Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals, 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.
Two changes we implemented for 2019 at our financial meeting in Jan.--
* Hubs wants to take $150 per person WAM(aka Walking Around Money)in 2019. I found last year's $100 per month adequate but Hubs chafed at that little so we are upping it this year to $150 per person per month.
*As for our 2018 Slush Fund, this is how we are going to handle it in 2019......
We won't be taking a quarterly 401K withdrawal in 2019 until we "need" to, instead of taking one each quarter as we had planned back in 2017 when Hubs retired. Why pull 401K monies out when they are earning more than our other regular bank funds? Use those instead for now!
Since the Slush Fund ended 2018 with $23,164.17 in it and the Sinking Fund ended 2018 with $468.37 in it, we are, for now at least, not taking any more 401K withdrawals and using what is in the Sinking Fund and/or Slush Fund to cover all irregular bills that come up in 2019 plus a few projects around the house.
I have set up a page to track the Slush Fund. Click on the tab marked "Slush Fund 2018-2019" at the top of the blog.
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 September report---
I had 2 goals for Septmber.......
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 fun may be to apply 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 2019.
I can report that we finished up September in the black.
The amount we ended the month of September with?.....$2,246.26
Income or Funds We Can Access
The "income" in September---
* Monthly annuity payment of $3222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1848.67
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $618.74
* Two dividend checks totaling $109.27
Total "Income" for September.....$5,798.92
Expenses in September---
* Healthcare Premium for September was $1,848.67(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in September came to $1703.99
Total Expenses....$3,552.66
$5,798.74-$3,552.66=$2,246.26
Slush into September $17,998.65+ $2,246.26 addition=$20,244.91
This would be great news except..........
We also had more expenses we planned to be paid out of the Slush Fund instead of regular "income" in September--The Annual School taxes(half of our yearly property taxes in PA), the two new mattresses and adjustable bed frame from Wayfair, and our Long Term Care quarterly premiums. These four bills came to $4,030.51 and were taken out of the Slush Fund.
$20,244.91 after overage of "income" applied-$4030.51=$16,214.40 in the Slush Fund going into October.
So the Slush Fund went down by $1,784.25 after all income overage added and then $4030.51 in extra bills were subtracted from it.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a reduction of $1,784.25 for September.
Outgo
The Sinking Fund goes into October 2019 standing at $468.37 since nothing was paid out of it in September.
FINAL THOUGHTS on September----
Though we had a couple thousand bucks in income overage last month, we also had four large of "out of the ordinary" expenses in September(all 4 planned)which gave a "hit" to the Slush Fund.
It's all good though as the Slush Fund is for using for these extras and irregular bills.
THOUGHTS going forward into October 2019----
We have no irregular bills due this month.
Hopefully the electric will be low due to not needing much heat yet(but I won't be home and Hubs will jack the heat up too high I can guarantee that! lolz).
The credit card bill will be higher again in October.....there will be trip charges--motel stay, extra gas, food out, etc
But no worries here on going over the "income". We have over $16K in overage left from last year when we were withdrawing from the 401K so we just use that overage to absorb extra costs until that is gone and then we'll sit down and re-evaluate the spending, probably at the end of 2019 if any monies are left in the Slush Fund by then.
Two changes we implemented for 2019 at our financial meeting in Jan.--
* Hubs wants to take $150 per person WAM(aka Walking Around Money)in 2019. I found last year's $100 per month adequate but Hubs chafed at that little so we are upping it this year to $150 per person per month.
*As for our 2018 Slush Fund, this is how we are going to handle it in 2019......
We won't be taking a quarterly 401K withdrawal in 2019 until we "need" to, instead of taking one each quarter as we had planned back in 2017 when Hubs retired. Why pull 401K monies out when they are earning more than our other regular bank funds? Use those instead for now!
Since the Slush Fund ended 2018 with $23,164.17 in it and the Sinking Fund ended 2018 with $468.37 in it, we are, for now at least, not taking any more 401K withdrawals and using what is in the Sinking Fund and/or Slush Fund to cover all irregular bills that come up in 2019 plus a few projects around the house.
I have set up a page to track the Slush Fund. Click on the tab marked "Slush Fund 2018-2019" at the top of the blog.
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 September report---
I had 2 goals for Septmber.......
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 fun may be to apply 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 2019.
I can report that we finished up September in the black.
The amount we ended the month of September with?.....$2,246.26
Income or Funds We Can Access
The "income" in September---
* Monthly annuity payment of $3222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1848.67
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $618.74
* Two dividend checks totaling $109.27
Total "Income" for September.....$5,798.92
Expenses in September---
* Healthcare Premium for September was $1,848.67(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in September came to $1703.99
Total Expenses....$3,552.66
$5,798.74-$3,552.66=$2,246.26
Slush into September $17,998.65+ $2,246.26 addition=$20,244.91
This would be great news except..........
We also had more expenses we planned to be paid out of the Slush Fund instead of regular "income" in September--The Annual School taxes(half of our yearly property taxes in PA), the two new mattresses and adjustable bed frame from Wayfair, and our Long Term Care quarterly premiums. These four bills came to $4,030.51 and were taken out of the Slush Fund.
$20,244.91 after overage of "income" applied-$4030.51=$16,214.40 in the Slush Fund going into October.
So the Slush Fund went down by $1,784.25 after all income overage added and then $4030.51 in extra bills were subtracted from it.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a reduction of $1,784.25 for September.
Outgo
As for the variable expenses this September, here are the good and the bad side of things....
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month.(Within $2 or so).
* The electric bill was $15.02 lower than last month.
* The c/c bill was $1,381.267 lower than in August.
* The gas card bill was $101.61 lower than last month.
* The health insurance premium was the same as in August.
* The electric bill was $15.02 lower than last month.
* The c/c bill was $1,381.267 lower than in August.
* The gas card bill was $101.61 lower than last month.
* The health insurance premium was the same as in August.
HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The water bill was $4.59 higher than last month.
* The WAM was $39.50 higher than in August(to cover cash taken for farm produce and a vet charge Hubs covered with his WAM).
* The Chase/Amazon c/c was $25.84 higher than last month's bill.
* I had a $23.71 Kohl's charge bill.
* Hubs had a $12.15 Discover card bill.
* There was $87.50 in vet charges(a year's worth of heartworm meds, and a test).
* The water bill was $4.59 higher than last month.
* The WAM was $39.50 higher than in August(to cover cash taken for farm produce and a vet charge Hubs covered with his WAM).
* The Chase/Amazon c/c was $25.84 higher than last month's bill.
* I had a $23.71 Kohl's charge bill.
* Hubs had a $12.15 Discover card bill.
* There was $87.50 in vet charges(a year's worth of heartworm meds, and a test).
The Food Budget costs for September are in another post, which is located HERE. Food costs are included in the credit card payment(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).
The Sinking Fund goes into October 2019 standing at $468.37 since nothing was paid out of it in September.
FINAL THOUGHTS on September----
Though we had a couple thousand bucks in income overage last month, we also had four large of "out of the ordinary" expenses in September(all 4 planned)which gave a "hit" to the Slush Fund.
It's all good though as the Slush Fund is for using for these extras and irregular bills.
THOUGHTS going forward into October 2019----
We have no irregular bills due this month.
Hopefully the electric will be low due to not needing much heat yet(but I won't be home and Hubs will jack the heat up too high I can guarantee that! lolz).
The credit card bill will be higher again in October.....there will be trip charges--motel stay, extra gas, food out, etc
But no worries here on going over the "income". We have over $16K in overage left from last year when we were withdrawing from the 401K so we just use that overage to absorb extra costs until that is gone and then we'll sit down and re-evaluate the spending, probably at the end of 2019 if any monies are left in the Slush Fund by then.
So how was your September 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 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 it on a want?
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 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 it 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
Sluggy
