I have posted my APRIL End of Month $30K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.
I have to report that we finished up April waaaaaaay in the Black.
The extra cash amount we ended the month of April with was.......$6,366.78.
Income
We had $2,290.77 left over of DH's salary after expenses were deducted. Add in a gas voucher of $26.68 for some business traveling he paid OOP for in April, a hefty $159.33 in Rebates & our big fat Income Tax Refund of $3,890.00 which we received in April and you have a nice deposit of $6,366.78 toward the Savings Challenge!
The nice thing is that even if you take off the Tax Refund, we have $2,476.78 leftover to put toward savings. That is just $24+/- short of the $2,500 estimate we need to save each month to reach a $30K Savings Goal for the Year! So even without the tax refund, we are right on track.
Outgo
As for the expenses in April.....
The electric bill went down another $80 in April so that number is NOT causing me dread when I peek inside the envelope each month when it arrives.
The credit card bill was down below $350, which is always a welcomed sight.
Out-of-the-ordinary expenses in April....our municipal/local tax bill was due(over $1K), the car needed it's yearly inspection and #2 son snookered me into buying candles(I need another candle like I need leprosy!) for the Marching Band fundraiser. It was NOT a very bad month for extra expenses, which really helped boost the amount we could throw into savings this month.
The Food Budget costs for April are in another post, which is located HERE. Food/Toiletries spending in April was under the budgeted $250.00 even without throwing the rebate money that came in last month at this expense. After the rebate money we only spent $38.86 on food/toiletries and our Savings percentage was a whopping 92.40%!
Looking Ahead to May....
#1 son aka the 'eating machine' comes home from college & we have a week long visit from a relative in May, so the food spending will no doubt go up.
The Credit Card bill as of May 3rd is already over $1,000 for May(due to 2 large purchases by DH).
The water bill will increase some as DH opens the pool for the season later this month.
We will have some bills for doctor's visits & prescription drugs as well and a $1,000 expenditure for #2 son's summer camp stay which needs to be paid this month.
On the bright side, we have potential for some addition income in May as I plan on taking the extras in my stockpile to sell at the flea market. Wish me luck on that! ;-)
I am hoping to be able to meet our monthly goal of $2,500 saved in May.
YTD Standings....
We have a Year To Date Total of $14,890.50 in Savings. To save $30K for the year, we need to put away $2,500 per month average. We are almost 2 months ahead of our target as the 4th month savings total goal was $10,000! We are 1/3rd of the way through the year now and our savings should be at $10,000. It's actually almost at $15,000, which is the savings goal for the end of June(or halfway through the year)! 8-))
While I am thrilled beyond words! to be this far ahead of our projected goal, the doomsday naysayer in me is just waiting for the other financial shoe to drop. There must certainly be economic disaster around the next bend or some GOTCHA expense lying in wait to blow our goals out of the water.
I am trying to remain cheerfully optimistic that this pile of savings is NOT a mirage. ;-)
So how was your April financially? Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good. Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out? Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!
Sluggy
