2016 $38K Savings Challenge.....June Update

Every year I keep a close eye on our monthly expenses and our monthly income.

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 or these other categories.

Once the automatic savings amounts, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision premiums 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, annual etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, clothing  etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into an interest bearing Savings Challenge account.

For 2016 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount to $40,000 this year, $10K more than my goal for last year.

I have reconsidered and changed my Goal from $40K to $38K for 2016.  With some things coming down the pike this year I thought it prudent to back up my Goal a couple of thousand.  8-)

On to the June report.....

I have posted my June End of Month $38K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers HERE.

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 $3,166.66.

I have to report that we finished up June with a less than stellar amount.
The extra amount we ended the month of June with?.......$1962.66

Income

We had $1734.33 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in June totaled $228.33.  This included interest made on non-retirement accounts, a per diem and stock dividends.

This brought us to our gain of $1,962.66
Since we have no debt, this goes into savings.

Outgo

As for the expenses this June, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges, electric bill and internet were approximately the same as last month(With $1 or so).
*  The cash withdrawals were down $100 from last month.  Considering we took $500 in cash on our LA trip and we didn't go anywhere this month but had more food spending, that sounds about right.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Water use was up $21.35 from last month.  More people's laundry and showers so it was expected.
*  The gas card spending was up $111.89, mostly due to charging gas on the May trip to that card.
*  The credit card bill was up $1948.10 from last month.  Most of that was trip spending in May.
*  The direct medical spending was up $110.65 from May's total.
*  We "recycled" 2 tvs in June and had to pay $60 OOP in fees.

The Food Budget costs for June are in another post, which is located HERE.

With 6 month accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2016 is $19,399.50.

Final thoughts on June---

June was a fairly expensive month for us, given all that credit card/trip spending.  Some regular expenses went up too and will be up for a couple years into the future.
No irregular bills due this month, that happens next month.

But compared to June 2015 we put $593.29 more into savings this June. 8-)
.
We have $19399.50 saved so far in 2016, and we have only $18,600.50 left to save over the next 6 months at this point to reach our goal of $38K saved.  That averages out to $3100.08 a month for the rest of the year.  We are just a little over saving half of what I want in 2016 so we are right on target at this point in the year.

We are at the halfway mark for the year folks!  I can't believe the year is half over.

In 2015 we put $18,797.36 into savings at the halfway mark so we are averaging slightly more saved per month in 2016 so far.

THOUGHTS going forward into July----
The only irregular bill I have to pay in July is a quarterly Garbage bill and that's not much.
August and September will be my Bill Armageddon however.(House and car insurance AND property taxes.)
There may be a short trip in July which will mean some c/c spending to pay in August. Our c/c balance due in July is hovering at $1K($550 of which is a car repair...ugh) so that bill will be a bit less this month that what it was in June(over $2500).

So how was your June financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in June?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
What did you do with any money leftover at the end of the month?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings, in an emergency fund or a retirement account?
Or did you blow it on a want?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check out your progress too and celebrate or commiserate with you!

As we go forward into the last half of 2016 why not make this year the one were you clean up your finances and pay off your debts.
Plan to set something aside if you don't already now or increase what you bank now for your future self.
Or pay extra on the principle of your mortgage is your house isn't already paid off.

Live below your means and keep some change for a rainy day....because no matter how sunny it is in your life now, dark clouds come along and you'll be glad you have that umbrella to keep you dry.

Sluggy