I have posted my NOVEMBER End of Month $30K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.
I have to report that we finished up November in the black....with a nice healthy addition!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of November with was.......$3,984.99.
Income
We had $3,954.49 left over of DH's salary after expenses were deducted. Add in $3 of Rebates applied to the food expenses, along with $27.50 in rolled Coins and you have a deposit of $3,984.99 toward the Savings Challenge!
Our monthly target is an average of $2,500.00 to reach our Year End Goal.
Outgo
As for the expenses in November.....it was pretty much a 'normal bills' type month. The credit card bill(which is paid off each month)was under $450. There was a vet bill for the beagle this month and some smallish school related bills that are out of the ordinary but otherwise, it was a low spending month here.
The Food Budget costs for November are in another post, which is located HERE. The actual Food/Toiletries spending in November was right on target, unlike October's out of control spending....egads, that was bad.lol
Looking Ahead to December....
As like most people who celebrate a Holiday in December, we will have some larger than normal expenses this month.
Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Winter Solstice....no matter which you celebrate, the extra spending will raise your monthly costs this month....unless your surname is Scrooge.
Since I operate on a budget for Christmas, our spending is planned & budgeted for months ahead so we have no surprises coming up with the cash to cover those expenses.
You know December is coming every year.....so make sure you figure how to pay for things in advance of it's arrival. It just makes prudent financial sense, right?
The problem for us this December is the unexpected expenses that are coming up. My car needed repair work done on it last month and the bill will be coming in sometime this month. That will be in the neighborhood of $600. Plus Daughter destroyed her orthodontic mouth guard and we need to pay $300+ this month for the new one that was made. To add to the spending rampage, my computer died a few days ago and can't be fixed. Since the monitor, etc. are fine still, we had to buy a new processor to the tune of $400(including back-up storage). Then my machine was not compatible with my ancient printer so we purchased a new laser printer at a bargain price. Not only was the price good but this printer will continue to save us money since the cartridges for it last a whole lot longer than the ones for inkjet printers....but I digress.
So just those 4 items will result in over $1400 in unexpected/not planned spending in December.
Even with those expenses, we should still be able to eek out a small savings for the Challenge in December though because of that 2nd extra paycheck for the year. December has 3 pay periods for us since Hubs is paid on a biweekly schedule, so an extra paycheck this month....yippee!
And it's a very good month to have an extra paycheck coming in if I do say so myself!lol
I am just glad at this point that we have an ample income and can cover all our bills, no matter if they are expected or not....plus, we have enough to put some money away!
It's a very good feeling knowing you are solvent and living well below your means, especially in this economy.
YTD Standings....
We have a Year To Date Total of $30,232.62 in Savings.
With one month of savings to go, we have hit our goal of $30 Thousand Saved in November!
I am thrilled to pieces!!
Even though we reached our goal early I will still keep tracking our progress to see how far over our goal we can reach in December.
So how was your November financially? Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good. Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out? Let us know!
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
You go girl! That is a fantastic amount that you saved this year. We had many years like that but this year with the new house, money went out much faster than I would have liked. But we are right back saving a lot now. Welcome to the 2011 challenge.
ReplyDeleteI heartily agree that December is the perfect month in which to get that extra paycheck! We experience that wonderous phenomenon as well and I'm very glad about it :)
ReplyDeleteYour November sounds great!! We did okay since our major renos were all paid off by early October. Now we're just trying our dangedest to not go nuts with new things. In fact last night, DH went from a horrid idea (custom-made cabinetry because he has very specific "wants" for our new LR bookshelves - ugh!) to a much better idea (get those made by his good buddy, a carpenter, who owes us a boatload of money that he hasn't been repaying). At least then we won't have to shell out more money for these uber-special cabinets of his :) And if they're not done till next June, that's okay! Sorry, I've digressed a little. Anyway, November looked good, December is looking okay as long as DH doesn't get too carried away with gifts. He always promises not to, then sorta blows it.