Income & Spending....February 2024

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals, personal savings 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.

We went into retirement in June of 2017 with no debt, no mortgage, nor a car payment.

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 February report--

I had 2 goals for February....

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 2024. 

*  I do not include/report on our retirement accounts here, just the non-retirement ones

 

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

The amount extra we ended the month of February with?....$1,131.53

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in February---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,608.66

*  SS income of $3,828.70

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $729.37

Total "Income" for February....$7,372.61

Expenses in February---

*  Irregular bills in February were $1,279.32

*  Variable Expenses in February came to $4,263.74

*  Medical Premiums in February were $698.02

Total Expenses....$6,241.08

$7,372.61-$6,241.08=$1,131.53

 Slush Fund coming into February of $51,104.06 and the addition of $1,131.53 in February, our end of February 2024 Slush fund comes to $52,235.59

The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $1,131.53

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The water bill, the cell phone bill were all the same as in January.

*  We didn't take any WAM last month(used leftover trip money in December for WAM).

*  The electric bill went down in February by $61.96.

*  My Amazon c/c bill was $643.15 lower than last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Hubs Amazon c/c was $1,453.23 higher than last month.

*  The American Airlines c/c was $148.67 higher than last month.

*  We had 2 irregular bills in February--

*  The TJMAXX c/c was $50.14(that's a one off)

*  The BOA c/c went down in February by $3,09.65.  We paid for the cruise in January and the Shore Excursions in February.  There should be no charges in March. Yay!

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

FINAL THOUGHTS for FEBRUARY 2024---This month turned out a bit better than expected, even with the high grocery spending.  Didn't go anywhere but doctors and grocery stores and didn't do anything that cost additional money(except a couple of times eating out).

THOUGHS GOING FORWARD INTO MARCH 2024--Other than doctor appointments and grocery shopping, there is nothing going on in March that will cost money.  The electric bill should go down again in March.  The water, cell and WAM should remain the same as before.  The credit cards are the wild cards in March.  We will have the Long Term Care premiums come in March and will pay those irregular bills.

Here's hoping 2024 treats us all even better financially! 8-))

So how was your February financially?

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

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