In our family we save money. It is important to us to put money aside for "rainy days". You know.....those unexpected days when things happen in your life that you can't plan on, but that DO happen and they cost you money you didn't know you'd need to pay out.
Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job. We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it. This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, investments and retirement savings. It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.
Once the automatic savings, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision payments are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on". From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, etc.) Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge.
For 2013 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge. I am going to keep the Goal amount at $20,000 again this year.
On to the July report.....
Outgo
HERE are the BAD THINGS
The Food Budget costs for July are in another post, which is located HERE.
The 2013 TOTAL so far.....
With 7 months behind us, half the year, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 stands at $15,999.22. Only $4,000.78 left to save and 5 months left to accomplish this.
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!
Sluggy
Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job. We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it. This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, investments and retirement savings. It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.
Once the automatic savings, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision payments are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on". From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, etc.) Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge.
For 2013 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge. I am going to keep the Goal amount at $20,000 again this year.
On to the July report.....
I have posted my July End of Month $20K $AVING$ 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 $1,666.67.
I have to report that we finished up June in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of June with?.......$3427.59
Income
We had $3242.23 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
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 $1,666.67.
I have to report that we finished up June in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of June with?.......$3427.59
Income
We had $3242.23 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in a per diem expense reimbursement check, a check from Savings Star(for my coupon savings through them for 2012)and a rebate from the power company for recycling our old freezer and we have another $185.36 not spent this month. This brought our gain to $3427.59 for July.
Outgo
As for the expenses this June, here are the good and the bad side of things....
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* Music lesson bill was $30 less due to paying a week ahead last month.
* The food/toiletries bill was approx. $42 less than my budgeted $400 each month.
* With the credit for the return of the new freezer, the credit card bill was only $200.70 in July.
* Cash withdrawals were $660 less than last month.
* No doctor co-pays this month....woohoo!
HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The electric bill was $2 higher than last month.
* An additional $225 camp bill balance was paid in July.
* An additional $225 camp bill balance was paid in July.
* The water bill was $27 higher due to more pool leakage.
* I paid the 3rd quarter garbage bill early this quarter.
* Annual homeowner's insurance was due and paid in July.
Overall, the Good outweighed the Bad in July.
* Annual homeowner's insurance was due and paid in July.
Overall, the Good outweighed the Bad in July.
The Food Budget costs for July are in another post, which is located HERE.
We came in under budget by $42.14 last month.
The 2013 TOTAL so far.....
With 7 months behind us, half the year, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 stands at $15,999.22. Only $4,000.78 left to save and 5 months left to accomplish this.
That comes out to $800.16 per month for the next 5 months to reach the goal.
Looking ahead for August......
* #2 Son is having 3 wisdom teeth pulled, so we have a co-pay of $411+ this month.
* The credit card bill will be large again, due to the $500 car repair Hubs put on it and my "hobby" spending for dna tests. This is in addition to the regular things we put on it, like gas and spending for the house.
* The semi-annual car insurance is due in August so that's about $1,500.00.
These items combined may make it difficult for us to have $800.16 leftover when August ends. But we'll see what we can do. ;-)
* The semi-annual car insurance is due in August so that's about $1,500.00.
These items combined may make it difficult for us to have $800.16 leftover when August ends. But we'll see what we can do. ;-)
So how was your July financially? It was a good month for us with the money.
Did you put ordinary living expenses on a credit card last month and not pay it off in full when due?
Did you spend less than the income you had in July?
Did you received any "extra" or unexpected money in July like a tax refund, a dividend or bonus at work, and what did you do with those funds?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle?
Did you spend less than the income you had in July?
Did you received any "extra" or unexpected money in July like a tax refund, a dividend or bonus at work, and what did you do with those funds?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle?
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!
Sluggy
ReplyDeleteSo how was your July financially? It was a good month for us with the money.
Did you put ordinary living expenses on a credit card last month and not pay it off in full when due?
Did you spend less than the income you had in July? I happen to write everything down that I spend. We are usually balanced out by the end of the month.
Did you received any "extra" or unexpected money in June like a tax refund, a dividend or bonus at work, and what did you do with those funds? No extra money, unless you want to count the usual 12 hour overtime shift every two weeks.
Did you stay within your budget or not? We stay within our budget, all though sometimes it gets hard to do.
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle? I was working on my husband's old credit card account that was closed a long time ago. At the end of july, I paid it off finally. I don't put any extra towards my mortgage until I have my 3 month living expenses to 5,000. I have a complete emergency fund at 1,000 now.