$32K Savings Challenge.....DECEMBER & 2011 Grand Total RESULTS

Ok, here is my last Savings Challenge Update post for 2011.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against so much spending.

On to the December report.....

I have posted my DECEMBER End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up December in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of December with?.......$4,355.36!

Income
We had $4186.70 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $6.00 in Rebates applied against the food expenses, $.84 in Interest on the Checking Account, $141.82 in dividends, and a refund of $20 on our car insurance rate toward the Savings Challenge & you get a total of $4355.36.

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
This month we blew that goal out of the water, thanks to an extra paycheck.  8-)

Outgo
As for the expenses in December......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The electric bill went up only $71.....that's good seeing as the heat was on!

* The food spending was almost on budget at $307.74
* The water bill was $50.50.  This is low when all the kids are home(extra showers and laundry).
* There were no taxes due this month...yay!!
* I continued to consistently sell in my eBay store in December.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* The credit card bill was $1750+.  Even though $350 of that was fees paid to eBay on sales there we were still over our usual $1000 average on the credit card bill.  No matter the amount of the bill, it is paid off in full each month, ALWAYS.

* $1180 in car maintenance/repair bills.  Seems every time we take a car in for oil change or regular maintenance they find something else. ugh.
* Had $85 in unexpected medical associated bills to pay. (Need I mention #2 son lost his retainer AGAIN after getting the 1st replacement 2 weeks before hand, so we had to pay for ANOTHER replacement. He's repaying us for it with his allowance.)
*  Still a LARGE amount of cash withdrawals by Hubs. I'm not complaining this month because some of it was him buying me Christmas presents. ;-)

The Food Budget costs for December are in another post, which is located HERE.  We kept almost to the food budget amount again in December so I am calling it all good.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 12 months behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2011 is $34,461.31.
YES!
We blew our $32K Goal out of the water!!!

The extra paycheck in December gave us a hefty amount to tuck away after all the bills were paid AND left lots of room for Christmas indulgence!

So how did your savings go for the year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses?
Do you have debt?
If you don't have the former, start living below your means NOW and put some money away for emergencies.
If you have the latter, start living below your means NOW and put a smaller amount away for emergencies and use the rest of your leftover cash each month to pay down your debt.
And once you get debt-free, continue to throw that debt repayment money into savings.
It is NEVER too early or too late to SAVE SOMETHING.
And the amount you save is NEVER too small!
Anything you can spare will go a long way to make you more financially secure in this crazy unstable world we live in.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal or Debt Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Put it out there online and let us all stalk your money too. ;-)

So how was your Deember financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge......NOVEMBER 2011 Results

Ok, here is my Savings Challenge Update post.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against so much spending.

Some day I'd like to spread all the cash I've saved out on the bed and lay on it.  This puppy has the right idea.....
  

On to the November report.....

I have posted my NOVEMBER End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up November in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of November with?.......$3,686.66!

Income
We had $3681.89 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $3.00 in Rebates(LOL) applied against the food expenses, $1.77 in Interest on the Checking Account toward the Savings Challenge & you get a total of $3686.66.

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
This month we blew that goal out of the water! 8-)

Outgo
As for the expenses in November......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The electric bill went up only $67.....that's good seeing as the heat was on!

* The food spending was almost on budget at $263.10
* The credit card bill was $1000+ BUT....almost half of that was money we spent on our mini vacation to Delaware, so we are pulling money out of what we saved in the Savings Challenge last year to pay that part of the bill.
* There were no car repair bills or taxes due this month...yay!!
* I opened my eBay Store up temporarily for the holidays to bring in a little coin, though I am not counting this income as part of the Savings Challenge because it will be spent....but it's STILL a good thing!lol

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* The water bill went up $10.
* Had $154 in unexpected medical associated bills to pay. (A dr. bill from this past summer when Daughter went and saw a dr. not in our plan so insurance won't pay any of it and #2 son lost his retainer so we had to pay for a replacement.)
*  Still a LARGE amount of cash withdrawals.  I went through Hubs receipts last month and there was no unusual spending...except he spends a lot on food and coffee during the day at work  I have nagged, pestered, whined, cajoled, bribed, offered sex all to get him to take his lunch and coffee.  Nothing convinces him.  I'm done trying.   ;-)
*  December means Christmas gift spending so the C/C bill will be high.  It's already at $500+ going into Xmas shopping season.  Add in the $200 in home improvement gift cards I put on the c/c last weekend.

The Food Budget costs for November are in another post, which is located HERE.  We kept almost to the food budget amount so I am calling this good considering the month included the big TURKEY DAY meal.

What's ahead for December.......
* There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.
*  The electric bill will increase as Dec. is colder than Nov.

* Though Christmas is coming up I still plan to stay on budget with food for December.
* The credit card will be high.  With Christmas that's a given since I don't carry large amounts of cash on me when out holiday shopping.  But we don't buy more on the card than we can pay off each month.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 11 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $30,105.95.
We are $1,894.05 away from reaching our final goal for the year. Unless there is some catastrophe that wipes out our money in December we WILL hit our goal of $32K saved in 2011!

To add to my confidence that we will succeed is the fact that we will get THREE Paychecks in December because of when the paydays fall.  This means an extra whole paycheck in December...woot!!!  We will have enough if something bad happens to the budget and can still Live Christmas Large and tie it up with a red bow! 8-))))

So how are your savings growing so far this year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!  You really should, you know.
With the current financial climate in this country, you should try to put away into savings as much as you can each month or be throwing savings at your debt if you still have that.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal or Debt Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Put it out there online and let us all stalk your money too. ;-)

So how was your November financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge......OCTOBER 2011 Results

Ok, here is my Savings Challenge Update post.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.
And I am still loving this photo from previous month's Savings Challenge posts.
Like everyone, I LOVE a special on crap.....but how do you ascertain if crap is fresh?
Does fresh crap smell.....fresh?

The theme this month is when it finally looks like you can save a boatload of money,  Lightning strikes....literally!, and costs you some of your traction.

On to the October report.....

I have posted my OCTOBER End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up October in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of October with?.......$2,882.92!

Income
We had $2788.98 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $3.00 in Rebates(LOL) applied against the food expenses, $1.94 in Interest on the Checking Account toward the Savings Challenge & the $89 I made selling some dolls, you get a total of $2882.92.

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
We finally had a month where we matched or surpassed that goal!

Outgo
As for the expenses in October......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The electric bill went down $40.

* The water bill went down $20.
* There were no car repair bills or taxes due this month...finally!!
* I sold some dolls laying around the house....booyah!

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* The credit card bill was over $1500 again!
* The food spending was over $600.  It's usually around $250 a month.
* The WAM & cash withdrawals were very high. Hubs did agree to save his receipts so once I get those I can analyze where some of his money went.  Stay tuned.....

* The lightning strike the end of Sept. took out the following: my computer, my printer, #2 son's tv, the garage door opener, the router, the modem and at least 1 electrical outlet upstairs.  So far we've spent $1433.66 on replacing/repairing items.  After our policy deductible of $500, the insurance company refuses to pay an additional $328.44 on the $1433.66 we've had to spend, so we are out of pocket $828.44 for this event.  Some of this spending went on the credit card and will show up on next month's bill.

The insurance goons have been real buttholes.

This is the first claim we have EVER made on our homeowner's policy which we have had with this same company since 1986.  

1 claim in 25 years.

Wanna bet our rates go up next year?

The Food Budget costs for October are in another post, which is located HERE. Once I applied my rebate check total of $3.00, I was still over $600 in food spending for the month.  I sucked at being frugal on food this month.  But I still have over a 79% savings rate on food for the year so I only suck a little.lol

What's ahead for November.......
* There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

*Though the big Thanksgiving meal is coming up I still plan to stay on budget with food for November.
* The credit card is hovering at just under $1K yet again, with 9 more days until the billing cycle closes.  We just can't seem to get it down under $500 per month, can we?
* Hubs commuting car needs a tune-up and oil change.  Every time we take it in, this always costs more than just those things so I am steeling for a car repair bill.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 10 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $26,419.29.
We are $247.31 off in our monthly average to reaching our final goal at this point in the year. We should have $26,666.66 heading into November so we are just a little behind and the goal is still within reach!

So how are your savings growing so far this year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!  You really should, you know.
With the current financial climate in this country, you should try to put away into savings as much as you can each month or be throwing savings at your debt if you have some.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your October financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge......SEPTEMBER 2011 Results

Ok, here is my Savings Challenge Update post.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off....especially this month's update!lol
And here is the great photo from last month's post again.
I LOVE a special on crap, but I don't think this price is frugal enough for me......how about you?

The theme this month is some months you can tighten the belt and save better than others, and then other months?....well.....you are lucky to just get through it without dipping into the red.

On to the September report.....

I have posted my SEPTEMBER End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up September in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of September with?.......$975.52.

Income
We had $940.47 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $22.99 of Rebates applied against the food expenses, $2.19 in Interest on the Checking Account, and a Dividend payment of $9.87 toward the Savings Challenge for a total of $975.52

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
Obviously we didn't meet that target.
If you added our amount saved for both August and September together you'd get a little more than what I need to save for one month.

Ugh.

On the bright side, at least we aren't negative money. 8-)

Outgo
As for the expenses in September......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* We paid the Sewage bill for the year a couple of months ago, so no quarterly payment this month.
* The electric bill held steady.
* I stayed on the food budget.
* The Marching Band expenses were very low for a change.  September is usually a high spend month for this activity.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The credit card bill was over $1500.... the cost of Daughter's new laptop hit the bill as well as other things.
* The water bill went up $12+ in Sept.  I am still trying to figure out WHY!
* The school taxes were due...ouch.
* There was a car repair bill.
* The WAM & cash withdrawals were high.  As usual Hubs won't track his spending and get receipts so I have no clue where some of that money goes....sigh.
* I paid ahead for monthly garbage pick-up through the end of 2011.  One bill I don't have to worry about paying as we get into the Holiday Spending Season.
* And I hate to have to say this but.....the car repair place didn't get my check in time so I actually had to pay FINANCE CHARGES on it. ACK!  I don't know if having to tell y'all or having to pay $19.00 in FINANCE CHARGES hurts me more.  This is the first time in "I don't know how long" I've thrown perfectly good money away like this because I missed a deadline.  I think I need to take to my bed shortly before I faint. ;-)

The Food Budget costs for September are in another post, which is located HERE. Once I applied my rebate check total of $22.99 I was able to stay on budget with the food spending.
Go me!  8-)

What's ahead for October.......
* There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

* We've got a short trip planned so some fun spending is on deck this month.
* The credit card will be killer this month.  It's already up to $1300 and the billing period doesn't close until Sunday.  Most of these charges are for replacements due to the lightning strike we suffered. To make this worse, we are having a problem with being reimbursed by our home insurance carrier for this lightning strike that took out electronics and damaged our house's electrical system.  I'll go into this rant another time....

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 9 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $23,536.37.
We are $400+ off in our monthly average to reaching our final goal at this point in the year. We should have $24,000 heading into October so we are now behind the Eight Ball to catch up over the next 3 months.


So how are your savings growing so far this year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!  You really should, you know.
With the current financial climate in this country, you should try to put away into savings as much as you can each month.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your September financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge for 2011.....AUGUST RESULTS

Ok, here is my Savings Challenge Update post.
Yes, the one where I piss everyone off.
Seems like folks don't want to hear about what I save, besides a few blogging friends who I cherish their cheerleading and constant support....you know who you are! ;-)
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.

It's about the results of what you can do financially if you tighten your belt, stop buying CRAP and be persistent with keeping track of where every dollar goes(well, most dollars if you have a less than motivated spouse).

On to the August report.....

I have posted my AUGUST End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up August in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of August with.......$1,779.83.

Income
We had $1749.47 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $28.38 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and $1.98 in Interest on the Checking Account toward the Savings Challenge for a total of $1,779.83

I didn't count my $20 Toluna payout since I am keeping it to spend on myself. ;-)

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
Obviously we didn't meet that target.
But we got a lot closer than I thought we would.
August was a big "money flowing out" month here.

Outgo
As for the expenses in August....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* We paid the Sewage bill for the year a couple of months ago, so no quarterly payment this month.
* The water bill held steady.
* I just barely went over the food budget.
* We made $335.50 at the Stockpile/Garage Sale.  This money was used for college necessities & gas to take kids to college so I didn't have to dip into the regular income for that.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The credit card bill was almost $1000....and it didn't include the cost of Daughter's new laptop.
* The semi-annual car insurance bill was due.  We've got 2 teen(next year will be 3 teens)drivers on that. We already pay almost $2500 a year for car insurance so I don't want to think about having another teen driver on our plan.  Oy!
* The electric bill was up $18 from July.
* The WAM & cash withdrawals were MUCH higher than usual.  As usual Hubs won't track his spending and get receipts so I have no clue where some of that money goes....sigh.
* I had to pay $316.47 to a local college for classes Daughter took while in high school last school year.  The program that covers the tuition expense only covered half of the cost so we are on the hook for this much.  I'm not complaining about this as it was a great rate and the credits transferred to her current college so that's a few credits less she has to take at the full rate there for a degree.  As I also just got done paying out over $16,000 in August for oldest 2 kids fall semester tuition, room and board and books, the timing of receiving this bill couldn't have been worse in my mind!  We now have 2 in college so the financial trauma to my constitution is doubled each semester.
While the college charges didn't come out of our monthly income, seeing all that money fly away sure takes my breath away.
Yowza!


The Food Budget costs for August are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in August was almost on budget when rebate checks were applied toward the food bill.  "Missed it by $2.02!" ,  she said in her best Don Adams voice.
But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. ;-)

What's ahead for September.......
There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

We will have more Marching Band associated expenses in September since it is Marching Band Season.
We will have the $2000 school taxes bill to pay.
The credit card will be killer this month.  It's already up to $1600(half of that is for Daughter's computer)and the billing period doesn't close until Friday.  meh.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 8 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $22,560.85.
We are just over $1,200 ahead of reaching our final goal at this point in the year.  If we end up having a really bad expensive month at some point in the next 4 months, this will help us to overcome it and still finish the year reaching our goal.  It's like a little "get out of jail free" card for our Challenge.  Having that little extra takes some of the pressure off me. ;-)
Plus we are due another extra paycheck in December....sweet!

So we have less than $10K to reach our goal for the year.  That means just under $2500 per month.

So how are your savings growing so far this year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!  You really should, you know.
With the current financial climate in this country, you should try to put away into savings as much as you can each month.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your August financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge for 2011.....JULY RESULTS....Extra Paycheck Edition

I have posted my JULY End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals really each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up July in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of July with.......$5,530.11.

Income
We had $5403.96 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $23.97 of Rebates applied against the food expenses, $2.18 in Interest on the Checking Account and $100 from my Focus Group work and you have a deposit of $5530.11  toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.

Outgo
As for the expenses in July....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* We paid the Sewage bill for the year a couple of months ago, so no quarterly payment this month.
* The electric bill was about $20 less than June's.
* The credit card bill was well under $1,000 for a change.
* Three paychecks this month!

HERE are the BAD THINGS
* While not due until August, I paid the home insurance bill in July, since the car insurance is due in August as well.
* The WAM money was much higher than usual.


The Food Budget costs for July are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in July was almost $50 under budget or $75 under when rebate checks were applied toward the food bill.

What's ahead for August.......
There will b no summer vacation this year.  While I am sad we can't get away this summer my wallet will enjoy not having to pay for the added expenses that going away requires.
There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

We will have some Marching Band associated expenses in August.
We will have the semi-annual car insurance bill to pay.
Having the whole family(plus 1 girlfriend)home for part of this month will mean higher food bills, as well as electric and water bills.
Back-to-school means some credit card charges for some dorm room stuff & supplies for our 1st time college student this year.  #2 son also will need a few school supplies that I haven't already picked up for free.
Gas spending will also be higher in August with having to transport 2 college students across the state to 2 different schools on 2 different dates. bleh.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 7 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $20,781.02. 
We are just over $2,000 ahead of our final goal at this point in the year.  If we end up having a really bad expensive month at some point in the next 5 months, this will help us to overcome it and still finish the year reaching our goal.  It's like a little "get out of jail free" card for our Challenge.  Having that little extra takes some of the pressure off me. ;-)

So how are your savings growing so far this year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!  You really should, you know. 
With the current financial climate in this country, you should try to put away into savings as much as you can each month.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your July financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge for 2011.....June Totals or the Treading Water Edition

I have posted my JUNE End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals really each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up June in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of June with.......$316.92.

Income
We had $267.96 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $48.96 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and you have a deposit of $316.92  toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.  Do I have to even say we came in well under that amount for June?lol
As I look back over the past 2 years of doing Savings Challenges, I see that June is typically a very expensive month for us.  In 2010 we only saved $547.73 in June.  So our pitiful savings this month are nothing out of the ordinary for us.

Outgo
As for the expenses in June....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* We paid the Sewage bill for the year, so no quarterly payment this month.
* The electric and credit card bills were not higher than last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The water bill was doubled from last month(we opened the pool).
* We paid cash for camp.
* The WAM money was much higher than usual.
* We had a kennel bill for boarding the dogs.
* We had an electrician bill for running a line to the pool.
* We had a washing machine repair bill.


The Food Budget costs for June are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in June was more than $147 over budget or $98 when you take off my rebate check total which I use toward the food bill.

What's ahead for July.......
There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

No non-monthly bills this month.
Plus this month will see 3 paychecks....yay! 8-)
So If I can keep the food spending on budget, we should be able to put away a good sized amount into savings this month and make up for June's lackluster showing.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 6 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $15,250.91.


And if you need to start putting money into savings......What's that you say?  You don't have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!!??....consider playing along in 2011 with me and Challenging Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!
Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your June financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge for 2011.....May Totals

I present to you May of the 2011 $32K Savings Challenge!

I have posted my MAY End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals really each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up May in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of May with.......$3,297.11.

Income
We had $3221.15 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $75.96 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and you have a deposit of $3,297.11  toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.  We came in well over that amount for May.  This is only the second month so far this year that we have met or exceeded the monthly target amount for this challenge.

Outgo
As for the expenses in May....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
*The electric bill went down another $141.
*We had NO car maintenance expenses in May.  But we did lose a car. 8-(
*We had no annual/bi-annual/quarterly payments to make.
*The WAM money was lower than usual.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
*The credit card bill was up again in the $1K range.
*Lots of Doctor visit co-pays, most of which were for camp physicals.
*$195 for annual dog vet check-ups and meds.


The Food Budget costs for May are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in May was more than $190.26 over budget or $114.30 when you take off my rebate check total which I use toward the food bill.

What's ahead for June.......
There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

Non-monthly bills include the summer camp payment for #2 son(ouch!), and the quarterly garbage pick-up payment.

So If I can keep the food spending on budget, we should be able to put away a good sized amount into savings this month.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 5 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $14,933.99.
We finally are ahead of schedule with the Savings goal for the year!


And if you need to start putting money into savings......What's that you say?  You don't have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!!??....consider playing along in 2011 with me and Challenging Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!
Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your May financially? 
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge for 2011.....April Totals

I present to you April of the 2011 $32K Savings Challenge!

I have posted my APRIL End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals really each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up April in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of April with.......$6500.35.

Income
We had $1823.86 left over from our income after our expenses were deducted.
Add in $62.99 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and the Tax Refund of $4613.50 you have a deposit of $6,500.35 toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.  We came in well over that amount due to the tax refund mostly.  Since we've been short of our monthly goal for all 3 of the previous months, this month's total sure helps to boost our yearly total so far!

Outgo
As for the expenses in April....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
*The credit card bill was just over $600.
*The electric bill went down another $73.
*We ONLY spent $244 on car repairs/maintenance.  Unfortunately, this amount is great for us. ugh
*Dr. and test copays were only $13.83 this month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
*Hubs took out way more WAM than normal this month.
*The real estate taxes were due this month(municipal and county).
*We had a vet visit for the beagle with the bad back.  She cost $77 for that one visit.
*We had a dental payment of $82.

Mostly the cash withdrawals and the annual taxes paid this month were the worst "bad things".


The Food Budget costs for April are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in April was more than $140 under budget.

What's ahead for May.......
Unless something comes up(and doesn't it always seem to!lol), it's just the usual suspects this month--electric, water, phone, cable, food, prescriptions, dr. visits, etc.
We do have the yearly dogs' vet visit this month but it shouldn't be as bad as it has been in the past because we are down to 2 dogs now and we kept them on heartworm meds all year so there won't be any re-testing fees for that this year.

So If I can keep the food spending on budget(in the face of having all 3 teens home in May), we should be able to put away a good sized amount into savings this month.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 4 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $11,636.88.
We finally are ahead of schedule with the Savings goal for the year!
Before April's addition we were running about half of what we need to save to this point, to meet our goal for the year.

And if you need to start putting money into savings......What's that you say?  You don't have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!!??....consider playing along in 2011 with me and Challenging Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!
Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your April financially?  Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge for 2011.....March Totals

Since I foresee food prices, as well as other expenses/costs/taxes to rise in 2011, I am only upping my Savings Challenge Goal by $2,000.  While I hope to bring in more income this year, I feel we will be spending more on necessities in 2011, thus the small increase in goals.

So I present to you March of the 2011 $32K Savings Challenge!

I have posted my MARCH End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals really each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up March in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of March with.......$2353.56.

Income
We had $2282.19 left over from our income after our expenses were deducted.
Add in $71.37 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and you have a deposit of $2,353.56 toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.  We came in about $313 short in March.

Outgo
As for the expenses in March....
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
*The credit card bill was well under $1K.
*The electric bill went down about $50.
*We ONLY spent $342 something on car repairs/maintenance.  Unfortunately, this amount is a good thing for us. ugh
*Hubs took less WAM out of the bank this month....yay! 8-)
*I didn't need to take any cash out of the bank since I was able to do the last 2 month's food/HBA shopping on what I withdrew in Feb.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
 *The quarterly sewage bill came due this month, I went ahead and paid up for the full year, earning a 3% discount....hey!, it's something.lol
*I paid the garbage bill ahead for 3 months, which is good overall but not for this month's outgo.
*The Final BIG marching band payment(for #2 son's trip in the Spring)came due...$460. bleh.


The Food Budget costs for March are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in March was more than $100 under budget.

What's ahead for April.....
Looking back at last year's check register, I see that the County/Local taxes are due this month....that's a big one!
We also have another car repair to pay.
The credit card bill is up to $400 with another 10 days to go until the billing cycle closes.  I'm hoping to keep it under $600 by the time it closes on the 10th.
Other than that it's just the usual suspects this month--electric, water, phone, cable, food, prescriptions, dr. visits, etc.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 3 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $5,136.53.

And if you need to start putting money into savings......What's that you say?  You don't have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!!??....consider playing along in 2011 with me and Challenging Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!
Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your March financially?  Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge of 2011......February Totals

Since I foresee food prices, as well as other expenses/costs/taxes to rise in 2011, I am only upping my Savings Challenge Goal by $2,000.  While I hope to bring in more income this year, I feel we will be spending more on necessities in 2011, thus the small increase in goals.

So I present to you February of the 2011 $32K Savings Challenge!

I have posted my FEBRUARY End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals really each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up January in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of January with was a meager.......$374.00.

Income
We had $328.00 left over of DH's salary after our expenses were deducted.
Add in $46.00 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and you have a deposit of $374.00 toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal so we didn't even come close to our 2nd monthly goal in Feb.

Outgo
As for the expenses in February....we always seem to hemorrhage money in this month.
*The credit card bill(which is paid off each month)was over $1100 because Hubs replaced his dead computer. 
*Then the electric bill is a killer in the winter at $419.19. 
*The cable company raised our rate this month. 
*The semi-annual car insurance bill of $1486.37 was due. 
*We had a $676.85 AND a $110.35 car repair. 
*We paid our state income tax bill. 
*2 dental bills,
*A marching band payment(for #2 son's trip in the Spring),
*3 Dr. bills
*And the other usual water, phone, cash withdrawals for eating out and food purchases, gasoline, and Hubs WAM, etc. and we are left with $374. 
Most February's however, we end up going into the RED so I am NOT complaining that we're only left with a few hundred bucks!

The Food Budget costs for February are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in February was very low!  It figures....I go off of my self-imposed Spending Diet at the end of Jan.(which was a flop)and I actually was able to slice the food budget in half.

What's ahead for March.....
Looking back at last year's check register, I see we may have less $ outgo in March.
A quarterly sewage bill and the balance of #2 son's marching band trip to pay out, but otherwise nothing beyond the usual monthly bills. Knock on wood it stays that way and "Murphy" doesn't show up on my doorstep. ;-)



YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 2 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $2,667.97.

And if you need to start putting money into savings......What's that you say?  You don't have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!!??....consider playing along in 2011 with me and Challenging Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!
Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your February financially?  Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

$32K Savings Challenge of 2011.....January's Totals

Since I foresee food prices, as well as other expenses/costs/taxes to rise in 2011, I am only upping my Savings Challenge Goal by $2,000.  While I hope to bring in more income this year, I feel we will be spending more on necessities in 2011, thus the small increase in goals.

So I present to you the beginning of the 2011 $32K Savings Challenge!

I have posted my JANUARY End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals really each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up January in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of January with was.......$2,293.97.

Income
We had $2206.37 left over of DH's salary after our expenses were deducted. Before you decide that we are idle rich folks here, remember that we have NO mortgage or car payment, having paid off both of those debts.  Oh, yah....and we hardly ever buy "things".   I will say that Hubs has a very generous paycheck. ;-)
Add in $87.60 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and you have a deposit of $2293.97 toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal so we didn't meet our 2nd monthly goal in Jan. bleh

Outgo
As for the expenses in January....there were a couple large bills.  The credit card bill(which is paid off each month)was over $1700.  Then the electric bill came in VERY high this month since we lost our off-peak rate discount at the end of 2010.  There was also a smaller payment, the garbage bill which is paid quarterly due in Jan.

The good news in January is that the cable bill did Not go up as it usually does each Jan. and we were able to reduce our cash withdrawals by about $300.  Hubs spending other than gasoline purchases, is mostly through cash bank withdrawals and he does NOT keep/give me receipts.  He is my Wild Card in trying to keep spending down and staying on a tight budget.  It drives me nuts but there is little I can do about it other than give him the stink eye.... ;-)

The Food Budget costs for January are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in January was a smallish disaster....ugh!

What's ahead for February.....
Looking back at last year's check register, I see we are bound to have another whopper of an electric bill this month and we have the semi-annual Car Insurance bill due.
Bleh.
I know our rates aren't as high as many areas of the country, given we have 3 cars on the road at present and 2 teenage drivers on the policy(one of them is also male which is even worse!lol), but it's still a LOT of money to shell out and I write that check under great duress! 8-P

On the bright side, I am going to try to keep a closer eye on Hubs cash withdrawals and question expenditures he makes more and I am hoping to SLASH the food spending budget in February by half.
Just call me crazy now and get it out of the way.....


YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
Being the 1st month of the year, our Savings total to-date is $2,293.97.

And if you need to start putting money into savings......What's that you say?  You don't have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!!??....consider playing along in 2011 with me and Challenging Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!
Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your January financially?  Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.   Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out?    Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy