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 January report---
I had 2 goals for January.......
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 January in the black.
The amount we ended the month of January with?....$1,590.18
Income or Funds We Can Access
The "income" in January---
* Monthly annuity payment of $3,229.07(after tax withholding)
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $204.10
* 1/3 of Quarterly 401K withdrawal of $2,051.69
* RMSA account to pay for health premiums totaling $2,226.13(yeah, they went up again!)
Total "Income" for January.....$7,710.99
Expenses in January---
* Irregular bills in January were $425.40
* Variable Expenses in January came to $5,695.41
Total Expenses....$6,120.81
$7,710.99-$6,120.81=$1,590.18
Slush into January of $37,456.18 in that Fund, add $1590.18 and we get $39,046.36 going into February 2022's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $1,590.18
Outgo
As for the variable expenses this January here are the good and the bad side of things....
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* The WAM was $150 lower than was taken last month.
* The Amazon c/c was $309.79 less than in December.
HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The internet bill went up by $3 per month this year.
* The water bill went up $6.65 in January.
* The electric bill was $77.07 higher than in December.(Winter, huh!)
* The gas bill was up $38.54 from last month.
* The cell phone bill is now $53.60 per month more(until this new phone is paid off).
* The M/C bill was up $614.70 from December's bill.
* We had Two Irregular bills in January-
* We paid the annual garbage bill in January.
* I had a dentist bill of $95.40 this month.
The Food Budget costs for January 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 January 2022---Well we knew the cell bill, the internet costs and the healthcare premiums would be higher in 2022. Internet was three whole dollars higher so no biggie.
We sat down and talked money after which we have decided to take quarterly regular draws from the 401K of $6K per quarter this year. Between the real estate taxes in March, the school taxes coming up in September and paying for the Wedding rehearsal that's a lot of big irregular bills coming down the pike, two of which get paid with the firsst quarters withdrawal. Things should loosen up financial once we get past March.
The RMSA which covers the healthcare premiums will run out mid-May but that's a whole other issue I'm not addressing today.
THOUGHTS going forward into February 2022---The wedding is a little over a week away. Pray that there are no blizzards here in the Mid-Atlantic the weekend after Super Bowl! Other than bleeding money for this wedding we will be all good financially until March.
So how was your January financially?
Did you spend less than the income you had in January?
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
