Income & Spending for October 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 October report--

I had 2 goals for October....

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 October in the black.

The amount extra we ended the month of October with?....$6,653.23

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in October---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,608.66(after tax withholding)

*  SS income of $3878.950

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $842.25

*  401K Quarterly withdrawal of $5,200.13

Total "Income" for October....$12,365.04

Expenses in October---

*  Irregular bills in October were $2,746.91

*  Variable Expenses in October came to $1,793.71

*  Health insurance premiums totaling $1,171.19*

Total Expenses....$5,711.81

$12,365.04-$5,711.81=$6,653.23

* Now that Hubs is on Medicare, I include his Vision Care, and his Medicare supplement in this number with my Healthcare Premium.  His Part B comes directly out of his SS check before we get it.

Slush into October of $72,951.47(take $35,000 out which we moved into a CD leaves $37,951.47) and the addition of $6,653.23 October's 2023 Slush Fund comes to $44,604.70

The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $6,653.23.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The WAM, the water bill, Health Insurance premium, vision care, Hubs supplement plan and internet were the same as last month.

*  There were no charges on my Bank of America or Amazon c/cs in October.

*  The electric bill was $89.76 less than in September.

*  The cell phone bill was .78 lower this month.  

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The Mastercard c/c was $37.56 higher than in September.

*  The Aviator c/c was $1044.98 higher than in September.

*  Hubs Amazon c/c was $64.02 higher than last month.

*  We had an irregular bill of $1,173.63 for a year of homeowner's insurance.

*  We had irregular bills for $1,448.65 for work done in the kitchen.

*  I paid 2 small medical bills out of reg. checking instead of the HSA totaling $124.63.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS for OCTOBER 2023---Not a bad month considering the 401K withdrawal got dumped into our checking account this month.   Even though we had a few irregular bills the 401K funds more than covered those.  I'm calling October all good.

THOUGHTS going forward into NOVEMBER 2023---We have the yearly garbage disposal bill, a vet bill for the dogs and Hubs car needs work this month.  That's about all the big bills coming due in November other than credit cards bills.

So how was your October financially?

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

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