Income & Spending.....The April Edition

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 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 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 2023.

This month I also had a goal to survive the move and have a little fun.  So far, so good.;-)

I can report that we finished up April in the black.

The amount we ended the month of April with?...$3,276.04

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in April---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $3,235.81(after tax withholding)

*  SS income of $3879.00

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $377.41

*  Quarterly 401K withdrawal of $5,200.13(after tax withholding)

*  Venmo payment for a rebate deal $3.88

Total "Income" for April....$12,696.23

Expenses in April---
* Irregular bills in April were $2424.64

* Variable Expenses in April came to $5,800.73

* Health insurance premiums totaling $1,194.82*

Total Expenses....$9,420.19

$12,696.23-$9,420.19=$3,276.04

* Now that Hubs is on Medicare I include his supplement payment in variable/regular monthly expenses instead of the Health insurance premium.

Slush into April of $62,789.60 in that Fund, add the overage of $3,276.04 in April and we get $66,065.64 into May's 2023's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $3,276.04.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The cell phone, WAM, the water bill and internet were the same as last month.

* The Health Insurance Premium went down by $1,076.17 from March,

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  My Amazon c/c was $401.95 higher than last month

*  Hubs Amazon c/c was $2,703.81 higher than in March.

*  The Mastercard c/c was $350.41 higher than last month.

*  We had irregular bills due in April too--

  *   LA 2022 state taxes paid $784.00

  *  BOA c/c trip charges of $814.60

  *  My car had two faulty tire sensors replaced for $162.14

  *  We had plumbing work done at a cost of $663.90 ouch

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on April 2023---Regular and Irregular bills with both higher than in March.  The one bright spot was our health insurance premium was cut in half since Hubs is on Medicare now.  The plumber was costly but a necessary expense. We knew going into April the last of the cruise costs were due and the LA state taxes as well.  The car problem was an unforeseen expense.  The higher Mastercard bill was mostly a new toilet(see plumber hiring above).  I put those discounted gift cards bought before Easter on my Amazon c/c accounting for some of that increase in spending.  But the Mama Jama expense was on Hubs Amazon c/c-buying a riding lawn mower!

THOUGHTS going forward into May 2023--We've got car insurance(we'll pay it annually going forward)which is our only irregular bill for May.  We'll have more cruise/London expenses, and Hubs will most likely want to take more WAM in May for the trip so we can get British pounds and Euros for the places where we'll need them.  In addition since Hubs is now on Medicare our monthly Annuity payment will be reduced going forward.  This was a "front loaded" annuity-more of a payment until you hit Medicare/65 and then just over $500 less per month after then.  Even with that while I am still on private insurance we are still better off financially with those changes.

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 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    

Getting Closer.....

We are now under the three weeks left mark before we head over that financial cliff called "retirement".
17 days to be exact.

Friday was payday so there are 1.5 paychecks left until there are no more. Hubs last paycheck will be for only 1 week's worth of pay, not two.

We sent the notarized retirement papers in last week and everything is in order in that regard so we are set to begin annuity payments and COBRA medical coverage on the proper dates.

Tomorrow we will attend Hubs retirement luncheon with all his coworkers at a local restaurant, followed by an open house in his office building.

Every now and then I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach over money.

I know, I know.....
We've planned the finances out over many money meetings over many, MANY years along the way.

And I have a sheet of paper here on my desk with what's in our financial armory come June 30th after the paychecks stop rolling in.
And I KNOW in my head that we have this financially covered.
But even so.......

It's darned hard to wrap your head around a "New Normal" when it comes to finances.
No more growing the Net Worth and saving every spare nickel for retirement.
Retirement is HERE!

Changing from a saver into a spender is hard.
My brain isn't wired that way anymore. lolz

As for changes other than money........

Routines will likely not change much(other than Hubs won't be driving off to work 5 times a week).

Once this Summer Road Trip happens things will settle down to a new routine, but similar to our old routine.

Perhaps I'll get more help around the house(or Hubs will do ALL the outside/yard work now).
He says he'll help out more with chores so we'll see what that turns out to be.

I see a bit more of eating out maybe for us at lunchtime in retirement since he'll be home weekdays.
I doubt we'll do more shopping.
Hubs will definitely spend more time on his 3 main hobbies-chess, beer making and reading.

It will be interesting to see how our relationship changes with being together so much more after he leaves his job. If it changes at all.
Luckily we both have interests outside of the other's interests so we don't need to be, nor do we want to be glued at the hip.

Spending won't change much except that Hubs won't need as much WAM now(aka walking around money).  He won't be buying lunches, coffees, etc. at work.

We'll need to have a meeting to come up with a new retirement budget around here, one that is based on what the monthly annuity payment will be.  Especially the first 3 months when we can't withdraw anything from the 401K account.  We have some big expenses coming up the latter part of 2017-house insurance, 6 mo. car insurance and property taxes, along with the Summer trip expenses(which will be on two c/c statements slated to arrive late July and late August)so we'll need to figure out where to draw cash from to cover those big irregular expenses.

And then there is the Louisiana house situation too.  The renters are moving out soon and we need to get the house fixed up and put on the market to sell.  This will mean more money spent in the short term. Oh goody.......
Once that is sold we'll have more cash to add to the coffers so it's all good.  8-)

It's harder to go into a fixed income situation when you still have almost adult children dependent on you.  College Boy has one more year left of college(really 1 semester and 1 internship's worth)so that's an added expense on us and Daughter is living with us so she can finish college as well, though she isn't as much of a financial drain as CB at this point.  We don't pay for her car insurance or school but her living here means more cost in utilities and food.

It's scary and exciting, all at once, venturing into unknown waters, even if you've done sufficient financial preparation.

I keep telling myself that "change is good".
But I'll be so glad when we are past this Transition Time.

And I just keep reminding myself to breathe deeply.

Sluggy