Income & Spending for September 2023

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 September report--

I had 2 goals for September....

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 fund may be applied 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.  

 

I'm happy to report that we finished up September in the black.

The amount extra we ended the month of September with?....$2,154.62

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in September---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,608.66(after tax withholding)

*  SS income of $3878.950

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $804.63

*  Stock Dividend of $19.11

*  Blog Revenue of $101.65

Total "Income" for August....$7,248.05

Expenses in September---

*  Irregular bills in September were $3,184.55

*  Variable Expenses in September came to $737.69

*  Health insurance premiums totaling $1,171.19*

Total Expenses....$5,093.43

$7,248.05-$5,093.43=$2,154.62

* Now that Hubs is on Medicare, I include his Vision Care, and his Medicare supplement in this number with my Healthcare Premium.  His Part B comes directly out of his SS check before we get it.

Slush into September of $70,796.85 and the addition of $2,154.62, October's 2023 Slush Fund comes to $72,951.47

The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $2,154.62.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The WAM, the water bill, Health Insurance premium, vision care, Hubs supplement plan and internet were the same as last month.

*  There were no charges on my Amazon and Bank of America c/c's in September

*  The Mastercard c/c was $1,012.16 less than last month.

*  The Aviator c/c was $1,255.25 lower in September(We paid it ahead in August so no payment in Sept).

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $23.44 higher than in August.

*  The cellphone bill was $8.46 higher than last month.

*  Hubs Amazon c/c was $39.15 higher than in August.

*  We had an irregular bill for the lawyer consult and legal forms of $2,400.00

*  We had irregular bills for long term care premiums of $784.55

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

FINAL THOUGHTS for September 2023---While we paid some credit card charges in August that would have been due in September I forgot about the Long Term Care Premiums would be due in September. duh.  And then we finally got all that legal paperwork taken care of so that was a massive irregular bill that hopefully we will NEVER have again. ;-)

THOUGHTS going forward into OCTOBER 2023---Well we still haven't heard back on when our kitchen sink and countertops are getting replaced. sigh.  It should have been done well before now but you know handymen in a state where the motto is "Let the good times roll!" 24/7 all. year. long.  Seriously, never move here and try to get anything business wise done in a timely manner.

We have home insurance due in October. ouch  Then just the usual suspects--electric, water, cell, WAM cash, credit card charges.  We do have our 4th quarterly 401K withdrawal coming in October so if we do make any plans to travel to see our son and his fiancé during the holidays we've got some extra for that trip.

So how was your September financially?

Did you spend less than the income you had in September?

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 down/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 all your excess monies after bills were paid 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 May 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 May report---

I had 2 goals for May.......
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 May in the black.
The amount we ended the month of May with?.....$282.14

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in May---

* 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 $205.69

Total "Income" for May.....$5,399.92

Expenses in May---

* Healthcare Premium for May was $1,971.99(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in May were $607.68(car insurance 6 mos.)
* Variable Expenses in April came to $2,538.11
Total Expenses....$5,117.78

$5,399.92-$5,117.78=$282.14

Slush into May of $46,882.97in that Fund, add the $282.14 in overage and we get $47,165.11 going into Mune.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $282.14 for May..

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

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

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

*  The electric bill was $24.13 lower than in April.

*  The water bill went down by $5.02 from last month.

*  The credit card bill was $407.86 lower than in April.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The gas bill was $5.42 higher than in April.
*  The Amazon bill was $147.06 higher than last month.
*  We had an irregular bill, the semi-annual car insurance payment of $607.68

The Food Budget costs for May 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 May---Stayed under the food budget and most other bills wer trending down(except gas and Amazon)and we had money leftover so I'll call May a win. 8-)))
 

THOUGHTS going forward into June 2021----Well we are having the main bathroom renovated and we bought a new deck swing as the old one was rusted out.  The only irregular bill in June are the long term care premiums and we got a notice these are going up by about $100 each per quarter. bleh.

So the reno will cost us a chunk of our Slush fund which is looking quite healthy for now so I am not too worried about having a month where the bills are more than the income in June,

So how was your May financially? 

Did you spend less than the income you had in May?
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