$32K Savings Challenge......SEPTEMBER 2011 Results

Ok, here is my Savings Challenge Update post.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off....especially this month's update!lol
And here is the great photo from last month's post again.
I LOVE a special on crap, but I don't think this price is frugal enough for me......how about you?

The theme this month is some months you can tighten the belt and save better than others, and then other months?....well.....you are lucky to just get through it without dipping into the red.

On to the September report.....

I have posted my SEPTEMBER End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals 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 September in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of September with?.......$975.52.

Income
We had $940.47 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $22.99 of Rebates applied against the food expenses, $2.19 in Interest on the Checking Account, and a Dividend payment of $9.87 toward the Savings Challenge for a total of $975.52

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
Obviously we didn't meet that target.
If you added our amount saved for both August and September together you'd get a little more than what I need to save for one month.

Ugh.

On the bright side, at least we aren't negative money. 8-)

Outgo
As for the expenses in September......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* We paid the Sewage bill for the year a couple of months ago, so no quarterly payment this month.
* The electric bill held steady.
* I stayed on the food budget.
* The Marching Band expenses were very low for a change.  September is usually a high spend month for this activity.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The credit card bill was over $1500.... the cost of Daughter's new laptop hit the bill as well as other things.
* The water bill went up $12+ in Sept.  I am still trying to figure out WHY!
* The school taxes were due...ouch.
* There was a car repair bill.
* The WAM & cash withdrawals were high.  As usual Hubs won't track his spending and get receipts so I have no clue where some of that money goes....sigh.
* I paid ahead for monthly garbage pick-up through the end of 2011.  One bill I don't have to worry about paying as we get into the Holiday Spending Season.
* And I hate to have to say this but.....the car repair place didn't get my check in time so I actually had to pay FINANCE CHARGES on it. ACK!  I don't know if having to tell y'all or having to pay $19.00 in FINANCE CHARGES hurts me more.  This is the first time in "I don't know how long" I've thrown perfectly good money away like this because I missed a deadline.  I think I need to take to my bed shortly before I faint. ;-)

The Food Budget costs for September are in another post, which is located HERE. Once I applied my rebate check total of $22.99 I was able to stay on budget with the food spending.
Go me!  8-)

What's ahead for October.......
* There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

* We've got a short trip planned so some fun spending is on deck this month.
* The credit card will be killer this month.  It's already up to $1300 and the billing period doesn't close until Sunday.  Most of these charges are for replacements due to the lightning strike we suffered. To make this worse, we are having a problem with being reimbursed by our home insurance carrier for this lightning strike that took out electronics and damaged our house's electrical system.  I'll go into this rant another time....

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 9 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $23,536.37.
We are $400+ off in our monthly average to reaching our final goal at this point in the year. We should have $24,000 heading into October so we are now behind the Eight Ball to catch up over the next 3 months.


So how are your savings growing so far this year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!  You really should, you know.
With the current financial climate in this country, you should try to put away into savings as much as you can each month.

So come along and Challenge 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.  Put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

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 September 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