Income & Spending for July 2023

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 July report---On to the June report---

I had 2 goals for July....

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 fund may be applied 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.  

 

I'm happy to report that we finished up July in the black.

The amount extra we ended the month of July with?....$6,367.06

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in July---

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

*  SS income of $3879.00

*  Quarterly 401K withdrawal of $5,200.13

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $823.76

Total "Income" for July....$12,346.55

Expenses in July---

*  Irregular bills in July were $229.73

*  Variable Expenses in July came to $4,672.73

*  Health insurance premiums totaling $1,077.08*

Total Expenses....$5,979.49

$12,346.55-$5,979.49=$6,367.06

* Now that Hubs is on Medicare I include his dental coverage in the HI Premium for me and his Medicare supplement comes out of our checking account.

Slush into July of $61,547.79 addition into August's 2023 Slush Fund comes to $67,914.85

The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $6,367.06 .

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The WAM, the water bill, Health Insurance premium and internet were the same(the water within $1.97)as last month.

*  My Amazon c/c went down by $52.60 in July.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The cell phone was the same as in June except we had to add an international plan on one phone for the cruise to the UK and it hit on the July bill so that bill was up by $87.37.  This isn't a normal bill for cell service for us.

*  Electric bill was up by $99.39 last month.  I'll take that as a win since we've been running triple digit temps all month.  Heating seems to have been much more costly up in PA compared to what we pay down here for A/C.

*  Hubs Amazon c/c bill was $1,047.34 higher than in June.  See cruise above. ;-)

*  The Mastercard c/c bill was $300.16 more than last month.

*  The American Airlines c/c was used in July(Hubs made a trip to PA to see his dying brother)so that was $1,208.88.

*  Chester needed shots this past month so this bill was $99.73 higher than their vet visits in June.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on JULY 2023---Like the food bill for July, there weren't many wins last month in bills overall.  Lots of c/c bills came due from the time in London and the cruise plus an unplanned emergency trip to PA for Hubs.  But we have enough socked away to cover everything without having to carry a balance and pay interest on a c/c.  Even if we hadn't had that 401K quarterly withdrawal we STILL would have been in the black after paying all the bills so that's a "good" thing.

THOUGHTS going forward into AUGUST 2023---The only irregular bills are going to be 2 dental cleanings.  We no longer have dental insurance so we'll be cash customers for that.

Can't really think of much we've put on credit cards except food and home repair stuff for the house so far in August and the end of July after those c/c statements cut.  The other irregular bill is for 2 dresses I ordered from the fat lady store as I had a free shipping code and a $10 reward certificate.  I don't have a black dress and when the nephew finally plans a memorial service for Hub's brother, if I am in any shape to fly there and we can go, I'll need something other than a purple or a lime green dress to wear.8-)

So how was your JULY financially?

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

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 down/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 all your excess monies after bills were paid 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