Income & Spending....the April 2024 Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals, personal savings 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.

We went into retirement in June of 2017 with no debt, no mortgage, nor a car payment.

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 April report--

I had 2 goals for April....

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 2024. 

*  I do not include/report on our retirement accounts here, just the non-retirement ones.

 

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

The amount extra we ended the month of April with?....$5,916.83

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in April---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,530.11

*  SS income of $3,828.70

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $680.88

*  Quarterly 401K Withdrawal of $6,215.06

*  Blog Revenue of $125.13

Total "Income" for April....$13,379.88

Expenses in April---

*  Irregular bills in April were $2,786.00

*  Variable Expenses in April came to $3,969.62

*  Medical Premiums in April were $707.43

Total Expenses....$7,463.05

$13,379.88-$7,463.05=$5,916.83

Slush Fund coming into April of $55,305.39 and the addition of $5,916.83 in April, our end of April 2024 Slush fund comes to $61,222.22

The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $5,916.83

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The water bill and the cell phone bill(.08¢ lower)were all the same as in March.

*  The electric bill went down in April by $44.61

*  Hubs Amazon c/c bill was $389.11 lower than last month.

*  My Amazon c/c bill was $0.

*  The American Airlines c/c was $191.24 lower than in March.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  We had 2 irregular bills in April--

*  We had tree removal for $400.

*  We paid the Federal Taxes of $2,386.00(Will be adjusting our withholding so this isn't so bad next year.)

*  The WAM was $200 more in April due to taking a little extra $$ on our cruise.

*  The Mastercard was $1,844.79 higher than in March. Most of that was dog boarding we paid upfront while we were on the cruise.

*  Hubs Medigap Supplement went up by $9.41 per month as he had a birthday in April.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS for APRIL 2024---This month turned out a bit better than expected, even with paying Federal Taxes, dog boarding, etc.  Food spending was about half of what it was last month since we were not home and food shopping for about half the month.  The quarterly 401K withdrawal also was a bonus this month to keep us in the black.

THOUGHS GOING FORWARD INTO MAY 2024--That 401K$ quarterly withdrawal will come in handy in May what with State Taxes due and c/c spending on the Cruise will come due.

Here's hoping 2024 treats us all even better financially! 8-))

So how was your April financially?

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

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

Kids and Money

SonyaAnn posted yesterday about her car insurance woes.
Her post was very timely to me, since we are going to be making some big changes in my family soon that will involve vehicles and insurance.

After our 3rd car-the one the kids used to get around in-was totaled last May, we didn't replace it.
At that time, #1 Son was finishing up his 2nd year of college and not home, Daughter was going to be attending college that Fall for the first time(so she no longer would be living at home and needing the car for work or school)and #2 Son was still almost a year away from turning 16 and being eligible to get his learner's permit.
So we didn't replace the car last year.

We put the money we got for the totaled vehicle, last May, aside and Hubs added the little bit of cash he got from his mother's estate with it and we planned to find a $5K or so "beater" car for #2 Son to learn on and use while he finishes high school.

Now let's throw a monkey wrench into the plan.

Daughter has been having second thoughts about her career path.
Ok, a bit more than second thoughts.  After finishing up her first semester at college with a 3.80 grade pt. average, and  after doing a job shadowing with our family doctor over Winter break, and after having her interview at the medical school that her college has a program with and passing that interview so that now she is guaranteed a seat in the medical college when she graduates with her Biology degree, after another 3 years of school, she has decided that she no longer wants to be a doctor.  She told her father and I this after she went back for her 2nd semester the end of January.

I was disappointed that she didn't even finish out the first year before deciding to do a 360 degree turn in her plans.  But it's her life, right?  We told her to slow down and not do anything hasty, but a couple weeks after returning to school, she had changed her major to education and found a new adviser in that dept.
So she suddenly is very sure she no longer wants to be a doctor and she is suddenly just as very sure that she does want to be.......a science teacher.
She says she has had this idea in the back of her mind for a very long time, however this was the first time we, her parents, have heard Daughter voice this career path.

Not to get into much detail here, but currently Daughter had abandoned the Teaching thing and is rethinking her life and may be moving back home after her 1st yr. of college is over.

Basically after having a meltdown at school she wants to finish up the year and come home.
Now she is talking about going into Engineering at this point and transferring to someplace close to home and living at home and commuting to school.  But it's not a 4 year degree in Engineering, she is talking a 2 year Associate degree and/or Job Training to be a engineering technician.....like the kind that comes to your house and fixes your electrical wiring or some kind of mechanical engineering.

The bottom line is though she is real good at being a student and taking tests, etc. she does NOT want to do it for any longer than she has to.  She wants to get out there and work with her hands AND her mind.
At least that's what I am hearing this week.....

Not sure if her new educational plan will pan out or if it's just another "idea" that she is trying on, but I do know that she'll be moving back home for now.  I have suggested that if she doesn't know what she wants to do yet, to get a job and work for a year and take some time to think hard about what to do next.

One thing for sure though.....she'll be living here and she'll need a vehicle to get to work and/or school.

So now I have to figure out if SHE needs to buy the car in her own name and have her own insurance policy or if we need to buy another car and keep her on our policy(and she can make car payments to us once she gets a job).

And where does all this leave #2 Son and his needing a vehicle to get his first part time job?.....driving himself to all his band rehearsals and performances?......driving to a local college in another year if he participates in the High School program where Seniors take college courses?

Paying for 5 cars and 5 drivers on our car insurance policy plus all that gas and maintaining all those cars?
Just kill me now......

Sluggy