Income & Spending.....The April Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals and social security payments, 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 April report---

I had 2 goals for April.....
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 2023.

This month I also had a goal to survive the move and have a little fun.  So far, so good.;-)

I can report that we finished up April in the black.

The amount we ended the month of April with?...$3,276.04

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in April---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $3,235.81(after tax withholding)

*  SS income of $3879.00

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $377.41

*  Quarterly 401K withdrawal of $5,200.13(after tax withholding)

*  Venmo payment for a rebate deal $3.88

Total "Income" for April....$12,696.23

Expenses in April---
* Irregular bills in April were $2424.64

* Variable Expenses in April came to $5,800.73

* Health insurance premiums totaling $1,194.82*

Total Expenses....$9,420.19

$12,696.23-$9,420.19=$3,276.04

* Now that Hubs is on Medicare I include his supplement payment in variable/regular monthly expenses instead of the Health insurance premium.

Slush into April of $62,789.60 in that Fund, add the overage of $3,276.04 in April and we get $66,065.64 into May's 2023's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $3,276.04.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The cell phone, WAM, the water bill and internet were the same as last month.

* The Health Insurance Premium went down by $1,076.17 from March,

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  My Amazon c/c was $401.95 higher than last month

*  Hubs Amazon c/c was $2,703.81 higher than in March.

*  The Mastercard c/c was $350.41 higher than last month.

*  We had irregular bills due in April too--

  *   LA 2022 state taxes paid $784.00

  *  BOA c/c trip charges of $814.60

  *  My car had two faulty tire sensors replaced for $162.14

  *  We had plumbing work done at a cost of $663.90 ouch

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on April 2023---Regular and Irregular bills with both higher than in March.  The one bright spot was our health insurance premium was cut in half since Hubs is on Medicare now.  The plumber was costly but a necessary expense. We knew going into April the last of the cruise costs were due and the LA state taxes as well.  The car problem was an unforeseen expense.  The higher Mastercard bill was mostly a new toilet(see plumber hiring above).  I put those discounted gift cards bought before Easter on my Amazon c/c accounting for some of that increase in spending.  But the Mama Jama expense was on Hubs Amazon c/c-buying a riding lawn mower!

THOUGHTS going forward into May 2023--We've got car insurance(we'll pay it annually going forward)which is our only irregular bill for May.  We'll have more cruise/London expenses, and Hubs will most likely want to take more WAM in May for the trip so we can get British pounds and Euros for the places where we'll need them.  In addition since Hubs is now on Medicare our monthly Annuity payment will be reduced going forward.  This was a "front loaded" annuity-more of a payment until you hit Medicare/65 and then just over $500 less per month after then.  Even with that while I am still on private insurance we are still better off financially with those changes.

So how was your April financially? 

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