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 2020....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 2020.

I can report that we finished up December in the black.
The amount we ended the month of December with?.....$1,942.36

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 $1,883.76
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $430.32

* Dividend income of $18.27

* Grocery Rebates for the year of $1,473.27

* Deposit from my WAM to cover a gift to someone

Total "Income" for December.....$7127.86

Expenses in December---

* Healthcare Premium for December was $1,883.76(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in December were $555.41
* Variable Expenses in December came to $2,746.33
Total Expenses....$5185.50

$7127.86-$5185.50=$1942.36
Slush into December of $32,365.78 in that Fund, add the $1,942.36 December overage and this brings the Slush to $34,308.14 going into January 2021.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $1,942.36 for December.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

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

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

*  The Mastercard bill was $946.00 lower than in November

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* The water bill was $1.22 higher than November's bill.

* The electric bill was $89.17 higher than last month's bill. This one will continue to rise as Winter deepens.

* The gas bill was $14.19 higher than in November.

*  My Amazon card was $330.23 higher than last month.  Our Mastercard was compromised so I had to put food shopping on the Amazon c/c.

* There was an irregular bill due in December, the long term care quarterly premiums which came to $555.41.

* We had $250 in spending on cash gifts for Christmas and Birthday for my Daughter.  It doesn't make sense to mail her "things" as the postage is so high to LA from PA so I just mail her a check for both and she's happy to get what she wants herself.

* We also had a kennel bill for $60 to board our dogs for 2 days so we could visit our son in NJ.  He and his GF have 2 cats so we can't take the dogs with us obviously as it would lead to mayhem. lol

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on December---
It was a good month overall financially.  Adding all those small economies pots of money back into the checking account to cover a large chunk of food spending gave us a much bigger overage last month to add to the Slush Fund, otherwise it would have been around a $500 addition to that Fund which still in my book would have been fine and dandy.

THOUGHTS going forward into January 2021----Hubs and I have yet to sit down and talk finances and the game plan for 2021.  Obviously extensive travel is off the table until the world stabilizes from this pandemic.  Vaccines are coming which will raise herd immunity but who knows when that will be achieved.  Maybe another short trip to NJ in the next 3 months but otherwise, I'm not seeing any travel.

We'll pay the garbage fees in a lump sum for the year in January to reap the discount there.  Our health insurance deductible has reset for 2021 so there will be $4K in spending on medical necessities(OVs, meds, etc.)up front, then normal co-pays by March(or earlier unfortunately).  March sees three different irregular bills due-long term care quarterly premiums, the real estate taxes and the annual sewage bill so we can't get complacent with frivolous spending early in 2021.  More later after we set the budgets at Chez Sluggy for the year.

The Slush Fund grew by $15,869.51 in 2020.  That Fund started the year at $18,438.63 and ended 2020 at $34,306.14.  Now we just have to decided which home improvement/repair project to spend that on-the main bath redo or new windows on the front of the house.  Both need doing.

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

2016 $38K Savings Challenge.....November Update

Every year I keep a close eye on our monthly expenses and our monthly income.

Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, health insurance premiums, long term care insurance premiums, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings or these other categories.

Once the automatic savings amounts, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision premiums are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, annual etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, clothing  etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into an interest bearing Savings Challenge account.

For 2016 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount to $38,000 this year, $8K more than my goal for last year.

On to the November report.....

I have posted my November End of Month $38K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers HERE.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $3,166.66.

I have to report that we finished up November with a yummy amount.
The extra amount we ended the month of November with?.......$2,792.51

Income

We had $2,645.68 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in November totaled $146.83.  This was solely interest made on non-retirement accounts.

This brought us to our gain of $2792.51
Since we have no debt, this goes into savings.

Outgo

As for the expenses this November, 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 electric bill was up $41.15 from October's total.  This is a "good" thing since the weather was warmer this year than in past years and very little heat was used/needed.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The credit card bill was up $972.60 from October's amount. Half of that was for groceries(and paying it in full each cycle)and the other half was mostly car repairs, and medical bills.
*  The water bill was $9.86 more than last month.
*  The gas bill was $57.29 higher than last month(more purchases for gas put on the c/c rather than the gas card.)
*  Semi-annual car insurance was due this month so there is $938.84 out the door.
*  Hubs had a dental bill for work done last month so there is $145.00 of irregular bills due.
*  Cash withdrawals were $50 higher(I took $200 rather than $150 this month, though I didn't spend it all.).

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

With 11 month accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2016 is $36,039.72.

FINAL THOUGHTS on November---

Compared to November 2015 we put $1,569.52 LESS into savings this November. 8-(
.
We have $36039.72 saved so far in 2016, and we have only $1960.28 left to save over the next month at this point to reach our goal of $38K saved.    We have higher everything bills now with 2 extra adults in the house plus can I mention that Christmas is coming!?!?

THOUGHTS going forward into December----

It's a two paycheck month here.  The credit card bill will be high again as there is over $1K in medical charges on it(co-pays, rxs, DMEs)as well as all the grocery charges. Other than a Kohl's charge bill there are no other irregular bills due in December.  But there is having to keep half of whatever we have leftover this month in hand to put toward offsetting the medical high deductible that kicks in Jan. 1st.  So all income leftover at month's end can't go into the Savings Challenge kitty, only roughly half of it.  It would be nice to have expenses in December come in at $3K or less as November's turned out to be just shy of $4K.  My personal "sweet spot" is $2K but with the added expenses that one isn't happening again anytime soon.  But we soldier on and do what we can to reduce costs.

So how was your November financially?
  

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

As we go forward into the last half of 2016 why not make this year the one were you clean up your finances and pay off your debts.
Plan to set something aside if you don't already now or increase what you bank 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