2016 $38K Savings Challenge......October 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 October report.....

I have posted my October 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 October with a yummy amount.
The extra amount we ended the month of October with?.......$4,449.89

Income

We had $4298.78 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in October totaled $151.11.  This was solely interest made on non-retirement accounts.

This brought us to our gain of $4449.89
Since we have no debt, this goes into savings.

Outgo

As for the expenses this October, 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 credit card bill was down $50.77 from September's amount.
*  The water bill was $17.18 less than last month.
*  The electric bill was down $42.90 from September's total.
*  The gas bill was $57.29 lower than last month(more purchases for gas put on the c/c rather than the gas card.)
*  Cash withdrawals were $700 lower(due to using the c/c for most if not all grocery spending + Hubs took less cash in October).

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The direct medical spending was up again $190.09 from September's costs plus we still have an $800+ bill not received yet for Daughter's August procedure. gulp
*  We had a $275 non-recurring bill for attending a local Church's auction.  Not really a bad thing as we go each year and bid on local services/goods we would used anyway and pay less than retail for them.  We get a deal, the church gets some funds raised....win/win!  And we did spend $45 less at the auction this year compared to last year.

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

With 10 month accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2016 is $33,247.21.

FINAL THOUGHTS on October---
I was able to tuck away about $1K more than I had projected in October.  Mostly that was due to the car insurance payment moving from October to November, so really, we still have that expense, it just gets dumped into the next month so no gain or loss really.
Medical co-pays were the only category that we spent more in, compared to September(and it was under a $200 increase)so that's good.

Compared to Octoberber 2015 we put $1,972.44 LESS into savings this October.  This can mostly be explained away because of car insurance premiums, $500 more spending on the c/c and medical co-pays of over $800 last October compared to October 2016.
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We have $33,247.21 saved so far in 2016, and we have only $4,752.71 left to save over the next 2 months at this point to reach our goal of $38K saved.  That averages out to $2,376.40 a month for the rest of the year.  This means for the rest of the year I need to average $790.26 per month LESS than our monthly savings target goal of $3,166.66.  But even with that, this will still be a tight race to get to $38K this year.  We have higher everything bills now with 2 extra adults in the house + more medical co-pays plus can I mention that Christmas is coming!?!?

Only 2 months left in the year to get to my savings goal.  We are quickly running out of time in 2016.


THOUGHTS going forward into November----

Semi-annual car insurance comes due in November.  The electric bill will rise as we will see the heat being turned up in November.  More medical co-pays will be due(including Daughter's $800+ one from August)in November so that will increase outlays this month.  But want based purchases should stay steady/low and we have no trips planned this month which always derails our spending.  We have some "already accounted for in the finances" gift cards/certs for eating out so not much spending on that category for November.  Gas charges will be up as we need to retrieve and return College Boy for the Thanksgiving holiday this month but that expense shouldn't top $50 for gas.

Besides the electric bill and medical payments it should be a fairly regular/low expenditure month for us....if I can keep the food spending down.

However....since I need to keep part of what I save in December out of my Savings Challenge to cover when the High Deductible Medical Plan deductibles kick back in on January 1st(and the cost of the first $3K in medical bills fall on us totally before we see any sort of benefit),
I need to aggressively save more in November than the $2,376.40 I "need" to save in each of the next two months, because in December I probably won't be able to save the other $2,376.40 I need to meet the 2016 Goal.  (Plus there will be increased holiday spending on at least gifts in December.)
So I am getting into Savings Ninja Mode for November.  Or I at least hope to. ;-)

So how was your October financially?
  

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

2016 $38K Savings Challenge......August 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 August report.....

I have posted my August 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 August with a staggeringly low amount.
The extra amount we ended the month of August with?.......$964.60

Income

We had $669.66 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in August totaled $294.94.  This included interest made on non-retirement accounts, a small per diem payment and a medical refund for over payment.

This brought us to our gain of $964.60
Since we have no debt, this goes into savings.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Phone charges, electric bill, internet and cash withdrawals were approximately the same as last month(Within $1 or so).
*  The gas card spending was down $65.47 from July as Hubs put less gas charges on the gas card.
*  The water bill was $9.69 lower than in July.  Obviously someone was not showering as much. ;-)
*  The direct medical spending was down $247.09 from July's total.  Lots of little co-pays and no big bills from Daughter's LA medical stuff....that is all paid off as of now.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The credit card bill was UP $1550.02 from the previous month's bill. Much of that was vacation spending.
*  The Electric bill was up 5.25.  Not bad considering more a/c was used in August than July.
*  House Insurance was due in August.  This is an annual bill.
* While I though I could get away with ditching car insurance on the third car, per state law we have to keep it insured until the designated dono charityr hauls it off, so I had to pay 3 months worth at $218.76.
We will get a pro rated refund once the car is physically gone.

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

With 8 month accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2016 is $23,253.64.

Final thoughts on August---

If not for the vacation spending on the c/c, a charity cash donation, an annual house insurance payment + a partial car insurance payment we would have hit the monthly goal of putting $3166.33 into the Savings Challenge kitty.
But life happens, doesn't it?

Compared to August 2015 we put $1897.55 LESS into savings this August.
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We have $23,253.64 saved so far in 2016, and we have only $14,746.36 left to save over the next 4 months at this point to reach our goal of $38K saved.  That averages out to $3686.59 a month for the rest of the year.  This means for the rest of the year I need to average $519.93 MORE per month than our monthly savings target goal of $3,166.66.
bleh.

Only 4 months left in the year to get to my savings goal.  We are quickly running out of time in 2016.


THOUGHTS going forward into September----
September Bill Armageddon month-Property Taxes are due. bleh.
Fortunately our 3rd paycheck month is September this year so that will offset taxes.
Add in that we have finally hit that mark in the year where the government taxes go down so we get a little more in each payment.
We should be on track to have a large amount to dump into the Savings Challenge at the end of September....unless life happens again.  ;-)

So how was your August financially?
  

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

$28K Savings Challenge......July 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 2015 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount slightly to $28,000 this year, $4K more than my goal for last year.

On to the July report.....

I have posted my July End of Month $28K $AVING$ 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 $2,333.33.

I have to report that we finished up July with a lovely amount of $.
The extra amount we ended the month of July with?.......$4,089.56

Income

We had $3933.47 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
 

Other monies received in July totaled $156.09.  This included interest made on non-retirement accounts and a per diem from Hub's work.

This brought us to our gain of $4089.56
Since we have no debt, this goes into savings.

Outgo

As for the expenses this July, 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.
*  The gas credit card went down $85.41.  Hubs didn't buy gas at the Sunoco station because it was so high last month there, even with his .5¢ discount.  He put most gas charges on the reg. credit card and bought at a non-Sunoco station.  This credit card earns us point we can cash in for gift card.
*  The credit card charges went down by $2873.  There was no vacation spending on it plus we put very few charges on it before it closed mid July.

 

HERE are the BAD THINGS(and the not so bad)
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*  Water bill went up by $10.63.
*  Electricity bill went up by $11.51(A bit more a/c used and the washer/dryer were run more with an extra person here.).
*  The cash withdrawals went up $326.52 due to using cash for some of the apartment hunting trip expenses and I bought a $100 Rite-Aid gift card this month.

 

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

July has been out "cheapest" month so far in 2015.  Our expenses in July came to only $2200.00.
And that was even with a few out of the ordinary expenses(a Sam's club c/c charge, some medical co-pays, buying a gift card and paying the garbage bill ahead for the last 6 months of 2015.  These all came out to about $700+/- beyond our normal monthly costs.
 

The 2015 TOTAL.....
With 7 months accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2015 is $22,886.92.
That averages $3269.56 a month put into savings so far. 
We have left $5,113.08 to put away this year to reach our $28K Goal.

With $22886.92 saved already we only need to put away $1,022.62 each of the next 5 months to reach the $28K goal for the year and that's very doable for us.  ;-)

Finally thoughts on July---

I am amazed at how fast we've been able to pile up the extra/unspent $ this year!  It helped that in April we had that third paycheck.....this always builds our momentum and when it comes early in the year it gets me revved up to keep going.
July was NOT a third paycheck month but even so by not putting charges from mid May to mid July on the c/c we were able to keep the bills somewhat low.  Not having any car repairs last month also helped in that regard.
I am stoked to only be $5K+ away from reaching this savings goal for 2015.


THOUGHTS going forward into August----

As for irregular expenses.....
We have both the house insurance and $695 of car insurance due the end of August.
There are no trips planned this month, except for a one day trek to take College Boy back to school.  We will be renting a van for that trip so there is some expense for that.
The credit card bill is going to top out at around $1900 by the time it closes next Tuesday.  Yikes!  I blame eating out(both traveling and having kids home to visit in July expenses)plus a little retail therapy(mostly Hubs and getting a few things for College Boy before he heads back to school).

The last big irregular expenses coming is end of September and that is the school tax bill(local property taxes here are broken up into a school tax bill and a local tax bill).  I pay one in March and the other in September.  If we can keep the c/c spending down for the rest of the year we are golden for making our savings goal this year. 8-)

With 7 months behind us we have $22,886.92 down and $5,113.08 left to save in 2015. 

 

So how was your July financially?
  

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

How Ready Are You For Retirement? Part 2

                    photo by Joe Belanger
Ok, so having a financial cushion is only one part of being ready for retirement.....albeit, a MASSIVE Part of it!

If you go into your retirement years without money(or for a rare few these days, a company funded pension)your Golden Years won't be so golden.
After all, it takes money to sustain even the most modest of lifestyles.
And let's face it, living on ONLY your Social Security check just won't cut it.

That Social Security check, once you hit the major age(depending on what year you were born in)is a help but unless you had a very high paying job for many years while working that check probably won't cover all your costs of living ANY sort of life.  A married couple has a better change of eeking out a modest lifestyle on only Social Security but really, if you don't have to, don't plan on SS being your own source of funds.
Again, there are exceptions, but for most people, you need other assets to draw upon in retirement.

And then, if you retire early there are those years of not working you need to bridge with cash until you can access your own directed retirement funds, your pension(if you get one)and/or your Social Security check.

And if you are in the US and retire early there is also that small worry about paying for your healthcare(unless your ex-employer funds something for you to draw to pay for these expenses)until you hit the golden Medicare years.

There are two other big components, besides how much cash you bring into retirement, that will have a large affect on you and what kind of retirement you have......

One--Your financial position at retirement in regard to debt.
Two--How much it will cost you to maintain any lifestyle.

So it pretty much goes without saying that you need to be DEBT-FREE once you decide to retire.
Retiring with personal or mortgage debt is not a good thing and not the optimal state to be in when you retire.
As commenter SAK noted in my last post on retirement, "The reality is that the biggest driver of what you need in retirement is driven by where you start your retirement. No debt, own home, savings, good health AND good health insurance.....".

The best position to begin retirement in is to carry no debt.
Period.
Get your house paid off(if you own one).
While it's possible to retire with a mortgage, if at all possible, it's not something you want going in.  A mortgage is just another bill(usually one of your larger ones)that will have to be paid until you get that sucker paid off.
Now it IS possible to retire with a small mortgage(that is going away soon once you retire)but most people and financial experts will tell you it's not an optimal state to be in.

And depending on the owning versus renting options, in your chosen area it may be cheaper to rent.
The real estate markets as you all know have been crazy since the early 2000's.  Some parts of the country it just makes no sense to buy a house.  The prices are just so high it would tie up all your assets and leave you with little to live off of.(Of course, when you die and your heirs sell the house they will be rolling in dough.)

 Many people go into the retirement years without a paid for house.  Just remember that the real estate market can change at any time, even if renting is cheaper now.  Rents will most certainly increase as the years go on so if you don't plan on retiring in a paid for house, adjust your living expense sheet to cover rental increases.....or be prepared to move(which will incur it's own set of new expenses and may not be something you are physically up to doing as you age).
Have a housing plan if you rent, but it's pretty smart to also have a back-up plan if markets and prices change drastically.

Again, as you look to your retirement years don't do anything stupid with debt.
Pay off your house, your car(s), any unsecured debt(credit cards), loans on lifestyle toys like boats, trailers, ATVs, etc.

And if you still have student loans going into retirement?....wow!  You need to get those paid off asap.
If you cosigned on any loans for your kids or others you need to make sure those are paid off as well......and on second thought, you really shouldn't have co-signed in the first place, especially if you are too close to retirement to get them paid off. ;-)

We all want to help our kids and family but really, is it a wise choice to put yourself into more debt for them?  The government will give your kids loans to go to school, but they are not going to loan you money to fund your retirement.
If you only have so much money and it's a choice better funding their college education and your retirement, pick your retirement.  After all, if you don't have enough to live on in retirement that means your kids may be obliged to support you when you can no longer work.  Don't plan on being a burden to your kids.  Between paying off student loans, their own mortgage, car payments and paying the expenses their own kids will cost to raise them, your adult children have their own hands full!

Besides, your kids will have a long working life to pay back their student loans while you may only have 10 years or so left to fund your retirement. 

Not that I am suggesting your kids wait for 30 years to get student loans paid back.....they should be doing whatever they can to pay those back asap!  Deferment interest really adds up on non-subsidized student loans.  Even though my husband had both undergrad and graduate school federal loans, bringing both into our marriage, that was a top priority early on in our marriage-to pay those loans off!  The sooner you pay off student loans the less interest you will pay and the sooner you get to decide what to spend your money on next.

Don't fund your kids' lifestyles by carrying debts for them into retirement.  If you feel compelled to loan money to your adult children then at least make sure it doesn't impact you too much financially and for gosh sakes, get something in writing that can be enforced spelling out the terms of the loan, in case they decide on down the road to just not pay that money back.

The other component that can have a big impact on your retirement is how much you will need to cover your lifestyle once you stop working.
You need to take a good hard look at  your expenses, both the every month regular ones as well as the irregular expenses that only come up so often in your year/life.

Hopefully you will not be supporting kids(grandkids too) or parents when you retire.  Optimally it will just be yourself(and your spouse if you are married).

Do you know approximately what it will cost you each month to live the life you want to?
If you are on the downslide into retirement(over 50 usually)but not retired yet, it's never too early to sit down and go over the numbers.

Find a good calculator online to project how much money you can/will draw each month from your savings(and how much your Social Security will be once that kicks in).
Then write down all the expenses you will have in your golden years and see if your savings/retirement funds/SS projections are enough to cover your projected living costs.
I know it won't be totally accurate but just having some idea of where you stand with your savings rate NOW can let you know if you are on target or need to beef up what you put away/invest.

Since your expenses will change as you age(you will spend more on lifestyle during the early part of retirement, while the later years will see that spending shift to being more heavily involved with medical expenses, even after you hit Medicare age)it might be wise to figure what you need when you are "young" retired(in your 50's, 60's and some folks into their 70's)as opposed to your last years(70's-90's and beyond).
You will most probably travel a lot more as a newly retired(if you are given to travel as a way to fill your time).
You may also want to volunteer your time in causes you believe in or work part time as you ease into retirement.  While a part time job will give you a little cash injection it won't fund your lifestyle and both non-paid work as well as paid work will mean more expenses incurred on your retirement budget.

A good thing to try when figuring out your retirement expenses is to see how little you can live on BEFORE you retire.
Try it for a month or two to see what level of lifestyle you are comfortable living.
Of course there will be things you can't do while working(like not using your car or public transport).
but you could go without eating out, or cable or cell phone plans, electronic toys, traveling.
All I saying is to find your basic living NUT.
The bare minimum you will need to spend in retirement to sustain you(and your spouse if applicable).
How much you need to spend each month for the bare necessities you are comfortable living with(or without).
If you can cover your NUT each month with your retirement fund withdrawals/pensions/social security you are doing aok.

Of course, if you will have more money than that amount each month, good for you, and you won't have to live a monk's life if you don't want to in retirement.
You can always add in more expenses to cover the extras in your budget as your money holds out.
Hopefully you will have enough to cover the needs of your life and can easily add back in some of your wants.

Now don't just sit there........get cracking on a Plan for your Retirement!
It's never too early. ;-)

Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge Report for JUNE 2012

Ok, here is my JUNE Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off.  It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against "unconscious" spending.

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 is $20,000.  It's well below what I've saved in previous years I know.  But we also have a goal of paying for 4 home improvement projects at Chez Sluggy this year.  We plan on cash-flowing these projects with the additional money we save and/or our income tax refund.

On to the June report.....

I have posted my JUNE End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right 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 $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up June in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of June with?.......$4548.57!

Income
We had $4534.74 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $11.97 in Dividend revenue & $1.86 in interest(HAHAHAHAHA!) and  you get a total of $4548.57.

Outgo
Traditionally June has been a fairly normal month as far as spending goes.  No big tax bills or lump payments.  Just a higher water bill(due to opening the pool)and some costs associated with getting the kids off to summer camp.

As for the expenses this June......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* A third paycheck this month!

* The electric stayed about the same as May's bill.  It's still too high for me....

*  No car maintenance/repairs bills TO PAY this month.....we've got a whopper coming up in July however. 8-(

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The quarterly garbage bill was due....due but not expected.

*  Credit card bill was fairly high at $1300+.

*  The beagle needed surgery to remove a toe with a tumor.  It was not cancer(thankfully)but was cutting off blood flow to part of the foot, so had to be removed.  $400 of unexpected spending.

*  Cash spending(my food money and Hub's WAM money)was WAY HIGH again this month.  We need to sit down and talk about why this continues to be a problem.

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

I know I said in May that the 3rd paycheck would NOT go into the Savings Challenge pot, but would instead go toward the home improvement projects this year.  But we have an unexpected $1500+ car repair bill(which will be due in July) and our mini-vacation expenses(which was suppose to go onto the credit card-to be paid off in July) were paid for in cash instead in June, so we will put the extra check into the savings and then pull out of last year's Savings Challenge amount, the actual costs of the mini-vacation.  We also kept our income tax refund separate from the savings challenge monies, so we still have that to tap into for the home improvement projects.

Basically, it's all from the same big pile of money in the end so not a big deal.  This way, we put more into savings than we use from the old savings.  I know this makes no sense but trust me.....lol

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 6 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is $13,971.40.

We hit our monthly goal in June and then some.  After falling behind what our monthly amount needed to be during the first 5 months of the year, now we are ahead of where we need to be.

With 6 months done, we should be at $10,000  saved for the year, so $3,971.40 ahead for the year!


I am so glad that June was a 3 paycheck month and we could put extra into the Savings Challenge and get a little ahead of my goal.  This extra paycheck in the cycle is the ONLY REASON we were able to put that much aside in June.....well "that" and we didn't go out and splurge on crap when we saw how much we had leftover at the end of June. ;-)

It's good because in the next 3 months we have largish irregular expenses coming due.
July is a car repair and homeowner's insurance.
August is semi-annual car insurance.
September is school taxes.

They are irregular because they don't come every month....like the water or electric bill.  But two things about irregular bills--
1.They are usually for large amounts(due to the fact that they don't come round every month).
2. You KNOW THEY ARE COMING!  Yep, every year....so don't stick your head in the sand and ignore them.  Plan for them.

Here is my plan for handling these 3 bills in the next few months.....

While the car repair bills in July, combined with the homeowner's insurance will top $2K, I will be able to pay them out of the reg. paycheck income.  The 2 variables in our budget, the food spending and the credit card bill will be less than anticipated/planned for in July, which will allow me to pay these irregular bills and the regular bills AND still have money to put into the Savings Challenge.

We get another extra paycheck month in August, so I'll split that check between paying the car insurance in August and the school taxes in September, leaving the regular paychecks those two months to pay regular bills and enough left over to put toward the Savings Challenge.

At this point, I only need to come up with $6028.60 for the rest of the year to make my $20K goal.  This breaks down to $1004.77 per month for the next 6 months.  I am confident I can find $1005 per month to set aside for savings.....barring some untoward event.


As for a look ahead at JULY.....
* Big car repair due.
* House insurance due.
* No trips planned other than maybe going to get #2 Son from camp this month.
* No celebrations here, no parties, just Boring McBorington at Chez Sluggy.

So how was your June financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
How much did you save in June? 

 Even if it doesn't look like a lot of money, figure out what percentage of your income you saved.  You might feel that it's a more substantial amount in those terms!

We saved 47% of our take home income in June.  My goal is to shoot for 50% each month.  Even with that extra paycheck last month however, I couldn't make 50%, as our expenses were just too high.

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good.
Did you have debt you were able to pay on?
Did you pay off a car, a house or a credit card?
Did something financial blow up on you last month?
What are you doing financially to change your life?

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