Income & Spending....the October Edition

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 lto 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 October report--

I have 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 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 October in the black.

The amount extra we ended the month of October with?....$11,826.72

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in October---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,530.11

*  SS income of $3,828.70

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $1,446.90

*  Quarterly 401K Withdrawal of $6,215.06

*  Refund from Insurance of $2,900(I'll count what the cruise company refunded when it arrives)

Total "Income" for October....$16,983.25

Expenses in October---

*  Irregular bills in October were $1,957.87

*  Variable expenses in October came to $2,491.23

*  Medical Premiums in October were $707.43

Total Expenses....$5,156.53

$16,983.25-$5,156.53=$11,826.72.

Slush Fund coming into October of $71,441.92 and the addition of $11,826.72 in October, our end of October 2024 Slush Fund comes to $83,268.64.

The Slush Fund, on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog), shows an addition of $11,826.72

Outgo

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

Here are the GOOD THINGS

*  The water bill is the same as the previous month.
*  The WAM was the same as in September.
*  The electric bill was $61.52 lower than the previous month
*  The Joint Mastercard was $64.24 less than in September.
*  Hubs Aviator card was $780.06 less than last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The cellphone bill was .04¢ higher than in September.
*  The My Amazon card was $19.04 higher than last month.
*  Hubs Amazon card was $120.08 higher than in September.
*  My Aviator card was $4.99 higher than last month.
*  We had House Insurance due to the tune of $1,260.23.
*  We had a Vet Bill due in the amount of $355.00.
*  We paid a Doctor copay out of the regular account for $20.00.

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 2024---Financially it was an exceptionally good month.  The 401K quarterly withdrawal and getting most of our money back that we paid on that cruise we couldn't take(I'll count the last bit when it hits the bank account.).  We did take a $22K+ hit with having to buy a car but we knew that inevitable as Hubs car was on it's last legs and that gets accounted for in November.

GOING FORWARD INTO November 2024--Bills will be coming in for the car and some c/c bills and we won't have a 401K withdrawal to balance that out.  Hopefully we'll receive the rest of the cruise  refund this month. We will mostly likely run a deficit in November but that's ok.

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

So how was your October financially?

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

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 retirement account?

Or did you blow all your excess monies after bills were paid on a "want"?

If you post 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