Income & Spending Report.....August 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 an annuity and 401K$(no 401K$ 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(probably), 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 August report--
I have 2 goals for August.....
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 apply toward irregular bills that are coming due in the next month.

I have to report that we finished up August in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of August with?.......$562.41

Income

The income in August was the monthly annuity payment and the July overage of $154.88.
We had $250.72 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in August totaled $311.69.  This was interest made on non-retirement accounts and a blogging revenue check.

This brought us to our gain of $562.41
Since we have no debt, this will get put aside to apply to the irregular bill coming due in September--school taxes(these are a component of our property taxes).

Outgo

As for the expenses this August, 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 $11.98 less than in July.
*  The gas card bill was $49.63 lower than last month.
*  The cash withdrawals were $200 lower than in July.
*  The electric bill was $33.52 lower than last month's bill.  I guess the kids actually turned off the a/c when they weren't using it. lolz
*  The credit card bill was $1003.58 lower in August compared to July. (This doesn't count trip charges on the c/c as those are paid out of monies put away for the trip.)

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The medical bills were $6.40 higher this month over last month's bills.
*  Home insurance was due in August.  Nuff' said. 8-(
*  We had to pay the August health insurance premium of $1577.67(this use to come out of Hubs' paycheck automatically).  We hadn't set up using the health insurance account through his employer yet to pay this bill so it came out of our monthly income.  UPDATE-Papers are filed so we are waiting to receive reimbursement.  Since we paid the last 3 months of healthcare premiums out of our regular income, once the reimbursement check is received these funds will be added back to our "Other Income" category and used toward bills, both regular and irregular.

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

So we end August in the black with $562.41 to apply to the school/property taxes bill in September.

The school taxes bill amounts to $2012.31, so I just have to eek out another $1449.90 from our September annuity income to cover that along with all the regular monthly bills.

As we'll only have $1763.55 of our annuity to live on after paying the school taxes I'll have to pull money from regular savings to cover the healthcare premium of $1771.94 for September.  That bill would have swallowed what was left of our annuity check after paying the school taxes and left us in the hole to the tune of $8.39 AND WE'D STILL HAVE TO PAY ALL OUR REGULAR BILLS FOR SEPTEMBER STILL!
Ugh!!!
Luckily I have regular savings(in our checking account)and I don't have to dip into the online accounts earning a pittance of interest.

Hubs has been taking his time to do the paperwork to get reimbursed for our healthcare premiums from our RMSA account which has been annoying me.  Now that he's FINALLY gotten around to filing, he just told me that it may take two MONTHS for them to reimburse those premium expenses!
This means I'll have to yank another $1700+ out of savings for two more months before we get that money back!
Ugh ugh ugh!
I am so thankful we have saved so much over the last ten years or so out of our regular paychecks so I can not have to worry at nights over this snapfu and know we have enough cash to cover it all.

Enough of my ranting, let's move on.

FINAL THOUGHTS on August---Surprisingly our regular bills in August came in at under $800(not counting the portion of c/c bills for the road of course). But add in the homeowners annual insurance payment, the healthcare premium and a $55 store c/c bill(for clothing for me) and the bills topped $3K. Ugh.

THOUGHTS going forward into September of 2017----
September will be more than tight this year.  There is no way the annuity payment, a bit of interest and the August overage $ will cover all the bills AND the school taxes.
Sigh.
We have always covered any irregular bills with our extra monthly income(as we mostly seemed to live well below our means and had cash to spare each month).

Now that funds are tighter(much tighter until Oct.!)we need a new game plan in regard to those irregular bills.

I'll be setting up a sinking fund to cover these irregular costs for 2018, meaning I'll set aside a specific amount each month in 2018 so that when these irregulars come due I have cash enough in that account to pay them without dipping into regular savings.

There is one more big irregular bill in 2017 coming in November--the semi-annual car insurance premium of approx. $900.  I should be able to cover that with regular income this year but I think I'll begin the Sinking Fund in October of this year anyway and get a jump on the 2018 irregular expenses so we can cash flow all the irregulars in 2018.

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

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!

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

2017 Savings Challenge......February 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 savings 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 2017 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.
I have decided to lower the goal amount to save for the year to $35K.
I barely made my $38K goal in 2016, what with our added expenses, so I think it's wise to back down the goal a bit again this year so I am not so stressed through out the year worrying about making the number.

We will have higher medical expenses this year and although the BF doesn't live here anymore the Daughter does still, so some everyday bills will be higher than when it was just Hubs and I(and College Boy here during school breaks).

If I do better than I think I will and save OVER my goal that's great too. 8-)

On to the February report.....

I have posted my Febuary End of Month $35K $AVING$ 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 $2,9916.66.

I have to report that we finished up February with a surprisingly to me large amount.
The extra amount we ended the month of February with?.......$2200.49

Income

We had $2054.29 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.

Other monies received in February totaled $146.20.  This was interest made on non-retirement accounts.

This brought us to our gain of $2200.49
Since we have no debt, this all goes into savings, BUT this month I am holding back $500 to put toward March medical bills, so only $1700.49 of that gain will go toward the Savings Challenge for February.

Outgo

As for the expenses this February, 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 $9.08 lower than last month's bill.
*  The electric bill was $102.77 less than in January.  All this weirdly warm weather has paid off here.
*  Cash withdrawals were the same as last month.  With Hubs still working from home, he doesn't go out much or have much opportunity to spend cash on coffee and such.  Now and again, he gets a sandwich out or takes me to Bob Evans for lunch with this $ but that's about it.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The credit card bill was $798.09 higher in February.  $920.73 of this bill was medical charges.
*  The gas card bill was $69.52 higher than January's bill.
*  There was a Kohl's charge bill of $4.70 after I used a gift card to purchase supportive shoes for Hubs to walk in as he recovers from his injury.
*  We had 1 irregular bills due in February-3 months of garbage disposal service.

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

With 2 months accounted for, our Savings Challenge Grand Total for 2017 is $5700.54.

FINAL THOUGHTS on February---

I knew February would be a bit lackluster since we were still operating with a partial disability pay situation this month.  Plus I needed to hold back some excess income to use in March to put toward medical bills that would arrive then.
Compared to February 2016 we saved $305.08 LESS to put into savings this February. It would have been about the same amount as last February if I didn't reserve that $500 to use in March.

THOUGHTS going forward into March of 2017----

Now that Hubs is back on regular pay rates we should make better progress with our savings goals.
Well except for March being one of our irregular bills/property tax months AND all those medical bills that I expect to arrive this month.

Two months into the year and there is $29,299.46 left to hit our $35K Saving Challenge target for the year.  This averages out to $2,929.95 per month for the next 10 months.

So how was your February financially?
  

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

2016's Savings Challenge Goal

$28K Savings Challenge Updates & 2016's Savings Challenge Goal

So this Savings Challenge I do every year, well, since 2009 at least........I use the previous year's SC $ saved as an emergency fund for the following year.

IE-the money saved in 2012 was used to fund emergencies & irregular expenses in 2013 when regular income didn't cover everything.
Then at the end of following year, when all the emergencies that were going to take place had, I took whatever was left in that SC and put it into an interest bearing non-retirement account of some sort and it became "permanent". And hopefully when we retire it will be added to our sack o' money/retirement funds.

I started my personal Savings Challenge in 2009 when I was on a Yahoo group called "The Compact".  I was younger and pretty naïve about how much I could save from our income then and challenged myself to put away 60 THOUSAND DOLLARS!  Yes, 6 with 4 Zeroes after it. lolz

I didn't even get halfway there.
But you know what?
It didn't matter that I failed at my goal.
What mattered is that I had a concrete number goal and I saved something even if I didn't achieve that goal number!

They say it's hard to save money if you don't have a target so figure out your target.  Then you can set about figuring out how to reach it.

In 2009 I saved $23,865.36
We used $13,460.81 of that money in 2010 for unexpected expenses, sending the remaining $10,404.55 to permanent savings.

In 2010 I saved $34,019.88
We used $427.81 of that money in 2011, sending the remaining $33,592.07 to permanent savings.

In 2011 I saved $34,461.31
We used $2,627.16 of that money in 2012, sending the remaining $31,834.15 to permanent savings.

In 2012 I saved $28,907.08
We used $23,611.66 of that money in 2013, sending the remaining $5,295.42 to permanent savings.

In 2013 I saved $24,033.60
We used $0.00 of that money in 2014, sending the full $24,033.60 to permanent savings.

In 2014 I saved $27,427.06
We used $0.00 of that money in 2015 sending the full $27,427.06 to permanent savings.

In 2015 I saved $40,000.00 and this will be the pot of money we draw from for any emergencies/irregular expenses in 2016 that we can't cash flow, before sending whatever remains to permanent savings when the year ends.

You can see from above that some years we had many unexpected expenses and most years we had few.....what we spent from the previous year's savings varied from $23,611.66 in 2012 to using $0 in 2015.
I am just thankful I DID save money because if there hadn't been that pot of money sitting in the bank in 2012, we would have had to delay or worse, put some of those expenses on a credit card!

So with 6 full years of my Savings Challenges(2009-2014) tucked away for our retirement years my total is sitting at $132,586.85.

Again when 2016 is over and everything is paid for, whatever is left from that $40K I saved in 2015 will go into permanent savings for our retirement years.
************

Now I need to settle on a savings goal amount for 2016.
Since we actually saved $40K in 2015(without the bonus $), I think I'll keep the goal at that level for 2016.

$40K is possibly doable for a second year, given our income level, but it's not a given.  If I keep my frugal nose to the grindstone and no big expenses wallop us this year we could make that number again.

$40K averages out to saving $3,333.33 per month.

Now how do I plan to get to this goal?

I'll remain frugal in my spending, keeping our living expenses as low as possible.

* We'll keep food spending in check.
* Utility bills will be monitored and usage adjusted if it gets too high.
* Gift giving costs and Christmas spending will be tracked.
* We don't foresee any larger car bills this year(as 2 of the 3 cars are newish), our housing is basically sound and HVAC systems are running well so those expenses shouldn't be a factor in 2016, just gas for cars and regular maintenance on cars and house systems.
* Entertainment will be sought out that is inexpensive or free.
* Travel will be done on the cheap if possible.
* Clothing spending will be low this year.  Last year much of College Boy's wardrobe was replaced and I also bought clothes for the Daughter but those costs won't be duplicated in 2016.  I'll try to do some sewing when I need clothing items replaced and Hubs is good to go with his wardrobe.

Items that may hijack my saving goal--
* We will have some extra expenses in 2016 with home repairs(getting things ready to sell in a couple of years).
* Hubs current medical issue with no resolution in sight yet, so the medical co-pays are a wild card in the spending plan.  Also any unforeseen medical issues that may crop up during the year.
* 1 child still in college and dependent on us and another child still on our medical insurance will mean higher spending than if we didn't have dependents at this point in our lives.

So who wants to play along and save some of their income in 2016?
Figure out what you can reasonably live on and put the rest away for your retirement....or if you still have debt(and why do you still have debt at this point in your life?!?)put something extra this year toward that goal and get yourself DEBT-FREE and/or MORTGAGE-FREE before you retire.

Set whatever goal feels right for your life.  Experts have said that people who set goals do better with their money overall.  Set a goal to keep yourself accountable.  Better yet, post a goal on your blog or in a community forum online and let other people's eyes help keep you more accountable.  8-)

Yah, it might not be fun to track your expenses but if you don't know where your money is going(and with most folks the money DOES GO!)how can you know if you keep any and how much you keep?

Tell us your savings goal for this year and how you plan to go about achieving that number.


Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge Report for May 2012

Ok, here is my May 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 May report.....

I have posted my MAY 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 May in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of May with?.......$2,832.03!

Income
We had $2728.26 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $2.00 in Rebates applied against the food expenses, $101.31 in blog ad revenue & $.46 in interest(HAHAHAHAHA!) and  you get a total of $2,832.03.

Outgo
Traditionally May has been a fairly normal month as far as spending goes.  No big tax bills or lump payments. 

As for the expenses this May......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The water bill was boringly the same.

*  The mild winter temps continued, which decreased our heating/electric bill by about $25.  The second consecutive month for a decrease....yay!

*   The credit card was $400 less than last month's bill.  It was still over $1K though. bleh!
*  No car maintenance/repairs bills this month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Credit card bill was fairly high at $1000+.

*  We bought a new dishwasher.

*  The new dishwasher meant hiring a plumber to install it(our house is weird)....that was $265!!!

*  Another vet bill for 1 of the dogs.  Not large but it's still unusual spending.

*  Cash spending(my food money and Hub's WAM money)was WAY HIGH!  I'm going to have a talk with him about reigning it in this weekend.

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

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 4 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is $9,422.83.

We hit our monthly goal in May and then some, so now we are ahead of where we need to be

With 5 months done, we should be at $8,333.35 saved for the year, so $1,089.48 ahead for the year!

As for a look ahead at JUNE.....
* There will be another vet bill for surgery the beagle had this week.(It was put on the credit card.)
* The quarterly garbage bill will be due.
* Mini-vacation will cost money but most charges will be put on credit card so not due until July.(Good for June's figures but not for July's.)
* A 3rd paycheck in JUNE!!!  We will NOT use it toward our saving challenge goal however.  This check will go toward paying the home improvement projects that NEED to begin soon.

I figure I should be able to meet the monthly savings goal for this Challenge in June, barring any money fiascoes.

So how much did YOU save in May?  Did you spend all your income or did you put something aside?

Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses?
Do you have debt?

Start living below your means NOW and put some money away for emergencies and/or start paying down your debt.
And once you get debt-free, continue to throw that debt repayment money into savings.  You won't believe how fast you can accumulate wealth once you have no debt!

It is NEVER too early or too late to SAVE SOMETHING.
And the amount you save is NEVER too small!
Anything you can spare will go a long way to make you more financially secure in this crazy unstable world we live in.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal or Debt Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $20K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Put it out there online and let us all stalk your money too. ;-)

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

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

$32K Savings Challenge.....DECEMBER & 2011 Grand Total RESULTS

Ok, here is my last Savings Challenge Update post for 2011.
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 so much spending.

On to the December report.....

I have posted my DECEMBER End of Month $32K $AVING$ 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 $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up December in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of December with?.......$4,355.36!

Income
We had $4186.70 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $6.00 in Rebates applied against the food expenses, $.84 in Interest on the Checking Account, $141.82 in dividends, and a refund of $20 on our car insurance rate toward the Savings Challenge & you get a total of $4355.36.

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.
This month we blew that goal out of the water, thanks to an extra paycheck.  8-)

Outgo
As for the expenses in December......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* The electric bill went up only $71.....that's good seeing as the heat was on!

* The food spending was almost on budget at $307.74
* The water bill was $50.50.  This is low when all the kids are home(extra showers and laundry).
* There were no taxes due this month...yay!!
* I continued to consistently sell in my eBay store in December.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* The credit card bill was $1750+.  Even though $350 of that was fees paid to eBay on sales there we were still over our usual $1000 average on the credit card bill.  No matter the amount of the bill, it is paid off in full each month, ALWAYS.

* $1180 in car maintenance/repair bills.  Seems every time we take a car in for oil change or regular maintenance they find something else. ugh.
* Had $85 in unexpected medical associated bills to pay. (Need I mention #2 son lost his retainer AGAIN after getting the 1st replacement 2 weeks before hand, so we had to pay for ANOTHER replacement. He's repaying us for it with his allowance.)
*  Still a LARGE amount of cash withdrawals by Hubs. I'm not complaining this month because some of it was him buying me Christmas presents. ;-)

The Food Budget costs for December are in another post, which is located HERE.  We kept almost to the food budget amount again in December so I am calling it all good.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 12 months behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2011 is $34,461.31.
YES!
We blew our $32K Goal out of the water!!!

The extra paycheck in December gave us a hefty amount to tuck away after all the bills were paid AND left lots of room for Christmas indulgence!

So how did your savings go for the year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses?
Do you have debt?
If you don't have the former, start living below your means NOW and put some money away for emergencies.
If you have the latter, start living below your means NOW and put a smaller amount away for emergencies and use the rest of your leftover cash each month to pay down your debt.
And once you get debt-free, continue to throw that debt repayment money into savings.
It is NEVER too early or too late to SAVE SOMETHING.
And the amount you save is NEVER too small!
Anything you can spare will go a long way to make you more financially secure in this crazy unstable world we live in.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal or Debt Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Put it out there online and let us all stalk your money too. ;-)

So how was your Deember financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

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

$32K Savings Challenge of 2011.....January's Totals

Since I foresee food prices, as well as other expenses/costs/taxes to rise in 2011, I am only upping my Savings Challenge Goal by $2,000.  While I hope to bring in more income this year, I feel we will be spending more on necessities in 2011, thus the small increase in goals.

So I present to you the beginning of the 2011 $32K Savings Challenge!

I have posted my JANUARY End of Month $32K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals really 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 $2,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up January in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of January with was.......$2,293.97.

Income
We had $2206.37 left over of DH's salary after our expenses were deducted. Before you decide that we are idle rich folks here, remember that we have NO mortgage or car payment, having paid off both of those debts.  Oh, yah....and we hardly ever buy "things".   I will say that Hubs has a very generous paycheck. ;-)
Add in $87.60 of Rebates applied against the food expenses and you have a deposit of $2293.97 toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal so we didn't meet our 2nd monthly goal in Jan. bleh

Outgo
As for the expenses in January....there were a couple large bills.  The credit card bill(which is paid off each month)was over $1700.  Then the electric bill came in VERY high this month since we lost our off-peak rate discount at the end of 2010.  There was also a smaller payment, the garbage bill which is paid quarterly due in Jan.

The good news in January is that the cable bill did Not go up as it usually does each Jan. and we were able to reduce our cash withdrawals by about $300.  Hubs spending other than gasoline purchases, is mostly through cash bank withdrawals and he does NOT keep/give me receipts.  He is my Wild Card in trying to keep spending down and staying on a tight budget.  It drives me nuts but there is little I can do about it other than give him the stink eye.... ;-)

The Food Budget costs for January are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in January was a smallish disaster....ugh!

What's ahead for February.....
Looking back at last year's check register, I see we are bound to have another whopper of an electric bill this month and we have the semi-annual Car Insurance bill due.
Bleh.
I know our rates aren't as high as many areas of the country, given we have 3 cars on the road at present and 2 teenage drivers on the policy(one of them is also male which is even worse!lol), but it's still a LOT of money to shell out and I write that check under great duress! 8-P

On the bright side, I am going to try to keep a closer eye on Hubs cash withdrawals and question expenditures he makes more and I am hoping to SLASH the food spending budget in February by half.
Just call me crazy now and get it out of the way.....


YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
Being the 1st month of the year, our Savings total to-date is $2,293.97.

And if you need to start putting money into savings......What's that you say?  You don't have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!!??....consider playing along in 2011 with me and Challenging Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal!
Not everyone can shoot for $32K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see.  It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Ooo, that sounded kind of creepy didn't it? ;-)

So how was your January 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