover at the end of the previous month to tuck back into a slush fund. This slush fund may be applied toward unforeseen bills that are coming due in subsequent months, to spend on "extras/wants" during the year or to just sit there and grow until the end of 2024.
* I do not include/report on our retirement accounts here, just the non-retirement ones.
I'm happy to report that we finished up April in the black.
The amount extra we ended the month of April with?....$5,916.83
Income or Funds We Can Access
The "income" in April---
* Monthly annuity payment of $2,530.11
* SS income of $3,828.70
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $680.88
* Quarterly 401K Withdrawal of $6,215.06
* Blog Revenue of $125.13
Total "Income" for April....$13,379.88
Expenses in April---
* Irregular bills in April were $2,786.00
* Variable Expenses in April came to $3,969.62
* Medical Premiums in April were $707.43
Total Expenses....$7,463.05
$13,379.88-$7,463.05=$5,916.83
Slush Fund coming into April of $55,305.39 and the addition of $5,916.83 in April, our end of April 2024 Slush fund comes to $61,222.22
The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $5,916.83
Outgo
As for the variable expenses this April here are the good and the bad side of things.....
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* The water bill and the cell phone bill(.08¢ lower)were all the same as in March.
* The electric bill went down in April by $44.61
* Hubs Amazon c/c bill was $389.11 lower than last month.
* My Amazon c/c bill was $0.
* The American Airlines c/c was $191.24 lower than in March.
HERE are the BAD THINGS
* We had 2 irregular bills in April--
* We had tree removal for $400.
* We paid the Federal Taxes of $2,386.00(Will be adjusting our withholding so this isn't so bad next year.)
* The WAM was $200 more in April due to taking a little extra $$ on our cruise.
* The Mastercard was $1,844.79 higher than in March. Most of that was dog boarding we paid upfront while we were on the cruise.
* Hubs Medigap Supplement went up by $9.41 per month as he had a birthday in April.
The Food Budget costs for April are in another post HERE. Food costs are included in the credit card payments(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).
FINAL THOUGHTS for APRIL 2024---This month turned out a bit better than expected, even with paying Federal Taxes, dog boarding, etc. Food spending was about half of what it was last month since we were not home and food shopping for about half the month. The quarterly 401K withdrawal also was a bonus this month to keep us in the black.
THOUGHS GOING FORWARD INTO MAY 2024--That 401K$ quarterly withdrawal will come in handy in May what with State Taxes due and c/c spending on the Cruise will come due.
Here's hoping 2024 treats us all even better financially! 8-))
So how was your April financially?
Did you spend less than the income you had in April?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
What did you do with any money leftover at the end of the month?
Did you pay down/off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings, in an emergency fund or a retirement account?
Or did you blow all your excess monies after bills were paid on a "want"?
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check out your progress too and celebrate or commiserate with you!
Sluggy
I still don't have a good handle on full budget, irregular, and sinking, and extra spending because of different projects. My son being here both adds expenses but also he covers some things that make my spending lower. Im glad to read about your travels and the one to see Kim. That's awesome.
ReplyDeleteI don’t currently have a vehicle payment or mortgage and pay credit card off every month, but I am not doing so well on savings bc of expensive ongoing health and other issues with middle child . In other words my expenses equaled my income. It is what it is. Cindy in the South
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