Income & Spending 2021....the September 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 September report---

I had 2 goals for September.......
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 2021.

I can report that we finished up September in the red.
The amount we ended the month of September with?....-$1,092.83

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in September---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1,971.99
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $486.87

* Dividend check of $18.27

Total "Income" for September.....$5,699.37

Expenses in September---

* Healthcare Premium for September was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in September were $3,303.04(school taxes, long term care premiums)

* Variable Expenses in September came to $3,489.16
Total Expenses....$6,792.20

$5,699.37-$6,792.20= -$1,092.83

Slush into August of $39,033.52 in that Fund, subtract $1,092.83 and we get $37,977.07 going into September's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a subtraction of $1,092.83

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet was the same as in August.

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

*  The electric bill was $4.52 lower than in August.

*  The gas bill was $92.58 lower than last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $3.87 higher than in August.

*  The cell phone went up by $31.83 from last month.

*  The MC c/c was $876.17 higher than August.

*  My Amazon Visa was $127.96 higher than last month.

*  2 irregular bills were due in September--School tax bill(paid early for a small discount, quarterly Long term Care Premiums

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 September---I knew it would be a "negative" month going in because I paid for some of the December cruise stuff early but I didn't take money out of the non-retirement accounts to cover that until October 1st because I wasn't home until Oct.  Once we get to October's numbers it will all even out. ;-)
 

THOUGHTS going forward into October 2021---No irregular bills coming due in October. yay!  Trying for a low spend on everything(food, misc., etc.)in October too.  I've already bought candy for the Trick or Treaters too.  No trips planned. Just blah, blah, blah.....stay home and putter when not trying to eBay stuff and cart stuff off to the food bank.  October should be stellar once the cruise $$ hits the account and we sit our butts home. ;-)

So how was your September financially? 

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