$20K Savings Challenge....FEBRUARY Update

In our family we save money.
It is important to us to put money aside for "rainy days".  You know.....those unexpected days when things happen in your life that you can't plan on, but that DO happen and they cost you money you didn't know you'd need to pay out.

Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.
Once the automatic savings, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision payments are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge. 

For 2013 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am going to keep the Goal amount at $20,000 again this year.

On to the February report.....

I have posted my FEBRUARY End of Month $20K $AVING$ 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 $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up February in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of January with?.......$1,375.97

Income
We had $1267.88 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted. 

Add in a per diem check for mileage for some business traveling, some bank interest and some rebate checks, and we get another $108.09.  This brought our gain to $1,375.97 for February.

*Hubs did get a Bonus for the year in Feb.  I don't count that because this money is earmarked to go right into the College Account for the kids' educational expenses.  Yes, we could have gone and blown that money on a very nice trip, a new car, a full bathroom and kitchen remodel, or many other ways.

But since we are out of debt, have no mortgage and fund our retirement account, we feel it's better spent on funding the college costs.  We have taken yearly bonuses for many years and tucked them aside for college money for the kids.  With what we have now, we are just about $10K short of having enough to fully pay the last kid to go to college(a state school).  If next year Hubs receive 1 more bonus, even a small one, we will have finished funding college the year BEFORE the last kid here needs to enroll.  I never thought all those years ago we'd be able to have the money ready and waiting BEFORE the last one got to college!  That gives me greater satisfaction than any new car smell ever could. ;-)

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The credit card bill was $385 lower.

* The "cash" withdrawals were $100 lower.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill(which includes heating)went up by $99.  Feb. is our most expensive month for electric.

*  The semi-annual car insurance bill was due this month.

*  The dental bills were high due to my tooth problem and a dentist bill I paid for Hubs work in Dec.

The Food Budget costs for FEBRUARY are in another post, which is located HERE

We managed to stay within our $400 food budget in February.

The 2013 TOTAL so far.....
With 2 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 stands at $4,137.03.

We just missed our $1,666.67 target goal for the month, but not by much.  Considering the high electric bill every Feb. and the car insurance and unexpected dental bills, I'd call Feb. a WIN for us on the money front.

Looking ahead for March......
 

*  We have the Municipal taxes due this month.

*  The electric bill should start going down this month(thankfully!).

*  I'll pay the yearly sewage bill in one lump payment instead of quarterly.  It will save us about $10 a month this way and I have the cash aside for it so why not? ;-)

*  Medical bills will be a little higher since we are working on paying the deductibles to our limit, so the co-pays aren't kicking in yet til we get those paid off.
*  I was looking at the credit card bill to be about half of what it was in February until Hubs tv died last weekend.  There went $400 on the credit card and the bill is hovering at $900 now between that purchase, the $50 I spent on new nightgowns for myself and $100 of spending for #2 Son's birthday last month.

Between all this and cash withdrawals Hubs makes, we'll be lucky to hit $1,666.67 in savings after all is paid in March.

So how was your February financially?

Are you still paying off debt from last Christmas you put on credit?
Did you spend less than the income you made in February?
Did you received any "extra" or unexpected money in February and what did you do with it?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debt or put extra toward your mortgage principle?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!

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