2018 Income & Spending Report.....April Edition

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.  This leftover cash will go into a "Slush Fund" for now to be used if we have any emergencies.

  I am trying to be as transparent as I can with how much is coming in and how much is going out.  8-)

On to the April 2018 report--

I had 2 goals for April......
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 April in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of April with?.......$2,161.32

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in April---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3218.16(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1813.48
* One third of 401K withdrawal balance(after funding Sinking Fund)for Apr. of $1255.65 #
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $337.99
* Blogging Revenue of $131.85
* Sinking Fund addition of $1383.24(from 401K withdrawal)

Total "Income" for April......$6,757.13 **

**  We got our federal tax refund this month as well-$5744.00.  After expenses and additional taxes paid in April(reported under variable expenses in the Expenses for April section below)our net refund stands at $5362.97.  I am not counting this windfall in with the 'Income" I report yet.  We need to decide what to do with this money first.  If we decide to put it into the Slush Fund/Overage monies I'll add it at that point.  If we decide to with go a 401K withdrawal next quarter and use the tax refund instead,  I will report/add it appropriately to the Sinking Fund and those 3 monthly "income" pots.

# We made a 2nd quarter 401K withdrawal in April of $6K.  After withholding for taxes due we got $5170.70 net.  $1383.24 of that gets put into the Sinking Fund to cover irregular bills coming due this quarter(long term care insurance due in April, car insurance due in May). $3766.95 is the balance of the 2nd quarter 401K withdrawal.  This got divided by 3 and gives us $1255.65 extra in April to add to the income for the month(May and June will also get $1255.65)for general expenses.


Expenses in April---

* Healthcare Premium for April was $1813.48.(paid with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in April came to $2782.33.
* Long Term Care insurance came to $449.98.(paid for Sinking Fund)##


## The Long Term Care insurance expenses are due in April.  The carryover in the Sinking Fund coming into April was $1056.23.  $1383.24 of the 2nd quarter 401K withdrawal gets added in giving us $2439.47-$449.98 LTC insurance bills leaves us $1989.49 in the Sinking Fund going into May.


We went into March with $8201.11 in the Slush Fund.
Add in April's overage of $2161.32 to the Slush Fund and it stands at $10,362.43 going into May.

Outgo

As for the expenses this April, 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 water bill was $6 lower than March.
*  The electric bill was $52.93 lower than last month.
*  The gas card charges were $86.28 lower than in March.
*  The cash WAM withdrawals was $190 lower than last month.
*  The medical payments were $174.74 lower than in March.
*  The LA house electric bill was $4.97 lower than last month.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in March.

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The credit card bill was $487.42 higher than in March.
*  Quarterly long term care insurance was due this month. This irregular bills is paid out of the Sinking Fund account.
*  We had to pay $100 to a handyman in LA to fix something on the house.
*  We had to pay state taxes to LA in the amount of $33.(State taxes paid to PA are reflected in/accounted for in the credit card bill for April.)

The Food Budget costs for March are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food costs are covered in the credit card payment(sometimes WAM cash too).

So we end April in the black with $2161.32 in new general overage so once it goes into the Slush Fund that Fund goes into May standing at $10,362.43. ($8201.11+$2161.32=$10,362.43).
The Sinking Fund goes into May standing at $1,989.49

FINAL THOUGHTS on April---No big charges I didn't know where coming in April and the "usual suspects" aka the variable bills were pretty low.  Nice and boring, the way I like it. ;-)

THOUGHTS going forward into May 2018----This month there is an irregular bill due-our semi annual car insurance bill, and this will be paid out of the Sinking Fund balance. 
Electric costs should continue to go down. 
We will be getting a $200+/- dental bill in May to pay out of the regular monies, not the HSA. 
We are still waiting to hear about when the closing on the LA house is(should be soon as we are just waiting on the buyer's appraiser to sign off after repairs were made)so if we get that done in May there will be proceeds of that sale to put somewhere.....but hey!, that's a good problem to have. 8-)

So how was your April financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in April?
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