$20K Savings Challenge Report for April

Ok, here is my April 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.

On to the April report.....

I have posted my APRIL 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 April in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of April with?.......$2,574.21!

Income
We had $2565.90 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $6.00 in Rebates applied against the food expenses & $2.31 in interest and  you get a total of $2574.21.

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

As for the expenses this April......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The mild winter temps continued, which decreased our heating/electric bill by about $80.  I like that...

*   Hubs decreased his WAM withdrawals this month.
*  No car maintenance/repairs bills this month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* Credit card bill was fairly high at $1400+.  A large part of that was the Summer Camp bill for #2 Son.  The good news is this is the LAST CAMP BILL WE WILL EVER PAY!  #2 Son is in Counselor Training this year so next year he starts working at camp. Yay!!!!

The Food Budget costs for April are in another post, which is located HERE. My stocking-up and overspending in March did help me stay under $230 in food spending for April.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 4 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is $6,590.80.

We hit our monthly goal in April and then some, so now we are only a little behind where we should be for the year at this point, because of our bad March total.

With 4 months done, we should be at $6,666.67 saved for the year.  Only $75.87 to be caught up!

So how much did YOU save in April?  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 April 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 for 2011.....JULY RESULTS....Extra Paycheck Edition

I have posted my JULY 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 July in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of July with.......$5,530.11.

Income
We had $5403.96 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $23.97 of Rebates applied against the food expenses, $2.18 in Interest on the Checking Account and $100 from my Focus Group work and you have a deposit of $5530.11  toward the Savings Challenge!

Our monthly target is an average of $2,666.67 to reach our Year End Goal.

Outgo
As for the expenses in July....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* We paid the Sewage bill for the year a couple of months ago, so no quarterly payment this month.
* The electric bill was about $20 less than June's.
* The credit card bill was well under $1,000 for a change.
* Three paychecks this month!

HERE are the BAD THINGS
* While not due until August, I paid the home insurance bill in July, since the car insurance is due in August as well.
* The WAM money was much higher than usual.


The Food Budget costs for July are in another post, which is located HERE.  The actual Food/Toiletries spending in July was almost $50 under budget or $75 under when rebate checks were applied toward the food bill.

What's ahead for August.......
There will b no summer vacation this year.  While I am sad we can't get away this summer my wallet will enjoy not having to pay for the added expenses that going away requires.
There are the usual suspects: electricity, water, phone, cable, credit card bill, food cash, etc.

We will have some Marching Band associated expenses in August.
We will have the semi-annual car insurance bill to pay.
Having the whole family(plus 1 girlfriend)home for part of this month will mean higher food bills, as well as electric and water bills.
Back-to-school means some credit card charges for some dorm room stuff & supplies for our 1st time college student this year.  #2 son also will need a few school supplies that I haven't already picked up for free.
Gas spending will also be higher in August with having to transport 2 college students across the state to 2 different schools on 2 different dates. bleh.

YEAR-TO-DATE TOTAL.....
With 7 months behind us, our Savings total to-date for 2011 is $20,781.02. 
We are just over $2,000 ahead of our final goal at this point in the year.  If we end up having a really bad expensive month at some point in the next 5 months, this will help us to overcome it and still finish the year reaching our goal.  It's like a little "get out of jail free" card for our Challenge.  Having that little extra takes some of the pressure off me. ;-)

So how are your savings growing so far this year?
Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses!  You really should, you know. 
With the current financial climate in this country, you should try to put away into savings as much as you can each month.

So come along and Challenge 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 July 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