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

I had 2 goals for December.......
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 December in the black.
The amount we ended the month of December with?....$1,761.30

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in December---

* 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 $180.13

* Cash put into bank to cover some groceries of $42.30

* eBay sales of $37.04

* Rebates/Post Coupon/Refunds of $3,445.02

Total "Income" for December.....$8,917.20

Expenses in December---

* Healthcare Premium for December was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in December were $1,853.13

* Variable Expenses in December came to $2,976.79
Total Expenses....$6,801.91

$8,917.20-$6,801.91=$1,761.18

Slush into December of $35,694.88 in that Fund, add $1,761.18 and we get $37,456.18 going into January 2022's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $1,761.18

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet was the same as in November.

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

*  The Water bill was $3.97 lower than in November.

*  The cell phone bill was the same as last month.

*  The gas bill was $50.48 lower than in November.

*  The Amazon c/c was $281.32 than last month.

*  The MC c/c was $152.72 lower than November.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $103.24 higher than in November

*  We had Four Irregular bills in November-

*  I had a $128.58 Kohl's charge bill.

*  We paid the quarterly Long Term Care premiums.

*  We paid $440 to kennel the dogs while we were on vacation.

*  We put a $500 deposit down on the wedding rehearsal dinner.

The Food Budget costs for December 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 December---I can't complain about the December bills as all the variable ones came in the same or lower than the previous month(except for electric).  I didn't account for having to put a deposit down for the rehearsal dinner(yet)so that changed things up a bit and if you know the situation you know I am not a happy camper about how that is playing out beyond our control.

I am glad that my rebating/couponing savings got added into our totals in December or we would have had a deficit of just over $1K for the month after bills paid, meaning having to take money out of the Slush fund(instead of adding to it).

We started the year with the Slush at $34,645.48 and ended the year with it standing at $37,456.18. Over $2,800 more in there.
 

THOUGHTS going forward into January 2022---No holidays(except my Birthday this month), some Bonus Cash to spend down and no big grocery haul plans.  The only irregular bill due this month is the garbage bill which we pay annually for a small discount.  We'll have an even higher electric bill(it's Winter, duh!)and the c/c bills will total around $2,500 from December.  Our high deductible insurance premiums went up(of course!)for 2022.  But otherwise it should be a quiet money month.

We'll have a financial meeting later this month to talk over the money stuff going forward into the year.

So how was your December financially? 

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