Since I foresee food prices, as well as other expenses/costs/taxes to rise in 2011, I am only upping my Savings Challenge Goal by $2,000. While I hope to bring in more income this year, I feel we will be spending more on necessities in 2011, thus the small increase in goals.
So I present to you March of the 2011 $32K Savings Challenge!
I have posted my MARCH End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.
I have 2 goals really 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 $2,666.67.
I have to report that we finished up March in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of March with.......$2353.56.
Income
We had $2282.19 left over from our income after our expenses were deducted.
Add in $71.37 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and you have a deposit of $2,353.56 toward the Savings Challenge!
Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal. We came in about $313 short in March.
Outgo
As for the expenses in March....
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
*The credit card bill was well under $1K.
*The electric bill went down about $50.
*We ONLY spent $342 something on car repairs/maintenance. Unfortunately, this amount is a good thing for us. ugh
*Hubs took less WAM out of the bank this month....yay! 8-)
*I didn't need to take any cash out of the bank since I was able to do the last 2 month's food/HBA shopping on what I withdrew in Feb.
HERE are the BAD THINGS
*The quarterly sewage bill came due this month, I went ahead and paid up for the full year, earning a 3% discount....hey!, it's something.lol
*I paid the garbage bill ahead for 3 months, which is good overall but not for this month's outgo.
*The Final BIG marching band payment(for #2 son's trip in the Spring)came due...$460. bleh.
The Food Budget costs for March are in another post, which is located HERE. The actual Food/Toiletries spending in March was more than $100 under budget.
What's ahead for April.....
Looking back at last year's check register, I see that the County/Local taxes are due this month....that's a big one!
We also have another car repair to pay.
The credit card bill is up to $400 with another 10 days to go until the billing cycle closes. I'm hoping to keep it under $600 by the time it closes on the 10th.
Other than that it's just the usual suspects this month--electric, water, phone, cable, food, prescriptions, dr. visits, etc.
YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 3 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $5,136.53.
And if you need to start putting money into savings......What's that you say? You don't have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!!??....consider playing along in 2011 with me and Challenging Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!
Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?
Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see. It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)
So how was your March 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
So I present to you March of the 2011 $32K Savings Challenge!
I have posted my MARCH End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.
I have 2 goals really 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 $2,666.67.
I have to report that we finished up March in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of March with.......$2353.56.
Income
We had $2282.19 left over from our income after our expenses were deducted.
Add in $71.37 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and you have a deposit of $2,353.56 toward the Savings Challenge!
Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal. We came in about $313 short in March.
Outgo
As for the expenses in March....
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
*The credit card bill was well under $1K.
*The electric bill went down about $50.
*We ONLY spent $342 something on car repairs/maintenance. Unfortunately, this amount is a good thing for us. ugh
*Hubs took less WAM out of the bank this month....yay! 8-)
*I didn't need to take any cash out of the bank since I was able to do the last 2 month's food/HBA shopping on what I withdrew in Feb.
HERE are the BAD THINGS
*The quarterly sewage bill came due this month, I went ahead and paid up for the full year, earning a 3% discount....hey!, it's something.lol
*I paid the garbage bill ahead for 3 months, which is good overall but not for this month's outgo.
*The Final BIG marching band payment(for #2 son's trip in the Spring)came due...$460. bleh.
The Food Budget costs for March are in another post, which is located HERE. The actual Food/Toiletries spending in March was more than $100 under budget.
What's ahead for April.....
Looking back at last year's check register, I see that the County/Local taxes are due this month....that's a big one!
We also have another car repair to pay.
The credit card bill is up to $400 with another 10 days to go until the billing cycle closes. I'm hoping to keep it under $600 by the time it closes on the 10th.
Other than that it's just the usual suspects this month--electric, water, phone, cable, food, prescriptions, dr. visits, etc.
YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 3 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $5,136.53.
And if you need to start putting money into savings......What's that you say? You don't have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!!??....consider playing along in 2011 with me and Challenging Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!
Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?
Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see. It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)
So how was your March 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
AS you know, I am a work in progress. But we are ok considering we bought a van and paid cash for it. I know its wrong to brag but holy hell I never thought that we would ever be able to do that. There is a rush to this frugal stuff!!!
ReplyDeleteSonyaAnn--We are ALL works in progress....lol
ReplyDeletePaying cash for a car is AWESOME beyond belief!!
I am so proud of you! 8-))
Sluggy, you are truly inspirational! For us, even with an almost $500 car repair expense...nothing wrong, just major maintenance on Hubby's 2000 Accord, a mini vacation, a trip to the meat market, almost $150, we still managed to put $3000 of my bonus into savings last month. WooHoo!
ReplyDelete