Income & Spending Report 2022........the January Report

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals(some months), 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.

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 January report---

I had 2 goals for January.......
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 2021.

I can report that we finished up January in the black.
The amount we ended the month of January with?....$1,590.18

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in January---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,229.07(after tax withholding)
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $204.10

* 1/3 of Quarterly 401K withdrawal of $2,051.69

* RMSA account to pay for health premiums totaling $2,226.13(yeah, they went up again!)

Total "Income" for January.....$7,710.99

Expenses in January---

* Irregular bills in January were $425.40

* Variable Expenses in January came to $5,695.41

Total Expenses....$6,120.81

$7,710.99-$6,120.81=$1,590.18

Slush into January of $37,456.18 in that Fund, add $1590.18 and we get $39,046.36 going into February 2022's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $1,590.18

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The WAM was $150 lower than was taken last month.

*  The Amazon c/c was $309.79 less than in December.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The internet bill went up by $3 per month this year.

*  The water bill went up $6.65 in January.

*  The electric bill was $77.07 higher than in December.(Winter, huh!)

*  The gas bill was up $38.54 from last month.

*  The cell phone bill is now $53.60 per month more(until this new phone is paid off).

*  The M/C bill was up $614.70 from December's bill.

*  We had Two Irregular bills in January-

  *  We paid the annual garbage bill in January.

  *  I had a dentist bill of $95.40 this month.

The Food Budget costs for January are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food costs are included in the credit card payment(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).

FINAL THOUGHTS on January 2022---Well we knew the cell bill, the internet costs and the healthcare premiums would be higher in 2022.  Internet was three whole dollars higher so no biggie.

We sat down and talked money after which we have decided to take quarterly regular draws from the 401K of $6K per quarter this year.  Between the real estate taxes in March, the school taxes coming up in September and paying for the Wedding rehearsal that's a lot of big irregular bills coming down the pike, two of which get paid with the firsst quarters withdrawal.  Things should loosen up financial once we get past March.

The RMSA which covers the healthcare premiums will run out mid-May but that's a whole other issue I'm not addressing today.

 

THOUGHTS going forward into February 2022---The wedding is a little over a week away.  Pray that there are no blizzards here in the Mid-Atlantic the weekend after Super Bowl!  Other than bleeding money for this wedding we will be all good financially until March.

So how was your January financially? 

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

Income & Spending Report.....March 2018

Now that we are living on an annuity(like a pension) and 401K$ withdrawals(retirement savings), 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.
But this money leftover at the end of each month, at least for now(as we find our new financial "normal")won't be saved toward a yearly Savings Challenge.

The issue now is to cover all the bills with these two sources of income and not have to dip into the regular savings(that I built over the last 10 years)to pay our month to month expenses.

Since I got another nasty anonymous comment and another comment about how my accounting sucks and about how I am misleading people since I refer to the overage I carry over from month to month as "income"(and no, I don't believe anybody thinks this is true income but I do have to account for it, don't I?)I will handle it differently going forward.

And no, I am not trying to fool myself or anyone else with my monthly spending reports.   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 March 2018 report--

I had 2 goals for March......
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 2018.

I have to report that we finished up March in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of March with?.......$1,778.19

Income

The income in March---
* Monthly annuity payment of $3173.13(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1813.48
* One third of 401K withdrawal balance for Feb. of $851.11 ##
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $311.79
* Stock dividends of $98.07

Total Income for March......$6,247.58

## The balance of the 401K withdrawal($2553.31)got divided by 3 and gives us $851.10 in January to add to the income for the month(Feb. and Mar. will also get $851.10/$851.11 respectively)for general expenses.


Expenses in March---
* Healthcare Premium for March was $1813.48.
* Variable Expenses in March came to $2655.91.

Total Expenses for March......$4,469.39

$6,247.58-$4,469.39=$1,778.19 overage for March.

* Two Irregular expenses were due and paid-the Real Estate taxes and an Annual Sewage bill totaling $1802.53.  These were paid out of the Sinking Fund which was $2858.76.  SF fund remaining carries over into April in the amount of $1056.23 and there will be a deposit into it in April as well when we take the 2nd quarter 401K withdrawal.

The monthly overage will now be referred to as our "Slush Fund".  I call it that above in my 2 goals I try to reach each month.
Think of it as a Short Term Savings we can draw on if our bills are high in any given month and the Annuity/401K draw/Interest/Dividends/Other Side Hustle Monies don't cover all the bills.

We went into March with $6422.92 in the Slush Fund.
Add in March's overage of $1,778.19 to the Slush Fund and it stands at $8,201.11 going into April.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month(Within $1 or so).
*  The water bill was $14.66 lower the February.
*  The electric bill was $27.94 lower than last month.
*  The medical payments were $161.37 lower than in February.
*  The LA house electric bill was $7.91 lower than last month.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in February.

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The gas card charges were $57.62 higher than last month due to Hubs trip to LA.
*  The credit card bill was $236.05 higher than in February.
*  The cash WAM withdrawals was $190 higher than last month due to Hubs trip to LA.
*  The long distance phone bill was $1.80 higher than in February.
*  Annual real estate taxes and sewage bill was due this month.  Thes two irregular bills were paid out of the Sinking Fund account.

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

So we end March in the black with $1778.19 in new general overage so once it goes into the Slush Fund that Fund goes into April standing at $8,201.11. ($6422.92+$1778.19=$8,201.11).
The Sinking Fund goes into April standing at $1,056.23.

FINAL THOUGHTS on March---No big charges I didn't know where coming in March and the "usual suspects" aka the variable bills were pretty low.

What I consider our "income" was the annuity and the partial 401k withdrawal of $851.11, and any interest/dividends/extra side hustle monies, so $4434.10 "income" for March.  The Mar. variable bills(without the Healthcare premium which is covered fully by the RMSA refund)were $2655.91 so we had $1778.19 leftover from "income" when the month was over.  If we can cover the bills(variable and irregular)each month with "income" leftover, this overage( Slush Fund)will continue to grow into the succeeding months.

THOUGHTS going forward into April 2018----This month there are two irregular bills due-our long term care quarterly premiums and these will be paid out of the Sinking Fund balance.  Electric should continue to go down.  The credit card bill will continue to be high(around $1500).  Once we get Hubs eye dr. charges figured out(they insist on him paying when he goes even though the EOBs they submit to our insurance vary a LOT(on the low side)from what they charge him....it is a nightmare!)the month should be a good and ho-hum one for us.  IF this house sale goes through in April all the better!!  And we should come out on the other side of the tax season in the black with a refund so two things to look forward to resolving in our favor in April. 8-))

So how was your March financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in March?
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!

Make this year was the one were you clean up your finances and pay off your debts.
Plan to set something aside if you didn't already or increased what you have banked now for your future self.
Or pay extra on the principle of your mortgage if your house isn't already paid off.

Live below your means and keep some change for a rainy day....because no matter how sunny it is in your life now, dark clouds come along and you'll be glad you have that umbrella to keep you dry.

Sluggy

Income & Spending Report.....December Update

* As Hubs retired effective July 1, I am no longer doing my 2017 Savings Challenge.
We ended that on June 30th.  The goal was $17.5K saved for the half of 2017 that Hubs was working.
We actually saved $21,100.42 all totaled, so $3600.42 over goal!

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$(no 401K$ until October)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.
But this money leftover at the end of each month, at least for now(as we find our new financial "normal")won't be saved toward a yearly Savings Challenge.

The issue now is to cover all the bills with just the annuity payment each month plus some liquid savings(checking account cash)until October.
October is when Hubs turns 59.5 and then we can access the 401K retirement savings.  Until then things will be tight here at Chez Sluggy, so all the leftover monthly cash will get tucked aside to pay irregular bills that will be popping up for the rest of the year.

Got it?
OK, let's move on.

Though nothing will be put toward it the rest of 2017(probably), the 2017 $17.5K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals are still available
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers HERE.

On to the December report--
I had 2 goals for December......
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 apply toward irregular bills that are coming due in subsequent months.

I have to report that we finished up December in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of December with?.......$4754.49

Income

The income in December was the monthly annuity payment,the healthcare account reimbursement and the November overage of $4007.15 that carried over.  I also had interest on non-retirement accounts, 2 small stock dividend checks and grocery rebates which brought us to $7931.52 of total income.  Expenses in December(including funding the Sinking Fund)came to $3177.03.
* We didn't include the portion of the c/c Hubs used to pay for the "rescue mission"in our spending for the month because it wasn't "our" spending on things we benefited from.  That $1443.64 was paid out of savings.  It reduces our savings a bit but I'd rather do it this way than have it come out of our monthly income.*

This brought us to our gain of $4754.49  If you deduct the overage from previous months that carried over into December and the Healthcare payment and reimbursement from the equation, this means we spent $3.09 MORE than what we brought in in December for the annuity payment only and December spending included some Xmas spending.  So far we are doing ok without accessing the 401K account.

Since we have no debt, this December overage will get put aside to apply to the $3K in high deductible insurance payments we will need to pay in January for my prescriptions and Daughter's chronic pain injection.  That should eat up $3K+ of that overage we have been carrying forward each month lately.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month(Within $1 or so).
*  The LA house electric bill was $42.04 lower since we didn't have to have the A/C on there now.
*  The medical payments were $51.92 less than in November
*  The credit card bill was $445.52 lower than last month.  This accounts for only our regular type charges we put on the c/c, not the rescue mission charges.
*  The cash WAM withdrawals were the same as in November.

*  The Sinking Fund carries over at $1016.74 into December.  No irregular bills were due this month so the SF just sat and grew a bit. 8-)

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The water bill was $7.62 higher than in November.
*  The electric bill was $109.84 higher than last month's bill.
*  The gas card charges were $85.09 higher than in November.
*  I had $72.67 due on store cards for Xmas spending due.
*  There was $400 in Christmas and Birthday cash given out to the kids.
*  We had to pay the December health insurance premium of $1771.94.

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

So we end December in the black with $4754.49 to apply to a new year of High Medical Deductible Payments going into 2018.
Plus the Sinking Fund goes into January standing at $1016.74.

FINAL THOUGHTS on December---It was an ok month financially, even with a big fat electric bill(!!!) and Holiday spending.  I separated the "rescue mission" costs put on the credit card($1443.64)and used some savings account funds to pay this off, and not use our regular income for that.  This will take a small chunk out of our net worth going forward into 2018.
We were successful in holding the line on the bills and not accessing the 401K account in 2017.
Yay us!
As the c/c bill came in it made us grateful(and I hope the sister in-law was grateful as well)that we have saved for emergencies in our married life as soon as we had the extra cash to do so.  Nobody likes to think about tomorrow and being old or disabled or unemployable or having disasters that money can help alleviate.  But it does and will happen to everyone.  It's best to take stock of your finances as soon as you can and plan for those dark days that WILL happen.
Don't spend money you don't have on things you don't need.  Pay off your credit cards(If you use them)every month and never carry a balance.  Tuck money aside for emergencies.

THOUGHTS going forward into January 2018----

Electric usage(and thus costs)will rise this month.
Food spending shouldn't be over $400 as I plan to eat down the freezer and not leave the house much.
Most of the usual bills(besides heating-electric)will be about what December's levels were.
Besides seeing some high medical bills due to the deductibles resetting on Jan. 1st, I am planning and hoping for a financially boring January.  As little money as possible going out and as much money as possible coming in or staying put where it is in our accounts.

So how was your December financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in December?
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!

I hope this year was the one were you cleaned up your finances and paid off your debts.
That you planned to set something aside if you didn't already or increased what you banked now for your future self.
Or paid extra on the principle of your mortgage if your house isn't already paid off.

Live below your means and keep some change for a rainy day....because no matter how sunny it is in your life now, dark clouds come along and you'll be glad you have that umbrella to keep you dry.

Sluggy

Income & Spending Report.....October Update

* As Hubs retired effective July 1, I am no longer doing my 2017 Savings Challenge.
We ended that on June 30th.  The goal was $17.5K saved for the half of 2017 that Hubs was working.
We actually saved $21,100.42 all totaled, so $3600.42 over goal!

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$(no 401K$ until October)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.
But this money leftover at the end of each month, at least for now(as we find our new financial "normal")won't be saved toward a yearly Savings Challenge.

The issue now is to cover all the bills with just the annuity payment each month plus some liquid savings(checking account cash)until October.
October is when Hubs turns 59.5 and then we can access the 401K retirement savings.  Until then things will be tight here at Chez Sluggy, so all the leftover monthly cash will get tucked aside to pay irregular bills that will be popping up in August and September.

Got it?
OK, let's move on.

Though nothing will be put toward it the rest of 2017(probably), the 2017 $17.5K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals are still available
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers HERE.

On to the October report--
I had 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 apply toward irregular bills that are coming due in subsequent months.

I have to report that we finished up October in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of October with?.......$3454.25

Income

The income in October was the monthly annuity payment and the September overage of $3145.15(this was mostly a healthcare premium account reimbursement).

Other monies received in October totaled $306.73.  This was interest made on non-retirement accounts.

This brought us to our gain of $3454.25.  If you deduct the overage from previous months that carried over into October, this means we spent $309.10 LESS than what we brought in IN October(annuity and interest earned on non-retirement accounts).

Since we have no debt, this will get put aside to apply to the irregular bills coming due in November(car insurance)and then rolled over into 2018 to pay either $3K HDHP costs or property taxes that are due near the beginning of the year.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month(Within $1 or so).
*  The water bill was $14.16 lower than in September.
*  The gas card bill was $39.55 lower than last month.
*  The electric bill was $18.90 lower than last month's bill.
*  The credit card bill was $277.50 lower in October compared to September.
*  The medical bills were $7.30 lower this month over last month's bills.

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The cash withdrawals were $145.00 higher than in September due to puppy expenses.
*  Long Term Care Premiums were due(quarterly bill).
*  Garbage fee(irregular bill)was paid in October(I try to pay this quarterly as well).
*  We had to pay the October health insurance premium of $1646.04.
*  I paid a store card bill for clothing of $50.35(paid in full).

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

So we end October in the black with $3454.25 to apply to the semi-annual car insurance bill due in November and other irregular bills going into 2018.


FINAL THOUGHTS on October---It was a pretty good month financially.  Most of our regular bills were all a little bit lower than in September(We still had to use a bit of a/c in September.)  But with the turning on of the heat in November the electric bill will be on it's yearly climb into the much higher $$$s.  It's just a fact of living in the Northern part of the country during the Winter.

I started the Sinking Fund in October to help cover those irregular bills that come due throughout the year.  This is giving me a lot of peace of mind knowing I have a little pile of cash growing over to the side to apply to those irregular/quarterly/semi-annual/annual expenses that will come no matter what.
Serenity does indeed have a price.  ;-)

THOUGHTS going forward into November of 2017----

Electric usage(and thus costs)will rise this month, and a few medical co-pays will crop up due to my HS infection and dr. visits.  I also have blood work due so another medical bill(which probably won't come due until December however).  The credit card bill may be a tad higher due to buying a piece of furniture that is needed.
Food spending shouldn't be over $400(even though it's Turkey Day this month).
Most of the usual bills will be about what October's levels were.

So how was your October financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in October?
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!

I hope this year was the one were you cleaned up your finances and paid off your debts.
That you planned to set something aside if you didn't already or increased what you banked now for your future self.
Or paid extra on the principle of your mortgage if your house isn't already paid off.

Live below your means and keep some change for a rainy day....because no matter how sunny it is in your life now, dark clouds come along and you'll be glad you have that umbrella to keep you dry.

Sluggy