2018 Income & Spending Report.....August 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 August 2018 report--

I had 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 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 August in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of August with?.......$2445.91

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in August---

* 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 August of $615.69 #
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $384.51

Total "Income" for August......$6031.84

# 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 August---

* Healthcare Premium for August was $1813.48.(paid with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in August came to $1772.45


Sinking Fund--The balance in the Sinking Fund coming into August was $3857.48.  The homeowner's insurance was due and paid-$648.00   The Sinking Fund goes into September at $3209.48.


We went into August with $19,805.85 in the Slush Fund.
Add in August's overage of $2445.91 to the Slush Fund and it stands at $22,251.76 going into September.

Outgo

As for the variable 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 in July.(Within $1 or so).
*  The electric bill was $26.02 lower than last month.
*  The gas card bill was $18.26 lower than July.
*  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 water bill was $2.29 higher than last month.
*  The c/c bill was up $307.97 higher than in July.
*  There was a $147.29 private charge card bill.

The Food Budget costs for August 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 August in the black with $2445.91 in new general overage to add to the Slush Fund.
The Sinking Fund goes into September standing at $3209.48

FINAL THOUGHTS on August---
It was a good month in terms of low spending/bills.  We didn't really ''do" anything special this month other than eating lunch out a few times and didn't buy many "wants"(Hubs did buy a few books and I bought some underwear/clothing) so there were few bills beyond the usual and necessary.

THOUGHTS going forward into September 2018----This month there are two irregular bills due(school taxes and long term care insurance premiums).
The WAM withdrawal will be the same in September, $200.
I don't foresee any extraordinary bills other than the c/c bill will be higher.  Trips expenses will be mostly on the October  credit card bill.

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!

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

$20K Savings Challenge......May Update

In our family we save money. It is important to us to put money aside for "rainy days".  You know.....those unexpected days when things happen in your life that you can't plan on, but that DO happen and they cost you money you didn't know you'd need to pay out.

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, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.
Once the automatic savings, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision payments 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, etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge. 

For 2013 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am going to keep the Goal amount at $20,000 again this year.

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?.......$3,129.06
This was only possible due to the 3 paycheck month in May, as we had a rather large hospital bill co-pay due this month.

Income
We had $3045.02 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted. 

Add in a per diem expense reimbursement check and interest gives us another $84.04.  This brought our gain to $3129.06 for May.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

 

*  The water bill was within a dollar of being the same as last month.
*  The credit card bill was $900 less.
*  There were no semi annual or quarterly  bills to pay.

*  The electric bill was almost $100 less.
*  The prescriptions were about $67 less than April.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

 

*  The dr./hospital bills(co-pays/deductibles) were $1500 more than in April.

*  The cash withdrawals were $280 more(mostly because of graduation).

*  We had a $346 vet bill(their annual visits + meds).
*  The food bill was about $100 more than budgeted food(and $65 more than last month).

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

We overshot the food budget by $100.55 last month.

The 2013 TOTAL so far.....
With 5 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 stands at $11,726.84.  Only $8,273.16 left to save and 7 months left to accomplish this.

That comes out to $1,181.80 per month for the next 7 months to reach the goal.

Looking ahead for June......

*  Still waiting for the other medical shoe to drop(ie--medical bills from tests and procedures to slowly drip into my mailbox).  I foresee more medical spending on co-pays and deductibles this month.
 

*  Hubs is repairing and opening the pool for the year, which means a sky-high water bill in June.

*  The only non-normal bill from last June was extra cash spending for a short vacation to Ohio, which isn't happening this June.
 

So how was your May financially?
 

Did you put ordinary living expenses on a credit card last month and not pay it off in full when due?
Did you spend less than the income you had in May?
Did you received any "extra" or unexpected money in May like a tax refund or bonus at work,
and what did you do with those funds?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debt or put extra toward your mortgage principle?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!

Sluggy