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 December report--
I have 2 goals for December.....
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 December in the red.
The amount extra we ended the month of December with?....-$11,710.75
Income or Funds We Can Access
The "income" in December---
* Monthly annuity payment of $2,530.11
* SS income of $3,828.70
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $1,469.90
* Medical refund check $20.00
* Stock Dividend $29.79
*Rebating Cash $548.50
Total "Income" for December....$8,427.00
Expenses in December---
* Irregular bills in December were $643.81
* Variable expenses in December came to $10,354.51
* Medical Premiums in December were $707.43
Total Expenses....$11,705.75
$8,427.00-11,705.75=-$3,278.75.
Slush Fund coming into December of $85,919.50 and the subtraction of $11,705.75 in December, our end of December 2024 Slush Fund comes to $74,213.75.
The Slush Fund, on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog), shows a subtraction of $11,705.75.
Outgo
As for the variable expenses this December, here are the good and bad side of things.....
Here are the GOOD THINGS
* The water bill is the same as the previous month.
* The WAM was the same as in December.
* Mastercard bill was $210.86 lower
* My Amazon bill was $37.81 less than in December.
HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The electric bill was $98.48 higher than the previous month.
* Hubs aviator c/c was $14,698.32 higher in December.
* My aviator c/c was $605.46 than the previous month,
And we had some one off bills in December--
Insurance Co-Pay x 3 $60.00
Kohl's $14.84
Lowes $21.83
Dr. OV $20.00
Ortho Dr. $40.00
Attorney Fees $250.00
Wound Care Co-Pays $37.14
Xmas Gift $200.00
The Food Budget costs for December are in another post HERE. Food costs are included in my credit card payments(mainly because I buy the food but sometimes these costs come out of our WAM cash too).
FINAL THOUGHTS for December 2024---We paid for the new to us car(it's a 2023), but the Long Term care insurance Premiums didn't arrive so those get moved to January. We traveled to see family but we saved where we could(used gift cards for most meals out, used gas points at Kroger, used c/c points toward hotel rooms, etc.)
GOING FORWARD INTO January 2025--I don't know what the new year will bring. No big new car purchases I know that! lol We will have a 401K withdrawal in January which will give us a cushion.
Here's hoping 2025 treats us all even better financially! 8-))
So how was your December financially?
Did you spend less than the income you had in December?
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 retirement account?
Or did you blow all your excess monies after bills were paid on a "want"?
If you post 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
