Year Three in Retirement.....An Update

 Has it been three Years already since Hubs retired?

And I haven't killed him yet?! lolz

Here are where the finances stand compared to when he retired July 31st 2017.  First the bad news.....

* The RMSA Account has $59,206.06 less in it than when he retired.  This is the monies his company set aside to pay for medical insurance premiums until he/we reach Medicare age(65).  As you know medical insurance(good medical insurance that actually pays for anything)is expensive.

In 2017 our monthly premiums were $1,771.94.

In 2018 our monthly premiums were $1,814.38

In 2019 our monthly premiums were $ 1,848.67

In 2020 our monthly premiums were $1,883.76.

Even after a "decent"(hahaha)interest rate paid on this account's balance we have approximately 25 months worth of premiums left(depending of course on how much rates go up each year).  The RMSA money is slated to be depleted by September 2022.  That leaves 7 months of premiums to pay OOP for Hubs until he hits Medicare and 16 months of premiums to pay OOP for me until I hit that magic age of 65.  rah.  Premiums to cover just me that last 9 months should be a bit lower than the premiums that will cover both of us the first 7 months before Hubs hits 65.  

After the RMSA funds are gone we will be eligible for ACA plans with subsidies.  Not sure how I feel about the coverage those plans provide but it will be what it will be.  If we don't qualify for subsidies for insurance coverage(I doubt our income will be too high to qualify but who knows if there will even be subsidies then!)then we will pay what we have to pay.  It's important to have so we'll work it into the budget.

*  The HSA Account, which we have been tapping the last three years for drug and visit co-pays has $1,476.16 more in it than the balance when he retired three years ago.  Before you say, "you go girl!" about that, this amount is after we pumped $6,600 into it at the end of 2019 from our 401K(for the tax benefit partly)so really it's down $5,123.84 from July 2017.

And now for the good news......

*  The 401K has $42,901.79 more in it than it had in July 2017.  And that's with having withdrawn $18K during 2018 and $12K in early 2020($30K total withdrawn in 3 years).  Hubs had planned on withdrawing $36K per year but we just didn't need that much with our frugal lifestyle.  The $42K+ growth is due to interest earned(and stock gains) on all that money.  I loves me some compounding interest!! ;-)

*  Our other non-401K savings are $57,627.84 more than we had in July 2017.  Mostly that's Hubs' last paycheck in 2017, CD interest, Savings Bonds matured and cashed out, plus a few small tax refunds and a bit of income in the form of eBay sales and blogging revenue.  This non-401K savings will be taking a small hit soon as we are paying off Ex-CB's small student loan shortly.  We gifted the other 2 kids a hunk of money in the last few years(Daughter used hers to help pay to go back to college and Eldest used his to pay off his car)and now that Ex-CB has proved he is financially responsible he'll be getting his gift too and the Bank of Mom and Dad is officially closing it's doors. ;-)

Comparing each of the last three "years" figures.....

Total Income
2017-2018  $60,979.52    
2018-2019  $52,946.63
2019-2020  $57,728.43($6,600 of this is in the HSA)

Total Bills Paid
2017-2018  $37,799.73     
2018-2019  $49,189.94
2019-2020  $45,504.12

Leftover Funds
2017-2018  $23,179.79   
2018-2019   $3,756.69
2019-2020  $12,224.31($6,600 of this is in the HSA)

Three years into Retirement and financially things are looking pretty good.
I am off now to go work on organizing stuff and do some sewing after lunch.  Then a few more episodes of "Weeds" tonight.

Sluggy

Two Great Minds I Know....Both Frugal in Their Own Way

I want to talk about 2 fellow bloggers today.

Annie Jones did THIS POST yesterday on her blog.
I have to say that I think she is my Cosmic Twin.
Why?
Because here is a shot of what's above my sink......

Yep, I've got a sink clothesline too!lol
Great minds DO think alike!

At the moment we have no ziploc bags on it.....
Notice that it's also a barbecue tool holder(you can't see the meat fork and long handled spatula in the shadows on the left)and restaurant grade tongs holder.
Hubs put this up about a year ago?...I think.  The old bag drying workaround was hanging them by a bottom corner from the closed cabinet doors upsidedown.  Sometimes that worked and sometimes they fell into the very wet draining mat.

In other news.....

Lookit what showed up in my mailbox yesterday!

A $20 check from Toluna.
My first $20 check from them.
It only took me how many months?......4 or 5 months to get this?
And the only reason I got it this quickly is because half the surveys I didn't get dropped out of before completing them where ones they wanted my teenage son to answer.  So I guess I should give half of this money to him, right?
IF I tell him it came.
Ssssshhhhh.....you didn't hear anything about this from me!

I doubt I'll ever get as prolific as SonyaAnn with Toluna.  She's up to $200 or something for this year so far! 
She's my Toluna Idol.

Sluggy

JULY Budget Results....Food and Toiletries Spending

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JULY 2010.

I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in July.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom information.

These Totals include Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(between 5 & 2 at home this month) & 3 dogs. No kids under 14.

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP $16.00
Value $62.94
Savings  74.58%

BIG LOTS
OOP $31.04
Value $52.66
Savings  41.06%

CARONE'S(small local independent store)
OOP $61.25
Qs/Ads $37.81
Value $99.06
Savings  38.17%

FAMILY DOLLAR
OOP $21.19
Qs/Ads $11.19
Value $32.38
Savings  34.84%

FARM MARKET

OOP  $12.55
Value  $21.89(compared to same items' prices at grocery store)
Savings  42.64%

PRICE CHOPPER

OOP  $6.95
Qs/Ads $16.93
Value  $23.88
Savings  70.90%

RITE AID
OOP $23.51 (whole amount put on Rite-Aid Gift Cards)=$.00 actual OOP
Qs/Ads $412.55
Value $436.06
Savings 94.41% before gift cards/ 100% savings after gift cards

WALMART("that" store)
OOP $8.96
Qs/Ads $5.00
Value $13.96
Savings  35.82%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store that doesn't take IP Qs in my town)
OOP $126.39
Qs/Ads $127.74
Value $254.13
Savings  50.26%

I don't track CVS's ECBs & Walgreen's RRs. They will be included when used on purchases under "Coupons".   I'll keep track of what rebates are received monthly.  Rebate money/gift cards will be considered 'income' & will go into the Food/Toiletries budget, offsetting the Out of Pocket. Cash will go immediately into the Budget kitty, while Gift Cards will be calculated in when spent.

REBATE CHECKS RECV'D. IN JULY

Kraft(2 different rebates)...$30.00
Pinecone Research....$6.00
Rite-Aid SCR....$58.98
Subtotal........$94.98

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
MyBlogSpark Cheerios Giveaway $25 Visa Gift Card
Rite-Aid $35 in Gift Cards($25+$5 bonus Skin Care & $5?-can't remember for what)
Rite-Aid RX Transfer $25 Gift Card

Subtotal....$85.00

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received..$179.98

FREE ITEMS

Vocalpoint Crystal Lite Samples
DiGiorgno Pizza
Huggies Diapers Pack

COUPONS

$2/1 Bounty Towels
$2/1 Crystal Light (multiple)

My best 3 Store Savings Totals were from Rite-Aid at 100%, Bakery Outlet at 74.58% and Price Chopper at 70.90%.

TOTAL Out of Pocket...............................$294.04
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$724,25
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.............$1018.29
TOTAL Savings of..........71.13%

TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$94.98
TOTAL OOP After  Rebates....................$199.06
TOTAL Savings of..................................80.45%

This closes out the July spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month-
I stayed under my $200 budgeted amount for JULY by .94¢! after rebates were applied.  It was an expensive month as I bought alot of meat in July for stocking up purposes.

What's ahead for August 2010.....

I am setting the August 2010 Food/Toiletries Budget at $300.
Why?
Because we have 4 at home now and all 5 family members by the latter part of the month.
Because there may be a family picnic lurking at the end of the month which will add to the food expenses.
Because I plan on packing the freezer with farm bought bulk buys of some veggies for the winter and this month is when things will be ready for harvesting and purchasing.

As always, any rebates received this month will be added to the food budget spending.  I have few outstanding rebates at the moment so there will be little extra cash to cover food expenses in this way for August.

With half of the year behind us, we have averaged $170.35 per MONTH after rebates on food/toiletries spending for 2010 for a family of 4-5 adults/teens.

How did you do in July with your Food Budget?  Leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear!  By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.

Sluggy

$60K Savings Challenge AUGUST Totals.....Expensive Month but at least it's not Negative

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

I am once again able to say that we finished up August barely in THE BLACK.
The amount put into Savings for August was $789.25.

The MasterCard bill(which is paid off each month-NO BALANCE EVER!)was just under $2K this month. We had some big unusual purchases like a new stove, hotel bills again, gas purchases for trips and other costs associated with summer fun.

We had a bit of rolled coins as usual, but I am still sitting out on eBay.  I miss the cash coming in from that source but I dread jumping back in and dealing with all the problems selling there brings.

On the recurring utilities front, we saw an increase of $2.46 in the electric bill from July. A negligible amount as we haven't run the A/C hardly at all in August, just like we didn't run it in July.

The water bill saw a dramatic decrease! We went from $97.24 in July to $38.87 in August!  I guess patching that hole in the pool and not having to run water constantly into the pool was the reason.  I hope hubby can resolve future pool issues quickly next year so we don't WASTE all that money on unnecessary water.  It's just so wrong.....

The Food Budget costs for August are in another post, which is located Here.  Food/Toiletries spending in August was my lowest monthly total for the year.  I'm hoping to stay out of the stores more this month and have set a September Food Budget of $250.

With #1 son going off to college(college textbooks & a laptop computer), more summer fun expenses(like entrance fees to various experiences), replacing a vehicle's windshield, other school(graphing calculator for daughter, back-to-school clothing expenses for 2 kids) & marching band expenses, August turned into an expensive month.  I was hoping for at least a $1K savings for the month.
Didn't quite happen.

But considering that we just paid over $6 THOUSAND DOLLARS in CASH for #1 son's 1st Semester of College, I don't feel so bad about only saving $789.25.

Let me repeat that.....
We paid for #1 son's 1st Semester of College in CASH.
Yes, I AM boasting here!  8-))
Hubby & I have worked darn hard to save all that money and have gotten to a place in our financial lives where we can pay CASH for college.
No payment plans.
No loans.
C-A-S-H.

We started our married lives with me as a waitress heading back to graduate school and him in his 2nd yr. studying for his Masters.
We were pretty broke like most regular people who are just starting off in life.
On our 1st Anniversary, with his degree in hand, we embarked on life with no jobs and about 15 thousand in Student Loan debt.  That was 1983.  15 Thousand in Student Loans was ALOT in 1983 dollars.

Yes, we did live with family briefly at two points in our marriage when we were just starting out but we bought our first house WITHOUT large sums of money given to us from family.  We were very proud that we waited until we could afford the home to buy it.  We did have a mortgage however.
After buying that house, we made paying off the student loans the priority and paid them in full in 2 years.
14 years after buying our 1st home, we bought our 2nd home.  At that point we were able to put a rather large down payment on that home and carried TWO Mortgages for almost a year until the 1st home sold.  I don't recommend buying another house BEFORE you sell the old one.lol  The point is, because of buying a modest house the 1st time and living frugally, we were financially able to put a large downpayment on house #2 AND carry that extra mortgage WITHOUT too much difficulty.
Then we paid off the 2nd house fully in 6 years and have remainded Totally Debt-Free since 2006.

We celebrated our 27th wedding Anniversary last week.  We have worked 27 yrs. living frugally to get to the level of financial freedom where we are now.
The moral of my story is if we can do it, you can to!
It takes time but you have to just keep going.....even when you stumble and don't keep with your budget one month, just pick yourself up and try again next month.


We are Eight Months into this $AVING$ Challenge, and we have a Savings Total of $15,635.41 for the year.


What's ahead for September....
Less food spending.
Trying to track small outlays of cash better.  These add up to big outlays over time.
No travel this month so no unusual hotels, gas, food expenses.
No big ticket purchases foreseen this month and no items to buy for the kids.

I'd love to stash away $2K this month.  It should be do-able unless something comes up.

Be sure and check out how others are doing with their finances this month at MONEY SAVING MOM.

Sluggy