Income & Spending Report.....January 2018

Now that we are living on an annuity(like a pension) and 401K$ withdrawals(retirement savings), 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 these two sources of income and not have to dip into the regular savings(that I built over the last 10 years)to pay our month to month expenses.

Got it?
OK, let's move on.

On to the January 2018 report--
I had 2 goals for January......
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 tuck back into a slush fund.  This slush fun may be to apply toward unforeseen bills that are coming due in subsequent months, to spend on "extras/wants" during the year or to just sit there and grow until the end of 2018.

I have to report that we finished up January in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of January with?.......$7169.65

Income

The income in January---
* Monthly annuity payment of $3173.13(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1813.48
* December overage of $4754.49 that carried over into Jan. 2018
* Sinking Fund(carryover from Dec. + $2600 from 401K withdrawal)of $3616.74#
* One third of 401K withdrawal balance for Jan. of $851.10 ##
* Blogging Revenue of $129.14
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $334.95

Total Income for January......$14,673.03

# $2600 was pulled out from that quarterly 401K withdrawal(withdrawal was $5153.31 after tax withholding)for irregular expenses due during the 1st quarter of 2018 and add it to the Sinking Fund amount that carried over from December of $1016.74, raising the Sinking Fund to $3616.74
## The balance of the 401K withdrawal($2553.31)got divided by 3 and gives us $851.10 in January to add to the income for the month(Feb. and Mar. will also get $851.10/$851.11 respectively)for general expenses.


Expenses in January---
* Healthcare Premium for January was $1813.48.
* Variable Expenses in January came to $4931.92.  This also included some tuition for College Boy(and that's the last time we have to pay that...yay!)
* Irregular expenses paid were Garbage(paying in full for the year got us a $28 discount) of $308.00 and quarterly Long Term Care Policy Premiums of $449.98, so a total of  $757.98 paid.

Total Expenses for January......$7503.38

$14,673.03-$7503.38=$7169.65

That $7169.65 gets broken down thus----$2858.76 of that overage is the Sinking Fund and $4310.89 into general Jan. overage.

Outgo

As for the expenses this January, 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 LA house electric bill was $2.78 lower.
*  The medical payments were $30.22 less than in December

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The water bill was $16.94 higher than in December.
*  The electric bill was $157.77 higher than last month's bill.(Brutal negative temps here in Jan.)
*  The gas card charges were $15.90 higher than in December.
*  The credit card bill was $1008.66 higher than last month. Some of the unusual charges that made this one higher were--$180 for cargo van rental to move CB home from school, high Xmas meal out charge, windshield replacement deductible, $$208 for 2 new tires for Hubs car, $330 for medical charges, $70 for computer antivirus renewal, $86 for car repairs on Hubs car, $74 for Daughter birthday dinner, $65 for my car registration/inspection, 100 stamps were purchased before the rate increased--over $1336 in total for unusual charges)
*  The cash WAM withdrawals were $50.00  higher than in December.(Due to Hubs wanting an extra $50 emergency cash.)
*  $223.47 was due on store cards for Hubs charges in December.
*  We paid CB's last tuition bill.
*  The health insurance premium went up for 2018 by $41.54 per month.

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

So we end January in the black with $4310.89 in general overage.
The Sinking Fund goes into February standing at $2858.76.
Added together that gives us a cushion of $7169.65 for February.

FINAL THOUGHTS on January---It was an ok month financially.  Had we not had a tuition bill to pay we would have had enough in the Annuity and about $300 of the 401K withdrawal in January to pay what needed to be paid this month.  What can I say?.....Bills were high this month.

THOUGHTS going forward into February 2018----

On the bad side of things-Electric usage will rise this month.  Feb. is typically our highest electric bill here(due to electric heating).
On the good side of things-Food spending shouldn't be over $250 if we can eat down the freezer, there are no irregular bills due in February and we have no plans to travel(there is a trip to LA in the works for Hubs but those c/c bills won't show up until March)so it looks to be a quiet month, financially speaking.
I would like a boring financial month. ;-)

So how was your January financially?
  

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

Make this year was the one were you clean up your finances and pay off your debts.
Plan to set something aside if you didn't already or increased what you have banked now for your future self.
Or pay 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