Income & Spending....the March Edition

***Sluggy's Boring Blog Giveaway ends soon!  It ends Monday, April 7th at 11:59pm Central time  Go HERE to enter.***

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals, personal savings 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.

We went into retirement in June of 2017 with no debt, no mortgage nor a car payment.

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 March report--

I have 2 goals for March....

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 fund may be applied 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 2025.

*  I do not include/report on our retirement accounts here, just the non-retirement ones.

I have to report that we finished up March in the red.

The amount extra we ended the month of March with?....-$10,184.04

Income or Fund in March We Can Access

The "income" in March---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,530.11

*  SS income of $4,104.00

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $1,460.21

*  Rebating Cash-out  $28.99

*  Stock Dividend  $20.79

Total "Income" for March....$8,150.77

Expenses in March---

*  Irregular bills in March were $13,694.87

*  Variable expenses in March came to $4,005.53

*  Medical Premiums in March were $634.41

Total Expenses....$

$8,150.77-$18,334.81=-$10,184.04

Slush Fund coming into February of $83,904.58 and the subtraction of -$10,184.04 in March, the end of March 2025 Slush Fund comes to $77,145.15. 

The Slush Fund, on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog), shows a subtraction of $10,184.04.

Outgo

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

Here are the GOOD THINGS

*  The water bill and the WAM were the same as last month.

*  The electric bill went down $26.92 in March.

*  The cell phone went down $9.08 from las month.

*  The Mastercard went down $26.23 in March.

*  Hubs Amazon c/c went down $272.16 from the previous month.

*  My Amazon c/c went down $118.90 in March.

*  Hubs Aviator c/c went down $1,697.07 from last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  My Aviator c/c went up $1,865.20

And we had some "one off" bills in March--

*  Doc Co-Pay of $20.00
*  Long Term Care Premiums of $1,244.02
*  Security Deposit for the new rental $2,102.49
*  I paid for the June cruise $10,328.36(ouch)

The Food Budget costs for March are in another post HERE. Food costs are included in my credit card payments(mainly because I buy the food but sometimes these costs come out of our WAM cash too).

FINAL THOUGHTS for March 2025--The cruise payment is due in March. ouch  The cruise payment put us in the negative for the month but we planned for that.  Other than that the rest of the bills were about the same, except the heat may be off more days than on because March is deep Spring here in the deep South so the electric bill should be less. 8-)

THOUGHTS GONG FORWARD INTO APRIL--We'll have more bills associated with moving(2nd payment to the moving company, paying first month's rent on the house, setting up utilities,  getting renter's insurance, etc.) Plus my car died the end of last week so that's going to be a pricey repair.  My car needs to make it 1,350 miles to PA without any issues.

On the flip side food expenses should be way down as we empty the freezer.  I foresee only buying fresh produce until we leave.

Here's hoping 2025 treats us all even better financially! 8-))

So how was your March financially?

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

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 down/off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings, in an emergency fund or retirement account?

Or did you blow all your excess monies after bills were paid on a "want"?

If you post 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 

Income & Spending.....the January 2025 Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals, personal savings 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.

We went into retirement in June of 2017 with no debt, no mortgage nor a car payment.

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 January report--

I have 2 goals for January....

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 fund may be applied 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 2025.

*  I do not include/report on our retirement accounts here, just the non-retirement ones.

I'm happy to report that we finished up January in the black.

The amount extra we ended the month of January with?....$10,512.86

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in January---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,530.11

*  SS income of $3,906.60

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $1,468.17

* 401K Withdrawal of $6,215.06

* Rebating Cash-out  $100.00

* NCL Refund  $1,762.62

* Blog Revenue  $142.75

Total "Income" for January....$16,125.31

Expenses in January---

*  Irregular bills in January were $1,645.98

*  Variable expenses in January came to $3,453.20

*  Medical Premiums in January were $634.41

Total Expenses....$5,733.59

$16,125.31-$5,733.59=$10,391.72.

Slush Fund coming into January of $73,512.86 and the addition of $10,391.72 in January, our end of January 2025 Slush Fund comes to $83,904.58. 

The Slush Fund, on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog), shows an addition of $10,391.75.

Outgo

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

Here are the GOOD THINGS

*  The water bill is the same as the previous month.
*  The WAM was $23.00 lower than in December.
*  Mastercard bill was $81.32 lower than the previous month.
*  Hubs Amazon bill was $137.66 less than in December.
*  My Aviator card was $437.36 lower than the previous month.
*  Hubs Aviator card was $15,640.85 less than in December.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $105.30 higher than the previous month.
*  My Amazon card was $184.20 higher than in December.

And we had some one off bills in December--

*  Long Term Care Premiums of $1,244.02
*  Property Taxes of $168.33
*  Dr. Co-Pays of $37.11
*  Vet Bill of $196.52

The Food Budget costs for December are in another post HERE. Food costs are included in my credit card payments(mainly because I buy the food but sometimes these costs come out of our WAM cash too).

FINAL THOUGHTS for January 2025---Low spend other than credit card charges from the Xmas trip.  We had such a large overage because of the NCL refund and the 401K quarterly withdrawal.

GOING FORWARD INTO February 2025--I am hoping for a low spend February, basically just groceries and maybe 1 lunch out.  There will be some medical stuff but not sure if those bills will show up in February or March. ;-)

Here's hoping 2025 treats us all even better financially! 8-))

So how was your January financially?

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

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 down/off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings, in an emergency fund or retirement account?

Or did you blow all your excess monies after bills were paid on a "want"?

If you post 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

Income & Spending....the April 2024 Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity, 401K$ withdrawals, personal savings 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.

We went into retirement in June of 2017 with no debt, no mortgage, nor a car payment.

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 fund may be applied 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 2024. 

*  I do not include/report on our retirement accounts here, just the non-retirement ones.

 

I'm happy to report that we finished up April in the black.

The amount extra we ended the month of April with?....$5,916.83

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in April---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,530.11

*  SS income of $3,828.70

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $680.88

*  Quarterly 401K Withdrawal of $6,215.06

*  Blog Revenue of $125.13

Total "Income" for April....$13,379.88

Expenses in April---

*  Irregular bills in April were $2,786.00

*  Variable Expenses in April came to $3,969.62

*  Medical Premiums in April were $707.43

Total Expenses....$7,463.05

$13,379.88-$7,463.05=$5,916.83

Slush Fund coming into April of $55,305.39 and the addition of $5,916.83 in April, our end of April 2024 Slush fund comes to $61,222.22

The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $5,916.83

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The water bill and the cell phone bill(.08¢ lower)were all the same as in March.

*  The electric bill went down in April by $44.61

*  Hubs Amazon c/c bill was $389.11 lower than last month.

*  My Amazon c/c bill was $0.

*  The American Airlines c/c was $191.24 lower than in March.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  We had 2 irregular bills in April--

*  We had tree removal for $400.

*  We paid the Federal Taxes of $2,386.00(Will be adjusting our withholding so this isn't so bad next year.)

*  The WAM was $200 more in April due to taking a little extra $$ on our cruise.

*  The Mastercard was $1,844.79 higher than in March. Most of that was dog boarding we paid upfront while we were on the cruise.

*  Hubs Medigap Supplement went up by $9.41 per month as he had a birthday in April.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS for APRIL 2024---This month turned out a bit better than expected, even with paying Federal Taxes, dog boarding, etc.  Food spending was about half of what it was last month since we were not home and food shopping for about half the month.  The quarterly 401K withdrawal also was a bonus this month to keep us in the black.

THOUGHS GOING FORWARD INTO MAY 2024--That 401K$ quarterly withdrawal will come in handy in May what with State Taxes due and c/c spending on the Cruise will come due.

Here's hoping 2024 treats us all even better financially! 8-))

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 down/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 all your excess monies after bills were paid 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

February Food Spending....2024

Onward to February's Food Spending Report.....

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for February 2024.

I have posted February's totals on the Total Grocery Savings Page located HERE and have updated the Totals there. 
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in February.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Sum.  My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods, Pet Food. We are a family of 2(and 2 dogs).
****************

ALDI

OOP  $47.59

Sales  $27.74

Value  $75.33

Savings  36.82%

CVS

OOP  $1.29

Saving $14.67

Value  $15.96

Savings   91.92%

KROGER

OOP  $267.42

Qs/Gift Cards $245.26

Value $512.68

Savings  47.84%

OLLIE'S

OOP $32.78

Sales  $30.59

Value $63.37

Savings  48.37%

WALMART

OOP  $310.50

Qs/Gift Cards $147.73

Value  $458.23

Savings  32.24%

********************
My best Store Savings Total was at CVS with a savings of 91.92%.  My worse rate was at Walmart with 32.24%.  

I shopped at 5 different stores in FEBRUARY.

TOTAL Spent in February......$659.58

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards....$647.16

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.....$1,306.74

TOTAL Savings of........49.41%

This closes out the FEBRUARY food/toiletries/etc. spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month....Well so much for closing the purse strings in February. lol  Inflation is real folks and hits everyone at the grocery store(as well as in utility bills and at the gas pump).  Our government just ignores all these high prices and doesn't even include them in the Consumer Price Index.  Well what the hell DO they include because last time I looked most folks need to eat, pay for heat and/or ac and need cars to get to work!  *Getting off my soap box now.*

The Monthly food spending savings percentage went DOWN by 3.39% in February to 49.41% compared to January's 52.80% savings average.  Since we have an adequate income and food should be a pleasure in life(no way am I going to eat unseasoned rice and beans for my remaining days like some people-because I don't have to). I will buy quality food and pay the price at the register.  I may not like the price but I will deal with it.

With 2 months accounted for, I have spent a Total of $1,312.52 on groceries/HBA/paper goods/etc. in 2024.

2024 Yearly Grand Total Spent....................$1,312.52

2024 Yearly Grand Total Value of Items.....$2,690.09

2024 Grand Total Saved...............................$1,377.57

2024 Yearly Savings Total..............................51.21%

The average per month amount spent is $656.26 in 2024 so far but that's before all the rebate monies are added in.

Remember that I withdraw all my cash rebate monies(Ibotta, Shopmium, TaDa, Checkout 51 and other miscellaneous rebates sent to my Paypal)at the end of the year and add it back into my food budget, so at the end of the year my food spending will go down.  The other savings apps like Fetch, Shop Kick, Kroger Cash Back that let us get free gift cards(or $ off your grocery total-Kroger), those are added back in when I cash those points in along the way.  Alexa app gives me Amazon credit onto my account but I don't buy food on Amazon(sometimes I buy dog food there)so I really don't know how to count that.

LOOKING AHEAD TO MARCH 2024.....

Who the hell knows where prices will be in a month!  I have no crystal ball and the government just keeps printing money willy-nilly which makes our dollars stretch even less further.

I'll keep an eye on what we spend, rebate and coupon like a mad woman when I have to step foot in a grocery store and shop from my pantry when I can.

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share your thoughts with us all.

*  How much did you spend on food/toiletries in February?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just have your receipts and either track it in a notebook or on a spreadsheet.

*  What was your savings percentage buying on sale and/or with coupons versus buying at regular retail price last month, if you track that sort of thing?

*  What are your methods for keeping your food spending in check?

*  Is anyone out there up for tracking expenditures and trying to spend less but still eat well?

Sluggy

Income & Spending....the March 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 March report---

I had 2 goals for March.....
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 March in the black.

The amount we ended the month of March with?...$1,606.35

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in March---

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

*  SS income of $3879.00

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $170.23

*  Stock Dividend of $19.11

Total "Income" for March....$7,304.15

Expenses in March---
* Irregular bills in March were $1,180.55

* Variable Expenses in March came to $2,246.26

* Health insurance premiums totaling $2,270.99

Total Expenses....$5,697.80

$7,304.15-$5,697.80=$1,606.35

Slush into March of $61,183.25 in that Fund, add the overage of $1,606.35 in March and we get $62,789.60 into April 2023's Slush Fund.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $1,606.35.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The cell phone, WAM, Health Premium and internet were the same as last month.

*  The water bill was $3.08 lower than in February

*  The electric bill was $166.17 lower than last month.

*  My Amazon c/c was $145.85 lower than in February.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  Hubs Amazon c/c was $13.75 higher than in February.

*  The Mastercard c/c was $78.72 higher than last month..

*  We had irregular bills due in March too--

  *   Long Term Care quarterly premiums of $784.55

  *  Federal 2022 taxes paid of $330.00

  *  PA 2022 state taxes paid of $66.00

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on March 2023---Regular bills were nice and low.  We did have 3 irregular bills come due this past month  but those didn't tip the scales out of our favor.

THOUGHTS going forward into April 2023--

Still having limited mobility(now it's my bum knee)so we still need to unpack stuff. ugh.

Louisiana state taxes will get filed in April(and we will owe about $700).  

No other irregular bills due in April but the lawn tractor purchase and cruise excursions will be paid for in April on credit cards(and promptly paid off).

So how was your March financially? 

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

$5 Weekend Bonus-Done

 I went to Walmart armed with a $25 Gift Card(gotten for free through Swag Bucks)and a few coupons.  I needed 12 rebates to earn a $5 Weekend Bonus so I bought all this........

The 3 boxes of Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea were just a happy clearance find at $1.50 a box and didn't have a rebate attached.  The Degree body wash/soak and massage soap bar were a Shop Kick deal only($3.40 in pts)and $3 off in Coupons.  The Cover Girl concealer that I bought was a $1.50 moneymaker(on clearance for $1 and I had a $2.50/1 face coupon).  The One by Poise package was a Fetch Rewards($3 worth of pts. for it)and a Shop Kick deal($2.80 worth of pts.)plus I had a $3/1 Q.  The mini boxes of Werther's sugar-free candies were a Swag Bucks deal($2.96 paid and $3.00 back in Swag Bucks).

The rest of the items(plus the Werther's)were my 12 Ibotta rebates; 2 x Quaker S'mores oatmeal, Pringles French fried onions, Smart Water, Rold Gold pretzel twists, free Chex cereal(qualified for 2 separate rebates), better than free Crayola crayons, 6 pack of Craisins(qualified for 2 separate rebates), Jet-Puff marshmallows(also gave back .80¢ on Shop Kick), the Pure Protein bar and the 2 Safeguard Hand Soaps. I actually had 13 rebates because of a couple of items qualified for 2 rebates each.

Take out the non-rebate items(the tea)and I spent OOP after coupons and gift card $14.57.  I earned $21.14 from Ibotta individual rebates, the $5 Weekend Bonus so $26.14 on Ibotta so an $11.57 moneymaker on just Ibotta.  If my store had had more of the freebie items I could have paid even less.  Even including the clearance tea bags it's still a $7.07 moneymaker. 8-)))

I also earned $3.60 on Shop Kick, $3 on Swag Bucks and $3.27 on Fetch though I don't "count" those until I cash out for a gift card and use it.

Done any rebate shopping lately?

Sluggy

Income & Spending Report 2019..........the August Edition

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals, 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.

Two changes we implemented for 2019 at our financial meeting in Jan.--

* Hubs wants to take $150 per person WAM(aka Walking Around Money)in 2019.  I found last year's $100 per month adequate but Hubs chafed at that little so we are upping it this year to $150 per person per month.
                                                                                                                                               
*As for our 2018 Slush Fund, this is how we are going to handle it in 2019......
We won't be taking a quarterly 401K withdrawal in 2019 until we "need" to, instead of taking one each quarter as we had planned back in 2017 when Hubs retired.  Why pull 401K monies out when they are earning more than our other regular bank funds?  Use those instead for now!

Since the Slush Fund ended 2018 with $23,164.17 in it and the Sinking Fund ended 2018 with $468.37 in it, we are, for now at least, not taking any more 401K withdrawals and using what is in the Sinking Fund and/or Slush Fund to cover all irregular bills that come up in 2019 plus a few projects around the house.

I have set up a page to track the Slush Fund.  Click on the tab marked "Slush Fund 2018-2019" 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 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 2019.

I can report that we finished up August in the black.
The amount we ended the month of August with?.....$286.13

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in August---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1848.67
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $601.16
Total "Income" for August.....$5672.07

Expenses in August---

* Healthcare Premium for August was $1,848.67(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in August came to $3537.27
Total Expenses....$5,385.94

$5672.07-$5,385.94=$286.13

Slush into August $19,971.81+ $286.13=$20,257.94

We also had more expenses we planned to be paid out of the Slush Fund instead of regular "income" in August--the carpet and installation in the second bedroom(aka the Hubs' room), a chunk of $$ Hubs' wanted to spend on "his fun" and a large ER bill. The carpeting was one of the big expenses/improvements we are paying for in 2019 from Slush Fund monies but the other two expenses we decided to take from the Slush Fund too.  These three bills cost $2,259.29 out of the Slush Fund.

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 last month.(Within $2 or so).
*  The electric bill was .23¢ lower than last month.
*  The c/c bill was $1,314.67 lower than in July.
*  The WAM was the same as in July.
*  The health insurance premium was the same as last month.
*  The Chase/Amazon c/c was $112.08 lower than July's bill.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The water bill was $17.20 higher than last month.
*  The gas card bill was $20.67 more than in July.
*  Had a $44.98 on store card paid for new "drawers".
*  Annual House Insurance was paid this month out of reg. income.

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

So we end August "income" in the black with $286.13.

Then we deducted $524.37 for the carpeting, $749.45 for the ER bill and $985.47 for Hubs' "fun" purchases equaling $2,259.29 from the Slush Fund.

We added $286.13 to the Slush from August income overage and then deducted $2,259.29 from the Slush which leaves the August Slush Fund ending at $17,998.65 going into September.

The Sinking Fund goes into September 2019 standing at $468.37 since nothing was paid out of it in July.

FINAL THOUGHTS on August----

Though we had a couple hundred bucks in income overage last month, we also had three large of "out of the ordinary" expenses in August(1 planned, 2 not).
Luckily we could tap the Slush Fund for those expenses as $286.13 overage in income didn't go far to cover that $2,259.29 in expenses.  ;-)


THOUGHTS going forward into September 2019----

We have 2 irregular bills due this month; long term care and the annual school tax(which is a property tax).  Both of these will be drawn from the Slush Fund as planned.

Electric will be lower due to less a/c usage and not needing heat yet.

The credit card bill will be higher again in Sept.....besides the usual stuff we put on the card(and pay off each month), we bought a new mattress, adjustable base for it, and a twin mattress for the daybed in Hubs' room.  I shopped around, got free shipping and used a discount code but this still comes in at $1108.23 total and will be on the September c/c billing cycle.  Might be able to fully cover this on regular "income", might not.  It all depends on how the monthly bills play out in September(and if Hubs goes rogue again spending money for his fun lol).

But no worries here on going over the "income".  We have almost $18K in overage left from last year when we were withdrawing from the 401K so we just use that overage to absorb extra costs until that is gone and then we'll sit down and re-evaluate the spending, probably at the end of 2019 if any monies are left in the Slush Fund by then.

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!


Sluggy

Income & Spending Report.....December 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 for the rest of the year.

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 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 apply toward irregular bills that are coming due in subsequent months.

I have to report that we finished up December in the black.
The extra amount we ended the month of December with?.......$4754.49

Income

The income in December was the monthly annuity payment,the healthcare account reimbursement and the November overage of $4007.15 that carried over.  I also had interest on non-retirement accounts, 2 small stock dividend checks and grocery rebates which brought us to $7931.52 of total income.  Expenses in December(including funding the Sinking Fund)came to $3177.03.
* We didn't include the portion of the c/c Hubs used to pay for the "rescue mission"in our spending for the month because it wasn't "our" spending on things we benefited from.  That $1443.64 was paid out of savings.  It reduces our savings a bit but I'd rather do it this way than have it come out of our monthly income.*

This brought us to our gain of $4754.49  If you deduct the overage from previous months that carried over into December and the Healthcare payment and reimbursement from the equation, this means we spent $3.09 MORE than what we brought in in December for the annuity payment only and December spending included some Xmas spending.  So far we are doing ok without accessing the 401K account.

Since we have no debt, this December overage will get put aside to apply to the $3K in high deductible insurance payments we will need to pay in January for my prescriptions and Daughter's chronic pain injection.  That should eat up $3K+ of that overage we have been carrying forward each month lately.

Outgo

As for the expenses this December, 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 LA house electric bill was $42.04 lower since we didn't have to have the A/C on there now.
*  The medical payments were $51.92 less than in November
*  The credit card bill was $445.52 lower than last month.  This accounts for only our regular type charges we put on the c/c, not the rescue mission charges.
*  The cash WAM withdrawals were the same as in November.

*  The Sinking Fund carries over at $1016.74 into December.  No irregular bills were due this month so the SF just sat and grew a bit. 8-)

HERE are the BAD THING

*  The water bill was $7.62 higher than in November.
*  The electric bill was $109.84 higher than last month's bill.
*  The gas card charges were $85.09 higher than in November.
*  I had $72.67 due on store cards for Xmas spending due.
*  There was $400 in Christmas and Birthday cash given out to the kids.
*  We had to pay the December health insurance premium of $1771.94.

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

So we end December in the black with $4754.49 to apply to a new year of High Medical Deductible Payments going into 2018.
Plus the Sinking Fund goes into January standing at $1016.74.

FINAL THOUGHTS on December---It was an ok month financially, even with a big fat electric bill(!!!) and Holiday spending.  I separated the "rescue mission" costs put on the credit card($1443.64)and used some savings account funds to pay this off, and not use our regular income for that.  This will take a small chunk out of our net worth going forward into 2018.
We were successful in holding the line on the bills and not accessing the 401K account in 2017.
Yay us!
As the c/c bill came in it made us grateful(and I hope the sister in-law was grateful as well)that we have saved for emergencies in our married life as soon as we had the extra cash to do so.  Nobody likes to think about tomorrow and being old or disabled or unemployable or having disasters that money can help alleviate.  But it does and will happen to everyone.  It's best to take stock of your finances as soon as you can and plan for those dark days that WILL happen.
Don't spend money you don't have on things you don't need.  Pay off your credit cards(If you use them)every month and never carry a balance.  Tuck money aside for emergencies.

THOUGHTS going forward into January 2018----

Electric usage(and thus costs)will rise this month.
Food spending shouldn't be over $400 as I plan to eat down the freezer and not leave the house much.
Most of the usual bills(besides heating-electric)will be about what December's levels were.
Besides seeing some high medical bills due to the deductibles resetting on Jan. 1st, I am planning and hoping for a financially boring January.  As little money as possible going out and as much money as possible coming in or staying put where it is in our accounts.

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!

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

Food & Toiletries Spending.....November Totals Update

Not that having to write THIS POST did anything to lower my blood pressure after yesterday's rant but some days it's the best one can do. ;-)
Onward to November's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for NOVEMBER 2013.

I have posted November's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2013 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in November.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 5(3 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 17.
******************

BIG LOTS
OOP  $25.50
Value  $53.50
Savings  52.33%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $20.89
Value  $77.53
Savings  73.06%

OLLIE'S
OOP  $82.73
Value  $158.58
Savings  47.83%

REDNER'S
OOP  $18.91
Qs/Ads  $9.54
Value  28.45
Savings  33.53%

RITE-AID
OOP  $14.74
Qs/Ads/+Ups  $382.77
Value  $397.51
Savings  96.30%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $227.91

Qs/Ads  $

Value  $386.19

Savings  40.98%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $192.10

Qs/Ads  $

Value  $384.27

Savings  50%

I am no longer adding my rebates received into my food budget directly. I will use them on food on occasion and will note that when used.  I will keep track of rebates/gift cards/certs received here as before however.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN October.....$0.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$0

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$0.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Zero

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 96.30%, The Bread Outlet at 73.06% and Big Lots at 52.33%.  I shopped at 7 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$582.78

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$903.25

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$1,486.03

TOTAL Savings of...................................60.78%

This closes out the November food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into November with my usual $400 budgeted for food/toiletries purchases.
I went over by $182.78. 
Yikes!
Now this will only be ok if I can lower my food spending in December accordingly by about $180ish.
Spend more in November?.....spend that much less in December.

As you can see my Savings Rate skyrocketed in November for the 40's to the 60's, because of my Rite-Aid shopping.
Without the Rite-Aid totals added in, my November Savings Rate is 48% which is more in line with my track record this year.  Add in Rite-Aid totals and my overall Savings Rate is 60.78%.

You will notice though, Rite-Aid shopping aside, that my savings rates in November were REALLY good!  My lowest rate was 33.53%.  Some months 33% is my best savings rate! lol  I got some really really great deals on prices in November so I am NOT going to whine about overspending too much. 8-)
 

Looking ahead to December---We are not holding a big Christmas gathering here so we won't be having much extra food spending.  And if I can keep from buying a Prime Rib Roast like I did last year, the Christmas food spending shouldn't get out of hand.  We will be doing our traditional Christmas Even dinner out but that cost comes out of the Christmas budget. 
To get to the spending threshold to earn the Thanksgiving Gift Certificate in November I have stocked up on quite a few items I won't have to spend on in December.  I am going to try to eat from the stockpile this month and keep Food Spending in December to between $250-$300. 

 

And here is the run down of my Food & Toiletries Spending for 2013 so far this year--
 

2013 Total Saved $3,426.65

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $7,702.36

2013 Yearly Total Spent $4,275.71

2013 Yearly Savings Total of  44.49%

 

In November, total savings percentage for the year has gone UP 3.89% over October's year-to-date total of 40.60%, to 44.49%. 
Holding steady in the mid 40%s with one more month of food spending to go.  I would be very happy to end the year with a savings rate in the 40's.

The average monthly food/toiletries spending so far this year stands at $388.70.
Let's see if I can keep the average monthly spending below $400 for the year after December is done.

 

How much did you spend on food in November?
 

Sluggy