Income & Spending for June 2023

**Thanks to whomever pointed out my income numbers were incorrect.  The annuity should be higher before I deduct for the Health Insurance Premium and Hubs Dental coverage(which both come out of the annuity payment).  Math is hard when you have a neurological issue and can hardly write/type, which at the moment I am struggling with.

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals and social security payments, 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 June report---

I had 2 goals for June....
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 2023.

This month I also had a goal to survive the move and have a little fun.  So far, so good.;-)

I can report that we finished up June in the red.

The amount extra we ended the month of June with?...-$5,379.98

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in June---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $3,235.81(after tax withholding)

*  SS income of $3879.00

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $610.21

*  Stock Dividend of $19.11

*  Exchange of Currency $67.10

Total "Income" for June....$7,811.23

Expenses in June---
* Irregular bills in June were $10,032.68

* Variable Expenses in June came to $2,081.45

* Health insurance premiums totaling $1,077.08*

Total Expenses....$13,191.21

$7,811.23-$13,191.21=-$5,379.98

* Now that Hubs is on Medicare I include his dental coverage  in the HI Premium for me and his Medicare supplement comes out of our checking account.

Slush into May of $66,927.64 in that Fund, add the deficit  of $5,370.98 in June and we get $61,547.79 going into June's 2023's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a subtraction of $7,249.21.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The cell phone, WAM, the water bill, Health Insurance Premium and internet were the same as last month.

* My Amazon c/c bill went down $441.13 in May.

*  The Mastercard c/c was $595.50 lower than last month.

*  Hubs Amazon c/c bill went down $350.56 in June,

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Electric bill went up $35.91 from last month.

*  My Amazon c/c bill was$342.99 higher in June.

*  We had a Lowe's c/c bill of $101.28

*  We had irregular bills due in June too--

  *   2 Long Term Care Premiums totaling $784.55

  *  We paid cash for a car port and installation at $1,975.99   

  *  A small bill of $89.20 for needed clothing.

  *  Both dogs had shots for $130.00

  *  We paid $7,853.68 to Ex-College Man so the balance of a gift given to each of our children.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on JUNE 2023--JUNE WA S WHOPPER of a spendy month.  Had we not paid that last child's gift it wouldn't have been so bad.  We budgeted and knew that quarterly LT Care payments would be due and the car port needed to be purchased asap.  When the sun is so near to the earth down here and you have no ''real" garage to park your cars in and a lot without many trees, well OLD SOL can wreak havoc on your car. 8-))  The vet visit was a requirement and I had a little bit to pay on that clothing bill that didn't hit that store c/c last billing cycle.

Going into JUNE I knew we'd be in the red this month.

THOUGHTS going forward into July 2023--Without that child gift the only big bill will be Hubs Amazon bill which has many charges from London on it(tickets to sites, some souvenirs, a bit of food)  The Mastercard is mostly normal stuff on it except that hotel bill for the power outage which will account for 1/3 of the total.  My Amazon c/c will be teeny tiny for a change. lol  But predict a higher energy bill as "hell's front porch" weather has hit here big time!  Not too worried about spending for July unless another emergency trip to PA becomes necessary.

So how was your JUNE financially? 

Did you spend less than the income you had in June?
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 2023........the January Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals and social security payments, 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 2022.

This month I also had a goal to survive the move and have a little fun.  So far, so good.;-)

I can report that we finished up January in the black

The amount we ended the month of January with?...$6,253.85

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in January---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $3,235.81(after tax withholding)

*  SS income of $3879

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $144.96

*  Paypal payment from rebates/coupons of $443.46

*  Ibotta payment from rebates of $552.39

*  PA car insurance refund of $533.76

*  401K quarterly withdraw of $5,200.13

Total "Income" for January....$13,989.51

Expenses in January---
* Irregular bills in January were $1,964.28

* Variable Expenses in January came to $3,500.39

* Health insurance premiums totaling $2,270.99

Total Expenses....$7,735.66

$13,989.51-$7,735.66=$6,253.85

Slush into January of $59,556.21 in that Fund, add overage of $6,253.85 in January and we get $65,810.06 into January's 2023's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a subtraction of $1,962.08

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The cell phone and internet were the same as last month.

*  The water bill was $2.66 lower than in December

*  The electric bill was $9.19 lower than last month.

*  The WAM was $200.00 lower than in December.

*  The Mastercard was $1,487.71 lower than last month.

*  My Amazon c/c was $92.09 lower than in December.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The health insurance premium went up by $44.86 in 2023.

*  Hubs Amazon c/c bill was higher by $119.29 from December's bill.

*  We had irregular bills due in January too--

  *   I paid $1,709.55 on the Norwegian Cruise c/c-I only put cruise charges on this one.  I prepaid out gratuity charges in December for the 2023 cruise before those charges went up among other charges.

  *  Our LA property tax bill for 2022 was due in the amount of $94.11.  

  *  We had to make a first payment for Hubs Medi Gap monthly bill of $94.11.  Those don't kick in every month until he turns 65 in April.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on January 2023---It was a great month financially!  Only the healthcare premium and Hubs Amazon c/c bill were higher among all the bills.  The best is the Homestead Exemption on our Louisiana Property tax bill.  PA had an exemption(it was a whole $40 or so a year)and we were paying right around $5K per year for taxes.  Generally the first $75K value of your property in LA is exempt from taxing if you occupy it.  Plus Hubs turns 65 this year so he can apply for a property tax freeze at whatever the amount we pay in 2023 is for the remainder of our time here.  Sweet!

THOUGHTS going forward into February 2023--

Well we had a large overage amount for January due to that quarterly 401K withdrawal.  But all of it will be applied to the next cruise which I paid off in February.  Not going anywhere this month(except to medical and dental appointments)so the bills should be stable at January's level.  The only exception is having to purchase stuff for the house(like bookshelves, a bed frame, curtains, etc.)  I may have to break down and replace items we can't find from the move that are still missing(lids for the cookware, my food processor and my pasta machine).  I wouldn't hate anyone who wanted to send me gift cards to replace those items. hehehe

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 2022......the July Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals and social security payments, 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 July report---

I had 2 goals for July.......
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 2022.

I can report that we finished up July in the Black.

The amount we ended the month of July with?...$4,562.34

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in July---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,235.81(after tax withholding)
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $168.52

* 1/3 of Quarterly 401K withdrawal=$1,733.38

*  SS of $3,570.00

*  Moved $3,665.96 from non-retirement acct. for cruise(not really 'income' but it paid one bill-the cruise bill)

*  $180.00 cashing in c/c points

Total "Income" for July...$12,553.67

Expenses in July---

* Irregular bills in July were $3,807.49

* Variable Expenses in July came to $1,957.71

* Health insurance premiums totaling $2,226.13

Total Expenses....$7,991.33

$12,553.67-$7,991.33=$4,562.34

Slush into July of $40,570.77 in that Fund, add $4,562.34 and we get $45,133.11 going into August's 2022's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $4,562.34

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The Internet, cell phone and WAM, as well as the Health Insurance premium were all the same as last month.

*  The Amazon c/c bill was $73.42 lower than in June.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill went up by $3.12 compared to last month.

*  The electric bill was $19.52 more than in June as a/c is needed more.

*  The gas bill was $5.35 last month.

*  The Mastercard bill was $211.45 higher in June.

*  We had 4 irregular bills due in June--

  *  a bill for $1.09 at Kohl's

  *  Hubs' Amazon c/c was $140.44

  *  Paid the Cruise in December off

  *  A month of storage for $95.40

The Food Budget costs for July 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 July 2022---It was a pretty low spend month aside from paying off the cruise.  Most every regular bill was up but only slightly.

The interest income on  the non-retirement funds was a little higher in July which was better. 

With now my SS check coming in monthly and 1/3 of the 104K quarterly withdrawal added to the income each month, unless we have out of the ordinary expenses we should be well under our means in spending.

THOUGHTS going forward into August 2022--Having said all that, well, we are moving very soon.  Moving expenses will have to covered in Aug. and Sept.  With that coming down the pike I'm not even going to guess on what the bills will end up being the next couple of months.  We've got a decent sized Slush Fund to cover almost anything.  We also have liquid savings we can dip into as needed.

Pray for us. ;-)

So how was your July financially? 

Did you spend less than the income you had in June?
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 2021.....the December 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 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 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 December in the black.
The amount we ended the month of December with?....$1,761.30

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in December---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1,971.99
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $180.13

* Cash put into bank to cover some groceries of $42.30

* eBay sales of $37.04

* Rebates/Post Coupon/Refunds of $3,445.02

Total "Income" for December.....$8,917.20

Expenses in December---

* Healthcare Premium for December was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in December were $1,853.13

* Variable Expenses in December came to $2,976.79
Total Expenses....$6,801.91

$8,917.20-$6,801.91=$1,761.18

Slush into December of $35,694.88 in that Fund, add $1,761.18 and we get $37,456.18 going into January 2022's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $1,761.18

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet was the same as in November.

*  The WAM was the same as was taken last month.

*  The Water bill was $3.97 lower than in November.

*  The cell phone bill was the same as last month.

*  The gas bill was $50.48 lower than in November.

*  The Amazon c/c was $281.32 than last month.

*  The MC c/c was $152.72 lower than November.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $103.24 higher than in November

*  We had Four Irregular bills in November-

*  I had a $128.58 Kohl's charge bill.

*  We paid the quarterly Long Term Care premiums.

*  We paid $440 to kennel the dogs while we were on vacation.

*  We put a $500 deposit down on the wedding rehearsal dinner.

The Food Budget costs for December 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 December---I can't complain about the December bills as all the variable ones came in the same or lower than the previous month(except for electric).  I didn't account for having to put a deposit down for the rehearsal dinner(yet)so that changed things up a bit and if you know the situation you know I am not a happy camper about how that is playing out beyond our control.

I am glad that my rebating/couponing savings got added into our totals in December or we would have had a deficit of just over $1K for the month after bills paid, meaning having to take money out of the Slush fund(instead of adding to it).

We started the year with the Slush at $34,645.48 and ended the year with it standing at $37,456.18. Over $2,800 more in there.
 

THOUGHTS going forward into January 2022---No holidays(except my Birthday this month), some Bonus Cash to spend down and no big grocery haul plans.  The only irregular bill due this month is the garbage bill which we pay annually for a small discount.  We'll have an even higher electric bill(it's Winter, duh!)and the c/c bills will total around $2,500 from December.  Our high deductible insurance premiums went up(of course!)for 2022.  But otherwise it should be a quiet money month.

We'll have a financial meeting later this month to talk over the money stuff going forward into the year.

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!

Sluggy 

Income & Spending 2021.....The February 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 February report---

I had 2 goals for February.......
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 February in the black.
The amount we ended the month of February with?.....$12,326.90

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in February---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1,971.99
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $393.51

* Blog Revenue check of $118.67

* A 401K withdrawal of $10,441.79(after taxes taken out)

Total "Income" for February.....$16,148.20

Expenses in February---

* Healthcare Premium for February was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in February were $0.00
* Variable Expenses in February came to $1,849.31
Total Expenses....$3,821.30

$16,148.20-$3,821.30=$12,326.90

Slush into February of $34,645.48 in that Fund, add the $12,326.90 February overage and this brings the Slush to $46,972.38 going into March 2021.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $12,326.90 for February.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet and cell phone were the same as in January.

*  The WAM was the same amount taken as last month.

*  The Amazon card was $1,243.61 lower than in January.

*  The water bill was $4.72 less than last month.

*  We took a 401K withdrawal of over $10K at the end of February even though we didn't need it to cover any bills.  This in advance of our property tax bill coming due on April 15th(I'll probably pay it in March just to get that over with)and the bulk of that withdrawal is for having work done on the house so it's earmarked.  Instead of allocating a portion of it each month for the next quarter and reporting that chunk of it as "income" each month I'm just getting it accounted for in one fell swoop in 2021. '-)

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* The electric bill was $36.81 higher than last month's bill. Considering how much colder and snowier February was over January I am ok with that amount.

* The gas bill was $9.76 higher than in January.

*  The Mastercard was higher by $447.96 than last month's bill.  But that was because we had to use the Amazon Chase card when our credit info got stolen in December.  The Amazon card this month was over $1200 less than January's bill so we are down on c/c spending by $1,121.72 between all three c/cs(our joint, mine and Hubs).

The Food Budget costs for February 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 February---
It was a good month overall financially.  Our expenses were VERY low with no irregular bills coming due and no surprise bills.  I like boring finances. 8-)

We sat down in February and figured out some of our financial game plan for 2021, thus the 401K withdrawal.  Even without that withdrawal we had $1,885.11 leftover in income after paying February's bills.

THOUGHTS going forward into March 2021----Hubs did a draft of the taxes and since he sold stock in 2020 we took a bit of a hit on the preliminary Federal return and will only get back $200+(and as always we'll owe the state a hundred or so).  We may do another post 2020 HSA deposit which will bring our taxable income down a bit and we can always use more $$ in our HSA. We'll run the numbers and decide in the coming weeks before we send off the tax return.

We do have an irregular bill due in March-the sewage bill which we pay annually to get the 3% discount.  That bill amount didn't go up from 2020's bill amount which is always a good thing.  The long term care premiums are due as well in March but between those and the sewage bill the total amount is under $1K so not a big concern within the monthly budget and income.

If I can spend another month staying away from the grocery spending in March that will help keep the spending for the month pretty low again so I am crossing my fingers. lol

So how was your February financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in February?
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 2020.....the October 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 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 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 2020.

I can report that we finished up October in the black.
The amount we ended the month of October with?.....$2,135.69

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in October---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1,883.76
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $468.24

Total "Income" for October.....$5574.24

Expenses in October---

* Healthcare Premium for October was $1,883.76(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in October were $0.00
* Variable Expenses in October came to $1554.79
Total Expenses....$3438.55

$5574.24-$3438.55=$2135.69
Slush into October of $30,042.39 in that Fund, add the $2135.69 October overage and this brings the Slush to $32,178.08 going into November.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $2,135.69 for October.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet were the same as last month.

*  The c/c was $248.42 lower than in September.

*  The WAM was the same amount taken as last month.

*  The water bill was within $1 of September's bill.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $11.38 higher than last month's bill. This one will continue to rise as Winter sets in.

*  The gas c/c bill(Sunoco) was $8.43 higher than in September.  Sunoco is generally higher than other gas stations' prices(even after a .05¢ gal. discount)so we use it sporadically.

*  We had to pay to board the dogs on our trip so $150 extra paid out in October.

The Food Budget costs for October 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 October---
It was a really good month overall financially. 

No irregular bills were due in October. rah.  

THOUGHTS going forward into November 2020----

Unfortunately the electric bill will continue to rise and the credit card will be high in November as all our short trip spending from October will show up this month.  We aren't going anywhere in November and no extra spending will happen either.  We do have one irregular bill due this month, the semi-annual car insurance bill.

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!


Sluggy