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, health insurance premiums, long term care insurance premiums, 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 October report.....
Outgo
HERE are the BAD THINGS
The 2013 TOTAL so far.....
With 10 months behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 stands at $20,926.27.
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, health insurance premiums, long term care insurance premiums, 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.
I have posted my October End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog 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 October with a really big number!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of October with?.......$4,623.32.
Income
We had $4,417.91 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog 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 October with a really big number!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of October with?.......$4,623.32.
Income
We had $4,417.91 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Other monies received in October totaled $205.41. This brought us to our gain of $4,623.32 for October.
Outgo
As for the expenses this October, here are the good and the bad side of things....
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* Evidently I overpaid(again!)the long distance phone last month so our bill was only .65¢ in Oct.
* The electric bill was about $1 LESS than September's bill. October's bill has ALWAYS been at least $50 more than September's bill before this year(due to the heat getting turned on).
* The credit card bill was about half of what it was in September.
* The credit card bill was about half of what it was in September.
* And the BEST Good Thing.....October was a third paycheck month!, so we socked that away into the Savings Challenge.
HERE are the BAD THINGS
* I overspent on the food budget by $19.
* Spending on prescriptions increased due to the blood clot issue.
* We had pet related spending of $237(kennel and vet bills)because of trips.
* Cash withdrawals were about double September's amount but some of this was due to trips taken.
* Cash withdrawals were about double September's amount but some of this was due to trips taken.
The Food Budget costs for October are in another post, which is located HERE.
The 2013 TOTAL so far.....
With 10 months behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 stands at $20,926.27.
We surpassed our goal by almost $1000 AND we still have 2 months left in the year to save some more money!
Looking ahead for November......
* No special Holiday spending this month. We aren't traveling for Thanksgiving and the meal will be modest because it's just Hubs and I this year. And if I can scare up a Turkey Day invite from someone, then we won't need to buy/cook anything special that day. lolz
* No big annual or semi-annual bills come due in November(the next one is in February)but I do plan on buying some furniture this month as the living room is bare except for a rug.
* No big annual or semi-annual bills come due in November(the next one is in February)but I do plan on buying some furniture this month as the living room is bare except for a rug.
* We put the bulk of the Ocean City trip from October on the credit card so that will have to be paid off in full from November's paychecks.
Between paying for the October trip and purchasing furniture for the living room I don't think we'll have much leftover during November to throw into the Savings Challenge. I'll keep the Challenge up until the end of 2013 just in case we have some spare funds the next 2 months.
Between paying for the October trip and purchasing furniture for the living room I don't think we'll have much leftover during November to throw into the Savings Challenge. I'll keep the Challenge up until the end of 2013 just in case we have some spare funds the next 2 months.
So how was your October financially?
Did you spend less than the income you had in October?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle?
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
You are so amazing with your money skills! You should be in charge of the deficit. Hahaha the prez would be using coupons for his coffee.
ReplyDeleteWe finished up with the last BIG hospital bill. I threw money away on a course that I thought I'd need to take if I didn't find a job. I'd be bummed about it except that I GOT A JOB! We are starting a new budget and I hope we can sock away as much of my new pay as you have with your surplus.
ReplyDeleteOctober was a "spendy" kind of month. We bought new carpet for upstairs bedrooms, bamboo hardwood for main floor and ceramic tile for bathrooms and kitchen. We got some good deals and i didn't have to take any $$ out of savings. I just didn't ADD to my savings either and paid for the flooring from my two paycheques. We also laid a flagstone patio in October which was a bit more expensive than we thought it would be but I'm glad it's done. Hoping to put the place up for sale in January or February so spending on updates is a must. Congrats on reaching your savings goal early!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats!! That's amazing! We are still playing catch up from all the spending we did on our renovations. It really depleted the savings accounts, and with the holidays coming, it doesn't look like there will be too much MORE savings. :(. Anyway, I'm going to try and join you in 2014 for your yearly savings goals. Maybe then I'll stay on track!
ReplyDeleteIf I don't have enough to live on in retirement I will come live with you!
ReplyDeleteGood job on your savings! And I second Sonya :) You could show them all how to do it!
ReplyDeleteOur budget was virtually non-existent in October because of our job related trip to Cali but we definitely spent less than we made. It feels pretty good after months of unemployment...