Income & Spending Report.....November Update

* As Hubs retired effective July 1, I am no longer doing my 2017 Savings Challenge.
We ended that on June 30th.  The goal was $17.5K saved for the half of 2017 that Hubs was working.
We actually saved $21,100.42 all totaled, so $3600.42 over goal!

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$(no 401K$ until October)I am still going to keep track of our monthly spending and income, and hopefully we'll still be able to live BELOW our means and I'll have some leftover monies each month to tuck aside.
But this money leftover at the end of each month, at least for now(as we find our new financial "normal")won't be saved toward a yearly Savings Challenge.

The issue now is to cover all the bills with just the annuity payment each month plus some liquid savings(checking account cash)until October.
October is when Hubs turns 59.5 and then we can access the 401K retirement savings.  Until then things will be tight here at Chez Sluggy, so all the leftover monthly cash will get tucked aside to pay irregular bills that will be popping up for the rest of the year.

Got it?
OK, let's move on.

Though nothing will be put toward it the rest of 2017(probably), the 2017 $17.5K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals are still available
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers HERE.

On to the November report--
I had 2 goals for November......
The 1st is to actually finish the month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to try to have a little cash leftover at the end of the previous month to apply toward irregular bills that are coming due in subsequent months.

I have to report that we finished up November in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of November with?.......$4007.15

Income

The income in November was the monthly annuity payment,the healthcare account reimbursement and the October overage of $3454.25 that carried over.  I also had interest on non-retirement accounts and a blogging revenue check in November and brought us to $8855.11 of total income.  Expenses(including funding the Sinking Fund)came to $4847.96.

This brought us to our gain of $4007.15  If you deduct the overage from previous months that carried over into November and the Healthcare payment and reimbursement from the euqation, this means we spent $97.11 LESS than what we brought in in November for the annuity payment only.  So far we are doing ok without accessing the 401K account.

Since we have no debt, this November overage will get put aside to apply to the irregular bills coming due in December(of which there are none due that month)and then rolled over into 2018 to pay either $3K HDHP costs or property taxes that are due near the beginning of the year.  Plus we have to take a chunk out of this overage to pay for the "rescue mission" costs.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month(Within $1 or so).
*  The gas card bill was $12.54 lower than last month.
*  The cash WAM withdrawals were $165.00 lower than in October(extra WAM was taken out in October but I don't recall why/what for).
*  After paying the semi-annual car insurance the Sinking Fund carries over at $366.74 into December.

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The water bill was $5.44 higher than in September.
*  The electric bill was $53.67 higher than last month's bill.
*  The credit card bill was $757.10 more than October's bill(mostly furniture purchase).
*  The car insurance was due(paid for out of the Sinking Fund).
*  A dental bill was due and paid in November.
*  We had to pay the November health insurance premium of $1771.94.

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

So we end November in the black with $4007.15 to apply to irregular bills going into 2018.
Plus the Sinking Fund goes into December standing at $366.74.

FINAL THOUGHTS on November---It was a pretty good month financially, even with buying the buffet......until Hubs had to go on his "rescue mission" to IL.  This will impact our December bills as the charges were put on the credit card.  Just a few extra bills in November so we didn't have to dip into the 401K yet.


THOUGHTS going forward into December of 2017----

Electric usage(and thus costs)will rise this month.
Food spending shouldn't be over $400(even though it's Christmas this month).
Most of the usual bills will be about what November's levels were.
But the credit card bill will be higher than usual, not because of Christmas spending but because of the "rescue" mission we bankrolled.  Thankfully we are not traveling anywhere for Christmas which would have added charges to the c/c.
We are just trying to hold a line on the bills and not have to access the 401K account until 2018.

So how was your November financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in November?
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!

I hope this year was the one were you cleaned up your finances and paid off your debts.
That you planned to set something aside if you didn't already or increased what you banked now for your future self.
Or paid extra on the principle of your mortgage if 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