2020 Income & Spending Report...........the January Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals, 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 2020.

I can report that we finished up January in the black(barely).
The amount we ended the month of January with?.....$100.85

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in January---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1883.76
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $584.25
* Loan to EX-CB repaid of $337.50
* A small 401K withdrawal of $1000.00
Total "Income" for January....$7027.75

Expenses in January---

* Healthcare Premium for January was $1883.76(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in January came to $4735.14
* Irregular Expenses(yearly garbage fee)came to $308.00.
Total Expenses....$6926.90

$7027.75-$6926.90=$100.85

Slush into January $18,438.63 left in the Slush Fund to take into February with that $100.85 overage brings  Slush to $18,539.48.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $100.85 for January.

Outgo

As for the variable expenses this January,  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 $2 or so).
*  The water bill was $2.66 lower than in December.
*   The Amazon c/c was $667.23 lower than last month.
*  Medical co-pays were $15.62 less than in December.
* The Kohl's charge was $3.13 lower than last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $45.01 higher than in December(as predicted).
*  There were $75.46 more in gas bill charges than last month.
*  There was $350 more in WAM withdrawals(that was cash spent on the wedding trip to LA).
*  The main c/c bill was $1125.63 higher than in December.
*  The Healthcare Premium went up $35.09 per month for 2020.
*  There was an irregular bill due-the annual Garbage Service bill(but I get a month free if I pay for the year up front.).
*  We also had a Discover card charge($125.51).
*  We wrote Daughter and her new husband a wedding gift check in January and another check to my brother's wife to help pay for her mom's funeral in late January.

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---

We knew January would be a high bill month.  Between some Xmas charges that didn't come through until the January billing cycle, the annual garbage fee and Daughter getting married this month(and the subsequent road trip to Louisiana for the wedding and the spending for that trip)we were aware it wouldn't be pretty financially.  But looking back, it could have been a lot worse on the old wallet.


THOUGHTS going forward into February 2020----

We don't see much out of the ordinary spending coming around the bend this month.  There is a birthday(Ex-CB)but I've already got his gifts tucked away(and paid for)so that just means a Birthday Eating out bill this month.  Hubs and I don't "do" Valentine's Day so that's not a blip on our financial radar.  Electric bill will continue to rise(Hello! It's Winter here. lol)

I'd like to keep discretionary spending low in February and tuck as much as we can back for March bills, as we have 3 Irregular bills due then--Long Term Care Premiums, the Annual Sewage bill and Real Estate(County)Taxes.  Last year that all totaled $2665.94 and I don't know how much any of these will go up for 2020 yet.  Ah, the thrill of the unknown. lolz
So anything I can keep from spending in February helps me out to keep our head above water in March.

But we always have the Slush Fund to fall back on if needed.  That has been such a comfort to me and will continue to see us through rough financial months. 8-)

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

2018 Income & Spending Report......the November Edition

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.  This leftover cash will go into a "Slush Fund" for now to be used if we have any emergencies come up during the year.  If we still have Slush Funds at the end of the year we'll decide then what to do with those funds.

I have set up a page to track the Slush Fund.  Click on the tab marked "Slush Fund 2018" at the top of the blog.

  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 November 2018 report--

I had 2 goals for November......
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 November in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of November with?.......$260.35

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in November---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3218.16(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1813.48
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $381.61

Total "Income" for November......$5413.25


Expenses in November---

* Healthcare Premium for November was $1813.48.(paid with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in November came to $3339.42
Total Expenses....$5152.90

Sinking Fund--The balance in the Sinking Fund coming into November was $468.37. No irregular bills were paid out of the Sinking Fund goes into December at $468.37.  We instead paid for the semi-annual car insurance bill due in November from the monthly income and did not take a  quarterly 401K withdrawal to cover it.


We went into October with $24,402.59 in the Slush Fund.
Add in November's overage of $260.35 to the Slush Fund and it stands at $24,662.94 going into December.

Outgo

As for the variable 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 in September.(Within $1 or so).
*  The water bill was $4.49 lower than last month.
*  The c/c bill was up $445.56 than in October.
*  The electric bill was $70.99 lower than last month.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in October.
*  The cash WAM withdrawals was the same amount as last month.
.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The gas card bill was $38.10 higher than last month
*  There was a $89.88 charge card bill on my Visa card this month.

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

So we end November in the black with $260.35 in new general overage to add to the Slush Fund.
The Sinking Fund goes into December standing at $468.37.

FINAL THOUGHTS on November---
No quarterly 401K withdrawal meant November was going to be tight since we were going to pay the car insurance out of reg. income instead of the Sinking Fund. No other big bills except the credit card bill.  Seeing as the food spending is put on the c/c, as well as the cell phone bill, that accounts for  almost $600 of the c/c bill for November.  Thinking of it that way makes it feel like less of a large bill.


THOUGHTS going forward into December 2018----
December.......let's see what's coming up.
Normal WAM withdrawal this month.
Normal or lower than normal food spending planned.
The credit card will be high next month....read "Christmas" costs and I went a little nuts buying discounted gift cards to use in 2019. ;-)

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!

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 increase 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

$24K Savings Challenge.....April 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.

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 a Savings Challenge. 

For 2014 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount slightly to $24,000 this year, $4K more than my goal for last year.

On to the April report.....

I have posted my April End of Month $24K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers.

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 $2,000.

I have to report that we finished up April with a smaller than needed amount.
The extra amount we ended the month of April with?.......$1,313.40.

Income
We had $1224.68 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
 

Other monies received in April totaled $88.72.  This included interest made on accounts and a per diem from Hub's work.

This brought us to our gain of $1313.40.
Since we have no debt anymore, this goes into savings.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

 

*  The electric bill went down $62 from March's bill.

 

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  We owed state taxes this year and paid them in April.

*  The c/c bill was $182 more than March's bill.
*  The water bill went up $2.
*  $770 MORE in cash withdrawals than in March.  A lot of this was for vacation spending.
*  We have a $76 Vet bill for the dog.
*  We had Prom related expenses of $200.
*  The food bill went up $125.94 from March's food spending.
 

 

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

The 2014 GRAND TOTAL.....
With 4 months accounted for, our Savings Grand Total for 2014 is $6,070.60
$1,929.40 short at this point of the $8,000.00 I should have put aside after 4 months.
I've fallen approx. $700 further behind with April's total compared to March's total.
bleh.
 

 

Looking ahead for May......

*  I will continue to do this Savings Challenge and report in each month on how it is going.

*  The expenses from our road trip to Louisiana we put on the credit card will be paid off in May, which will raise our spending this month.

*  May is a 3rd paycheck month, so this pay will go toward paying off the trip expenses from April and I am hoping it covers it ALL.  This will go a long way to get us to our savings goal of $2K for May.

*  The electric bill should continue to go down as the weather warms and we turn off the heat in May.

*  There are no trips or events planned for May, so no expected extra spending....unless I break down and buy some furniture.

*  I am going to try to reign in the food budget for May and keep it at or below $300.
 

 

So how was your April financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in March?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings in an emergency fund or a retirement account?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!

Sluggy

Food & Toiletries Spending.....March Update

 Onward to March's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MARCH 2014.

I have posted March's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2014 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in March.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 4(3 at home this month)& 1 dog. No kids under 18.
******************

BAKERY OUTLET
OOP  $6.00
Value  $11.97
Savings   49.9%

DOLLAR STORE
OOP  $13.00
Value  $37.65
Savings    65.47%
 

RITE-AID
OOP  $11.53
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $158.16
Value  $169.69
Savings  93.2%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $26.29

Qs/Ads  $10.97

Value  $37.26

Savings  29.44%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $81.96

Qs/Ads  $40.27

Value  $122.23

Savings  32.95%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 93.2%,  the Dollar Store at 65.47% and the Bakery Outlet at 49.9%.  My WORST savings rate was Shursave Market at 29.44%.
I shopped at 5 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$344.86

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$380.76

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$725.62

TOTAL Savings of...................................51.80%

Even without counting the Rite-Aid shopping, my savings rate was 38.94%.

This closes out the March food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into March wanting to keep my food/toiletries budget at $300, but I went over by $44.86.
It sure beats spending $400 though.  ;-)
Over a 50% savings rate for March was only possible because of my Rite-Aid deals last week.  The "normal" rate I like to try for is 40%.

I tallied up our Eating Out spending for March and it came in at $155.11(including tips).
$96.31 of that was #2 Son's Birthday dinner and the other $58.80 was meals out on my trip to Delaware.
This spending doesn't come out of our food/toiletries budget however.


LOOKING AHEAD TO APRIL......

I am not even going to attempt to predict what April's food/toiletries spending will look like.  I have a road trip coming up this month (!!!)so I'll be buying convenience foods this month for those staying home.  These typically cost more anyway so we'll see where we stand on the spending come May 1.

 

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

Total spend on food/toiletries so far this year.....$1,040.66

The average monthly food/toiletries spending this year so far is $346.89.

 

How much did you spend on food/toiletries in March?
Do you track your yearly food spending?
 

Sluggy

How to Make a Budget 101

**Disclaimer**
I am NOT a financial expert, nor do I play one on the internet.  This post is merely my own personal experience and thoughts on Budgeting.   If you have serious concerns or problems with your money, it may behoove you to seek the advise of a trained professional financial counselor.

So, are you tired of living paycheck to paycheck?
Tired of running out of money before the month is over?
Do you make a decent salary but you never seem to have enough to pay all your bills or have any left at the end of the month?

Then maybe you need to put yourself or your family on a B-U-D-G-E-T!
Many people see the word BUDGET and start shaking and sweating.
They have been led to believe that a budget is an evil thing.
It is something to FEAR!!
Some think that being on a budget is like a diet....neither of them let you have any F-U-N.
But that couldn't be further from the truth!

A budget is simply a plan you write down for your money to follow.
If you have a clear plan for your money then you don't have to worry where it goes because you KNOW where it's going, because you are PURPOSEFULLY telling it where to go.
When was the last time it was a GOOD THING to tell someone where to go?teehee

But where to start?
How do you go about making a budget?
You can buy books, or better yet borrow budgeting books from your local library.
You can pay a large sum of cash to go to seminars or hire a professional money person to assist you in coming up with a budget.
It doesn't matter HOW you go about it, you just need to STOP procrastinating or ignoring your finances and  MAKE A BUDGET.....NOW!

Don't be intimidated, just jump right in.
The only mistake is NOT doing anything.
If you make a blunder, that's fine.  Just learn from it and make a new budget next month and so on until, through trial and error, you come up with a Budget that works for you!


Here's a pretty simplistic way that I went about setting my first budget. 

I use 1 month as the defining format as most bills are due monthly, so my Budget is a Monthly Budget.

First thing is, you need to write down how much money you have to live on each month.
You can't possibly Live Within Your Means if you don't know what "Within Your Means" is!

Add in all income for the month--your total net income from paychecks in a month, any child support(if you can count on that)and/or alimony per month, monthly pension monies, government payments(like SSI), any side jobs/weekend jobs and hobbies that bring in income, etc.

Now, once you have a total of what cash you have coming into your home each month you know how much you have to live on.
For now, don't count any other savings or checking account money other than this month's income.

Let's say You have a monthly income of $2,500 after taxes.  That's your net income.
Remember that....gross income=before taxes.....net income=after taxes.

Now, on a different sheet of paper start listing your bills.
There is a definite order in which you should pay your bills.

**I know some people tithe to their church or other religious group.  I am not addressing this issue here.  If you tithe, be sure to allocate the proper percentage of your income first, if you follow the "First Fruits" concept.

I see 3 Levels of Spending in a Budget.
*Primary Needs
*Secondary Needs
*Wants

*Primary Needs
1. In a perfect world and especially if you don't have any of your income going directly into savings BEFORE you get your check, take the 1st 10% of your income and and designate this your Payment to Self.
Before you pay ANY other bills, pay yourself!
If you make $2,500 net, pay yourself $250.  Put that first $250 into your savings or in a coffee can in your closet, I don't care right now where.  Just put it aside and DO NOT SPEND IT on monthly bills!

2. Next list what you pay for shelter(rent or mortgage-mortgage includes any taxes, PMI, etc.). Let's say you rent and that costs you $900 month.

3. Next list what you pay for utilities(electric, heat, gas, water, sewage).  This one is harder to figure as it can vary from month to month or from season to season.  If you can gather your utility bills from last year, find the average monthly amount you paid for last year, then add 5% to that to allow for any rise in the cost of these bills, because we all know, the cost of everything keeps going up.  Let's say you have heating/cooling/electric/water/sewage bills that average out to $240 a month.

Let's add up what you have spent so far of your $2,500 income.
$250, $900, $240=$1390
You have $1,110 left to spend.

4. Next list what you spend on food per month.
Another one that can vary.  Let's say you think you can feed your family for $250 a month. (Don't forget to include the money you spend at lunch when working and the money your kids spend at school if they don't bring their lunches too!)

That $250 leaves you with $860 remaining in your monthly income.

*Secondary Needs
After you pay yourself, your housing, utilities and food, you can allocate the rest of your income into any other Secondary Needs.  You can rank these other Spending Needs according to how important you feel it is to fund them.
Examples are....
*Insurance(health, medical, dental, home or renter's, car)
*Telephone
*Transportation(either bus/train/subway passes, car payments/car fees/car costs such as gas/maintenance, taxi costs, any other costs that are required to transport you to your job or out for pleasure)
*Medical/Dental/Pharmaceutical/Vision Co-Pays
*Credit Card Payments....hopefully you don't have any of these!And if you do, hopefully you are paying MORE than the minimum payment amount on them.

Let's say you need $400 to fund these categories per month.
This leaves you with $460 of your monthly income left to spend/save.

*Wants Spending
Once you have all your NEEDS met, then you can budget for your WANTS.
Wants would include, but are not limited to....
*Cable(tv, internet, etc.)
*Entertainment(such as eating out or take-out--unless you put that under your Food Budget, movies and concerts--don't forget to figure in the food or souvenirs, bowling, drinks out with friends, taking kids to an event that charges money and magazine and dvd subscriptions.  Note that I did NOT include shopping as entertainment. ;-)
*Clothing
*Home Decor
*Charitable giving--this is not a physical "need" but a spiritual one and not a want really but it's a good use of extra money.
*Gifts
*Any other thing you want to spend money on that is NOT a need.

Between the cable bill, Netflix, and buying clothing, let's say you requires $250 a month for the Want Categories of Spending.

After allocating money into all your categories, you end up with $210 Leftover at the end of each month's income.

Having a bit leftover is a good thing.
Why?
In case something unexpected happens one month, you have a small emergency cushion.
And you all know that emergencies WILL happen.

So take that leftover $210 and stash it into a safe place, like a bank account or your wall safe.  You want it safe but you also need it to be relatively liquid.  Don't stick this leftover cash into a bond or cd or the stock market where you can't pull it out if needed quickly without having to pay interest penalties.  Once you have built up a sizable emergency fund, then you can stash any leftover funds each month into something that bears some decent interest.

Once you have the Budget written down and set, your work isn't done yet.
Oh NO!
Go get a notebook.
Here's mine.  It cost me .10¢ on sale.  You can get a fancy smancy one if you want to spend a lot....but make sure you add that cost to your budget under a WANTS Category.....you don't NEED fancy....

Now every time you spend money this month, tuck the receipt or the stub from a paid bill or the invoice into the back of that notebook.  
At the end of the month, take all those receipts out and write the amounts into your notebook.

I write on each line--the date the money was paid, then where or what was paid, then list the amount.
(IE: 1/12/10   Water Co.   $60.24)

Start with #1-the payment to yourself.
Then write in #2-the rent/mortgage payment.
Then #3-the utility payments.
Next is #4-all the food receipts.
Continue listing, in the order you Ranked your Spending Categories, all your receipts....Primary Needs, Secondary Needs then Wants.
Then add up all your spending for the month.

If you stayed within your Budget framework, congratulations!
You have a good working Budget.
If your spending exceeded your Budget, go check each category and see where your Budget wasn't accurate.
As long as you are NOT spending more than you make, you are still in good shape.  Your spending may just need to be adjusted in some categories.  See which one(s) you need more cash for and which ones you had budgeted for more than you spent and move the income allocation around.

If you ended up spending more than you had coming in for the month, you need to closely examine what you are spending on and cut however much you are overspending.
And since you wrote down EVERYTHING you spent this month, it is easy to see where your money went!

My suggestion when looking for places to cut spending is to examine the WANTS categories first.
After that, look to your variable spending categories, like Food, Entertainment, Gifts, Donations to Charity, etc.  Next try to see if some creditors will give you a special rate or deal.  Call the utility companies and see if there is a special package or bundle rate, call the credit card company and see if they will lower your interest rate or transfer your balance to a new account that offers 0% interest for a limited time, etc.  It can't hurt to ask and you just might get them to give you a lower price!

If you don't have enough money to live within your means you have 3 options.....
*Increase your Income
OR
*Cut your spending
OR
*A combination of both

DO NOT put living expenses on a credit card if you run out of money!
This will only put you into debt or put you into MORE debt.
And it will KEEP you in DEBT!!
You need to bring more money in somehow &/or spend less.

Good luck on Finding the Budget that works for you!

Sluggy