2018 Income & Spending Report.....July Update

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 July 2018 report--

I had 2 goals for July......
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 July in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of July with?.......$2795.65

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in July---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3218.16(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1813.48
* One third of 401K withdrawal balance(after funding Sinking Fund)for July of $615.69 #
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $372.92
* Blogging revenue check of $116.10
* LA house water deposit refund $34.90

Total "Income" for July......$6171.25

# We made a 3rd quarter 401K withdrawal in July of $6K.  After withholding for taxes due we got $5147.07 net.  $3300.00 of that gets put into the Sinking Fund to cover irregular bills coming due this quarter(house insurance in Aug., LTC insurance and school taxes in Sept). $1847.07 is the balance of the 3rd quarter 401K withdrawal.  This got divided by 3 and gives us $615.69 extra in July to add to the income for the month(Aug. and Sept. also got $615.69)for general expenses.


Expenses in July---

* Healthcare Premium for July was $1813.48.(paid with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in July came to $1562.12


Sinking Fund--The balance in the Sinking Fund coming into July was $557.48.  The addition of $3300.00 in July from the 401K withdrawal gives us a balance of $3857.48. No irregular bills were due in July so the Sinking Fund goes into August at $3857.48.


We went into July with $17,010.20 in the Slush Fund.
Add in July's overage of $2795.65 to the Slush Fund and it stands at $19,805.85 going into August..

Outgo

As for the variable 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 in June(Within $1 or so).
*  The water bill was $25.62 lower than last month.
*  The credit card bill was $775.73 lower than June.
*  The cash WAM withdrawals were the same as last month.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as in June.

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The electric bill was $10.26 higher than last month.
*  The gas card charges were $46.26 higher than in June.
*  We had a dental bill of $30.60
*  We had a Discover card bill of $11.43(Hubs' extra card)
*  The Passport cost me $160.

The Food Budget costs for July 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 July in the black with $2795.65 in new general overage to add to the Slush Fund.
The Sinking Fund goes into August standing at $3857.48

FINAL THOUGHTS on July---
It was a very good month in terms of low spending/bills and a couple of extra revenue streams(blogging, utility deposit).

THOUGHTS going forward into August 2018----This month there is one irregular bills due(house insurance at $648).
The WAM withdrawal will be the same in August, $200.
I don't foresee any extraordinary bills other than the c/c bill is a little higher due to some irregular charges(yearly Ancestry account fee, my car was serviced, fees for birth certificate, $300 in eating out and beer purchases while Eldest son was here, adding up to the tune of $600+).

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!

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

Income & Spending Report.....July Update

* As Hubs retired effective July 1, I am no longer doing my 2017 Savings Challenge.
We ended that on June 30th.  The goal was $17.5K saved for the half of 2017 that Hubs was working.
We actually saved $21,100.42 all totaled, so $3600.42 over goal!

Now that we are living on savings and an annuity(no annuity until October)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.

The issue now is to cover all the bills with just the annuity payment each month plus some liquid savings(checking account cash)until October.
October is when Hubs turns 59.5 and then we can access the 401K retirement savings.  Until then things will be tight here at Chez Sluggy, so all the leftover monthly cash will get tucked aside to pay irregular bills that will be popping up in August and September.

Got it?
OK, let's move on.

Though nothing will be put toward it the rest of 2017, the 2017 $17.5K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals are still available
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers HERE.

On to the July report--
I have 2 goals for July.....
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 July to apply toward irregular bills that are coming due the next two months.

I have to report that we finished up July in the black.....barely.
The extra amount we ended the month of July with?.......$154.88

Income

The income in July was the monthly annuity payment and Hubs' last paycheck(which was only for 1 week of work, his last).
We had -$17.60 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in July totaled $172.48.  This was interest made on non-retirement accounts.
I am thankful for the small crumbs of interest in July.  If not for that little bit we'd have been negative at the end of July.

This brought us to our gain of $154.88
Since we have no debt, this will get put aside to apply to the irregular bill coming due in August--the homeowners insurance.

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(Within $1 or so).
*  The water bill was $7.62 less than in June.
*  The gas card bill was $40.88 lower than last month.
*  The cash withdrawals were $220 lower than in June.

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The electric bill was $17.46 more than last month's mostly due to the washer/dryer running more and the kids having the a/c units in their rooms turned on all month.
*  The credit card bill was $43.94 higher in July compared to June.
*  The medical bills were $5.72 higher this month over last month's bills.
*  We had to pay deposits to have the electric and water put in our name at the LA house which came to $600.
*  I have a c/c charge for $153.41 for replacement clothing for me(mostly underthings and a Winter coat).
*  We had to pay the July health insurance premium of $1577.66(this use to come out of Hubs' paycheck automatically).  We haven't set up using the health insurance account through his employer yet to pay this bill so it came out of our monthly income.
*  I sent a birthday check to our eldest son for his July birthday.
*  We had a small bill for electric at the LA house.

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

So we end July in the black with $154.88 to apply to the house insurance bill due in August.  That bill amounts to $668, so I just have to eek out another $513.12 from our August income to cover that along with all the regular monthly bills.


FINAL THOUGHTS on July---July kicked our asses mostly.
Between a high credit card bill, the utility deposits in LA and having to pay the health insurance premium OOP there were lots of irregular/variable bills last month.  These combined cost us $2100 or so over our usual "nut".  Making some interest on our accounts made the difference between making enough this month to cover all the bills.


THOUGHTS going forward into August of 2017----
August will be tight this year, I won't lie.
Between still paying the health insurance premium out of regular income and the yearly house insurance premium being due this month AND having a reduced income(just the annuity payment), August will be a "squeaker".  I am SO glad I have that $154.88 leftover after paying July's expenses to put toward the August bills!  That just might mean the difference between staying in the black for August.

The one good thing about August and September bills will be that all the Road Trip expenses put on the credit card(some due on August's bill and some due on September's bill)will be paid out of our savings and NOT our August income.  We planned and saved for this trip so it won't impact our regular bills/income.

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!

I hope this year was the one were you cleaned up your finances and paid off your debts.
That you planned to set something aside if you didn't already or increased what you banked now for your future self.
Or paid 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