I present to you May of the 2011 $32K Savings Challenge!
I have posted my MAY 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 May in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of May with.......$3,297.11.
Income
We had $3221.15 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $75.96 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and you have a deposit of $3,297.11 toward the Savings Challenge!
Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal. We came in well over that amount for May. This is only the second month so far this year that we have met or exceeded the monthly target amount for this challenge.
Outgo
As for the expenses in May....
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
*The electric bill went down another $141.
*We had NO car maintenance expenses in May. But we did lose a car. 8-(
*We had no annual/bi-annual/quarterly payments to make.
*The WAM money was lower than usual.
HERE are the BAD THINGS
*The credit card bill was up again in the $1K range.
*Lots of Doctor visit co-pays, most of which were for camp physicals.
*$195 for annual dog vet check-ups and meds.
The Food Budget costs for May are in another post, which is located HERE. The actual Food/Toiletries spending in May was more than $190.26 over budget or $114.30 when you take off my rebate check total which I use toward the food bill.
What's ahead for June.......
There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.
So how was your May financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
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
I have posted my MAY 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 May in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of May with.......$3,297.11.
Income
We had $3221.15 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $75.96 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and you have a deposit of $3,297.11 toward the Savings Challenge!
Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal. We came in well over that amount for May. This is only the second month so far this year that we have met or exceeded the monthly target amount for this challenge.
Outgo
As for the expenses in May....
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
*The electric bill went down another $141.
*We had NO car maintenance expenses in May. But we did lose a car. 8-(
*We had no annual/bi-annual/quarterly payments to make.
*The WAM money was lower than usual.
HERE are the BAD THINGS
*The credit card bill was up again in the $1K range.
*Lots of Doctor visit co-pays, most of which were for camp physicals.
*$195 for annual dog vet check-ups and meds.
The Food Budget costs for May are in another post, which is located HERE. The actual Food/Toiletries spending in May was more than $190.26 over budget or $114.30 when you take off my rebate check total which I use toward the food bill.
What's ahead for June.......
There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.
Non-monthly bills include the summer camp payment for #2 son(ouch!), and the quarterly garbage pick-up payment.
So If I can keep the food spending on budget, we should be able to put away a good sized amount into savings this month.
YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 5 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $14,933.99.
We finally are ahead of schedule with the Savings goal for the year!
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 If I can keep the food spending on budget, we should be able to put away a good sized amount into savings this month.
YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 5 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $14,933.99.
We finally are ahead of schedule with the Savings goal for the year!
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 May financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
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
My daughter is headed to Jazz Band camp next week. She won a partial scholarship to it, her band director is paying for a bit himself and the school organization (for music and the arts) is going to pay some too. Hopefully we can get by with just the $50 registration fee! and of course a little spending money for her while she's there.
ReplyDeleteSluggy, I am speechless over your successes!
ReplyDeleteHaha-at this point I would be happy to say $32! Good job and as always very impressive!
ReplyDeleteMcVal--That's excellent! One less mouth to feed and no camp tuition will make your food budget sing next week!lol
ReplyDeletePractical P--Thanks. It helps to have a generous income and not spend anywhere near the whole thing. ;-)
SonyaAnn--So I take it Den is back to food shopping your budget into a hole? Men!, you can't live with them and you can't run the kitchen knives through their chests.....
EXCELLENT on the savings for the month - wahoo!
ReplyDeleteI didn't come out ahead on my monthly budget, because at this point I'm still sort of figuring it out as things come up that I either didn't anticipate or cost different amounts now that I'm "single" (can't believe I have to pay MORE than H for car insurance - he's the one who's had wrecks, not me, but he's the one who has the Progressive 5-year customer history, not me... all because the policy has his name listed first).
Anyway, congrats :)