Income & Spending 2022....the December 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 December report---

I had 2 goals for December.......
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 2022.

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 December in the red.

The amount we ended the month of December with?...-$1,962.08

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in December---

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

*  SS income of $3570.00
*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $124.38

*  Stock Dividend of $19.11

*  Pa House insurance refund $438.86

*  Rakuten rebate of $14.28

*  Hospital in PA refund of .27¢ lol

Total "Income" for December....$7,402.71

Expenses in December---
* Irregular bills in December were $2,044.03

* Variable Expenses in December came to $5,094.63

* Health insurance premiums totaling $2,226.13

Total Expenses....$9,364.79

$7,402.71-$9,364.79=-$1,962.08

Slush into December of $61,518.29 in that Fund, subtract December's shortfall of $1,962.08 and we get $59,556.21 into January's 2023's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows a subtraction of $1,962.08

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The cell phone, as well as the Health Insurance premium were all the same as last month.

*  The Mastercard was $6,362.35 lower than in November(all moving expenses are now paid for).

*  My Amazon c/c was $389.94 lower than las month.

*  Hubs Amazon c/c was $223.84 lower than in November.

*  We received a quarterly stock dividend check of $19.11

*  We got a check for $438.86 which was for our PA house insurance balance.

*  I received a Rakuten check for $14.28 for rebates on online purchases for the new house.

*  I got a .27¢ refund for overpayment on a medical bill in 2022. rah

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill at the new house was $174.23 higher than in November.  November's bill was only a partial month one plus LA had some unusually cold days/nights in December so our daughter came over and jacked up the heat while we were away so the pipes wouldn't freeze.

*  We took an extra $200 in WAM in December due to the trip/cruise.

*  We had irregular bills due in December too--

  *  The Long Term Care premiums were due.

  *  6 months of car insurance was paid in December

  *  The last water and electric bills for the house in PA were due last month.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on December 2022---Not an awful month for bills but not great since we spent more than we brought in.  The fix this house/replace furniture bills continue.  While the utilities here are comparable to PA, the house and car insurance are egregiously high!  I had no idea how high they'd be.  Well having a manufactured home in the South, home insurance is understandably higher since this area is more prone to weather issues than PA(other than Winter storm related there)but car insurance?  This area is far less crowded with highways/vehicles than where we left in PA.  Does this say something about the quality of drivers here or what?  Hmmm

THOUGHTS going forward into January 2023--

Well, who the heck knows what 2023 will bring at this point?!?

Our Annuity is taking a monthly hit until April since the private health insurance premium rose again.  Once Hubs goes on Medicare our premium goes down abut $800 per month(until I hit 65 next January).

Also our Annuity is front loaded so once Hubs hits 65 that goes down too.  go us.

The bad news is once he hits Medicare my dental coverage goes away from his employer.  Great.  I can't wait to see how much my drugs will be once I hit Mediare. *sluggy rolls her eyes*

Our Social Security payments go up a little bit in January due to the inflation index but it's not like that will cover all the extra spending anyone needs to do on everyday necessities.

Plus we have yet to get our Louisiana Property tax bill for 2022 since we bought so late in the year.  It has to be an improvement over what we were paying in PA, where we got NO services but still paid through the nose.  We get NO services here but at least we(hopefully)won't be paying for that whole lot of nothing. ;-)

We do have a quarterly 401K withdrawal hitting the account later in January which will help a lot so there is our bright spot for January.

Financially I am so not looking forward to seeing how all these changes to our bottom line play out in 2023.  Whatever it turns out to be we'll deal with it and move on.

So how was your December financially? 

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

Have I Mentioned How Much I Hate Cars Lately?

First let me state for the record......March kicked my ass.

Except for a few days away in Delaware, it was a sucky month, both financially and personally.
Lots of bills....too many for my taste.
If not for a nice tax refund we would have been into the negative money in March after paying all the bills.

The health is ok but I am not making enough progress on my goals of dropping weight and getting more fit.  It's difficult to see results when you can't exercise much due to breathing issues.

Can't get motivated to do what needs to be done to this house or the many projects I have to do.
I am about at the point where I just want everything that isn't getting completed GONE from the house.  I feel a big donation to Sallie's bubbling up to the surface.... ;-)
At this rate, by the time 4 years from now gets here, I won't have anything to throw away or even MOVE when we leave this house. lolz

My newly fixed, floored, painted and crown molding-ed living room still has no furniture in it.  But the dog enjoys the rug in there to sun herself on nice days.
I'm so glad we had that work done.....for the dog's pleasure. ha!

I guess I am just feeling frustrated and ready for some warmer weather.  Remind me I said that when I am sweltering a few months from now... ;-)

Back to the bills.....
I just tallied up what we've spent on the SUCK HOLE that are cars in just the first 3 months of
this year.

$5,076.35

And that's just repairs; not gas, insurance and the usual monies we have to sink into them.

I just wish you could fix everything car related with duct tape.  My life would be so much more pleasant and richer!

So hating what it costs to remain mobile in this society of ours......

Hubs has decided to just limp along with his vehicle(aka the Death Trap)until August.
When #2 Son leaves for college the Death Trap gets donated(somewhere they will take it!lol)and he'll start driving the 3rd car(that use to be his car before he bought the DT)again.
Then we have to decide what to do with my minivan......the one that needs bodywork or won't pass inspection this time again next year, but doesn't even have 100K miles on it yet.

Maybe we will become a 1 car family by then?
We had planned on downsizing to 2 cars this year, then 1 car once he retired in 4 years time.
Maybe we'll get down to 1 car sooner than we planned.

Lord knows I'll enjoy NOT spending all that cash on the beastly things!

Sluggy