Income & Spending 2020.....the August Report

 Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals(some months), 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.

  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 August report---

I had 2 goals for August.......
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 2020.

I can report that we finished up August in the red.
The amount we ended the month of August with?.....-$725.44

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in August---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1,883.76
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $507.66

Total "Income" for August.....$5613.66

Expenses in August---

* Healthcare Premium for August was $1,883.76(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in August were $594.00
* Variable Expenses in August came to $3,861.34
Total Expenses....$6,339.10

$5613.66-$6339.10= -$725.44
Slush into August of $29,359.07 in that Fund, subtract the $725.44 shortfall brings the Slush to $28,633.63 going into September.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a subtraction of $2241.06 for August.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were the same as last month.
*  The electric bill was $12.96 lower than in July.
* The Amazon c/c bill was $99.93 lower than last month.

* The gas c/c bill was $52.45 lower than in July.
*  The WAM was the same amount taken as last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $7.14 higher than last month.

*  The Mastercard c/c bill was $2,275.34 higher than in July.  Half of that was the love seat we paid for(but still haven't gotten)the car registrations, the U-Haul charge to move Ex-CB out, I bought a lot of gift cards and my ancestry account charge technically hit this month on the c/c(though I put some WAM in last month to cover most of it).

*  We had an irregular bill due in August-the house insurance annual premium.

*  We had a kennel bill for boarding the dogs for 2 nights as no one was available here to dog sit while I was in Hershey having a medical procedure and Hubs had to take me there.

The Food Budget costs for August are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food costs are included in the credit card payment(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).

FINAL THOUGHTS on August---
One small irregular bill last month so that was good but I did spend what I consider a lot at the grocery stores again, AND the credit card bill was quite high as there were some unusual expenses on that in August.  To add insult to injury all the banks I have investments with lowered their interest rates mid-July so we've seen less interest income coming in.  And with the state of the world lately I'd don't see that changing/reversing for some time to come. ugh.

We had slightly more expenses than income last month so we drew from our Slush Fund to cover that overage.  That pot of cash gives me peace of mind and let's me sleep at night. ;-)

THOUGHTS going forward into September 2020----

We have two irregular bills this month, the smallish long term care policy quarterly premiums and the school taxes on the house(about half of the total property taxes due yearly here in PA).  There will be a small 401K withdrawal to cover the school taxes this month.  The other irregular bill we can work into our regular income stream for September.

The electric bill and water bill should both be lower in September and I am hoping I can stay out of the grocery store too. ;-)

I am hoping for a lower expense month this month compared to August.

So how was your August financially?
  

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


Sluggy