Income & Spending 2020.....the October 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 October report---

I had 2 goals for October.......
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 October in the black.
The amount we ended the month of October with?.....$2,135.69

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in October---

* 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 $468.24

Total "Income" for October.....$5574.24

Expenses in October---

* Healthcare Premium for October was $1,883.76(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in October were $0.00
* Variable Expenses in October came to $1554.79
Total Expenses....$3438.55

$5574.24-$3438.55=$2135.69
Slush into October of $30,042.39 in that Fund, add the $2135.69 October overage and this brings the Slush to $32,178.08 going into November.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $2,135.69 for October.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet were the same as last month.

*  The c/c was $248.42 lower than in September.

*  The WAM was the same amount taken as last month.

*  The water bill was within $1 of September's bill.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $11.38 higher than last month's bill. This one will continue to rise as Winter sets in.

*  The gas c/c bill(Sunoco) was $8.43 higher than in September.  Sunoco is generally higher than other gas stations' prices(even after a .05¢ gal. discount)so we use it sporadically.

*  We had to pay to board the dogs on our trip so $150 extra paid out in October.

The Food Budget costs for October 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 October---
It was a really good month overall financially. 

No irregular bills were due in October. rah.  

THOUGHTS going forward into November 2020----

Unfortunately the electric bill will continue to rise and the credit card will be high in November as all our short trip spending from October will show up this month.  We aren't going anywhere in November and no extra spending will happen either.  We do have one irregular bill due this month, the semi-annual car insurance bill.

So how was your October financially?
  

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