June Financial Stuff

It's the middle of June already....how did THAT happen?
Didn't I just get back from Louisiana?....no, it's been 2 WEEKS now.

June Income Update--

It's the 15th and I've paid all the bills that have come in this month so far....phone, internet, water, gas card, c/c.
That would just leave the long distance charge on the landline and the electric bill.

Hubs will continue to withdrawal cash for his personal spending this month.

4 days until the electric bill cuts and we are on track to owe $130 figuring our average usage per day so far. 

I had hoped for a lower than last month's electricity usage but College Boy is home and there a bit of unnecessary dryer usage now.
*ahem ahem*
I yell, cajole, demand, plead but nothing helps me get to this kid.  The only way I am going to get him to stop is to disconnect the dryer.

He is also an energy hog about the a/c.  We have a window unit for his room but I hold off putting it in the window as long as I can since he only knows one setting, HIGH.  I have honest to goodness walked into that room sometimes and left with an icicle forming on the tip of my nose.
He also leaves the a/c on when he goes to work or out for the night.  Shut the blasted thing off when you aren't in there for extended periods of time how about it!?!?!

The long distance is always about $7.50 per month so that's easily penciled into the spending chart.

We have one non-regular bills this month due to replacing the exhaust system in the CB's car.
$441.61

Savings Challenge--

Between that(and possibly another repair on Hubs new car this month-it's in the shop as I type)and a high c/c bill from our trip, the potential leftovers from this month's income that can go into my Savings Challenge for June aren't looking like much.

Looking at the last 2 year's of bills...June 2014 savings was over $2K but June 2013 was barely $800.  It's probably going to be a lot closer to that $800 year for June 2015.
Hey, as long as we don't go into the hole for June I am ok with it.  8-)

Medical Spending Update--

I just paid off the last of the medical bills before the high deductible kicked in for 2015 with the HSA funds.  We've got almost $1K left in there with still more cataract charges/surgery, a semi-annual OV, blood work for said OV, and possible charges/co-pays incurred for Hubs medical problem. 
Hopefully, once the other eye is done and Hubs problem is looked into, we are good to go with just normal rx refills for the rest of the year(plus 1 more semi-annual check-up for me)and can build a bit of a cushion in the HSA to help cover the high deductible charges that begin again Jan.2016.
We've got about $2,600 left to put into the HSA account this year so I am hoping we'll have close to $2K left in there Jan. 1st.  This doesn't take into account any other illnesses/drugs/tests/etc. needed for the rest of the year however so I am not counting on the HSA being that robust by Jan. 2016.

What's Ahead for 2015--

I'll be interested to see where we stand financially at the halfway point of 2015 at the end of this month.

As for non-regular bills coming up---July is college charges(but that's put aside already in it's own account and doesn't come out of the current income), August is house insurance, September is taxes(local, municipal) and November is car insurance.
Have to make sure we keep a cushion in the checking account in September for taxes as the other 2 bills we can handle readily.

By the end of June(beginning of July) we should be hitting that spot in the yearly income when the withholding goes down(thank you progressive taxing!)and what Hubs takes home in pay increases.  In 2014 that meant an addition $433 per 2-week pay period for 13 paychecks or $5K+ more for the end of the year in take-home pay.  If I can hold the budget/spending to current levels that might mean, since we have no debt, an extra $5K+ to potentially put into the Savings Challenge.
Or maybe I'll do something wild like fly to Europe and take a Viking River Cruise with that money.

Hey!
It could happen....lol

While lots of stuff is up in the air, things are looking good here at Chez Sluggy with the money. 8-)))

Sluggy
 

$60K Savings Challenge OCTOBER Totals.....Amazing Progress!

I have posted my OCTOBER End of Month 60K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right(near the bottom) for the specific numbers.


Reversely, as badly as September's numbers were, October's totals are amazingly incredible!


Unlike September, I have to report that we finished up October in the Black.

The amount we ended the month of September with was......sit down for this......$4,099.02!
Woot!


The electric bill went up $7+ from Sept.'s bill.  Not bad considering that the heat went on(now & again) halfway into the month.

The water bill saw a decrease of $10+.   Don't know what's up with that but I'll take it!lol
All other regular bills...Cable, Internet, Phone, etc. are the same each month.

The Food Budget costs for October are in another post, which is located HERE.  Food/Toiletries spending in October was my lowest monthly total for the year, once you figure in the flea market money I earmarked for Food/Toiletries Budget and the rebates that arrived.
With Thanksgiving fast approaching and Christmas shortly after it, plus a pretty good Catalina Deal at Acme and Weis this week, I hold no grand illusions of staying out of the grocery stores this month.lolol
Face it, I am a Catalina Deal 'ho. ;-)
If things go as planned(and they never do in my world), I will come out of this week with mega Food Bank donation material....and a detailed blog post to follow.   This shopping trip(s) will take a piece of my food budget however since the coupon coverage on the deals is spotty, so I'll be using some $$ to get it rolling and there will be costs on each transaction, albeit small.  But the end result will be so worth the cash spent. 8-))

So, what did I do right in October to come out of it with over $4K extra?

Firstly, I spent more in September because I paid some bills quarterly, so garbage and sewage are done for the year.  No October payments on those...$200 saved for the month.

Secondly, we stayed out of restaurants and I didn't do as much running around in the car, saving gas and shopping expenditures.  That was reflected in the low credit card bill in October.  We also didn't have any large charges on the cc bill.  The cc bill(which is paid off every month-NO BALANCE)went from $2333+ in September to $845.49 in October.  That's a BIG difference!  About a third of that $845 was for a bed for my son who outgrew his old bed.  Savings difference from last month of $1488.

Thirdly, we had no local/state/school taxes due in October, like the $1800+ we paid in September.
We did have some non-regular monthly bills, like a $160.80 car repair and a $72 vet bill but nothing big enough to put much of a dent into the savings for the month.

Fourthly, Hubby tried very hard and was able to keep his Cash withdrawals lower in October.  I guess he read my September rundown.lol  He's been taking his lunch to work more and not spending so much on incidentals and impulse purchases.  I am so proud of him! 8-))

Even though saving a dollar here, a dollar there may not seem like it helps you save any substantial amount of cash, in the long run, when you add those pennies and dimes up, they turn into dollars...and when the dollars start piling up, it can turn into a HEAP of $$!

We are Ten Months into this $AVING$ Challenge, and we have a Savings Total of $18,571.08 for the year.

What's ahead for November....

I keep handy my previous year's check register.
Why?
Because by referring to what checks were written last year in November, it gives me an idea of what expenses we will be seeing this November.  I see that there are no large recurring quarterly/yearly charges coming due this month, so if we can keep the current spending/bills low & no unexpected bills pop up, I see the potential for another good savings month.

The variable expenses need to be monitored carefully though....the cash withdrawals,  the food spending,  and the credit card usage.  We are under $500 on the cc bill with only 6 days until the statement closes for 'our' month(which runs from the 10thish to the 10thish), so that expense should be low.  The food spending(with my dealaholic tendencies)is my Achilles heel here.

Besides hubby's paychecks, I'm jumping back into eBay this month, and I am waiting on over $300 in rebate checks and expect at least $250 worth of them to arrive this month, so we have a good potential on the income side.

Income up, expenses down....it's looking promising.  Cross your fingers we can all get through November financially advantageously!  December will be a whole other hedonistic holiday ballgame....

Be sure and check out how others are doing with their finances this month at Money Saving Mom.

So how was your October 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!

And what are your plans for your money in November? 


Sluggy