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 had 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 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 January in the black.
The amount extra we ended the month of January with?....$3,424.39
Income or Funds We Can Access
The "income" in January---
* Monthly annuity payment of $2,608.66(after tax withholding)
* SS income of $3,828.70
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $987.68
* Quarterly 401K Withdrawal of $5,200.13(after texes)
Total "Income" for January....$12,625.17
Expenses in January---
* Irregular bills in January were $5,837.18
* Variable Expenses in January came to $3,363.60
Total Expenses....$9,200.78
$12,625.17-$9,200.78=$3,424.39
Slush Fund coming into January of $47,679.67 and the addition of $3,424.39 in January, our end of January 2024 Slush fund comes to $51,104.06.
The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $3,424.39
Outgo
As for the variable expenses this January here are the good and the bad side of things.....
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* The water bill, internet were the same as last month.
* The WAM was $300 lower since we didn't take any in January. We used leftover cash we had taken out in December for the Holiday trip.
* The Mastercard c/c was $509.33 lower than in December.
* The Health Insurance premiums(Medicare, supplements and Part D plans, as well as Hubs vision care), are now $379.06 lower than we I was on private health insurance and Hubs was on Medicare. Plus we no longer have those high deductibles for my private insurance coverage. yay!
HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The electric bill went up by $173.12(it's Winter, duh!)in January.
* My Amazon c/c was $42.22 higher than last month.
* Hubs Amazon c/c was $50.49 higher than in December.
* The American Airlines c/c was $494.38 higher than last month.
* We had 4 irregular bills in January--
* A small bill for Roaman's
* A much bill to Talbot's(both for new clothes)
* I bought Supplements
* We needed Toner(stocking up)for the new printer we had to buy
* A small Sunoco gas card bill
* We had a Vet Bill for Chester
* Paid for the Cruise(ouch)
The Food Budget costs for January are in another post HERE. Food costs are included in the credit card payments(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).
FINAL THOUGHTS for JANUARY 2024---Well the healthcare premiums got tunred on it's ear in January as I went onto Medicare like Hubs. Yay. No more $1K+ a month for private insurance for me(only Hubs' vision benefit costing $15.91 per month, which he keeps for life). Now we have 2 x Medicare Part B premiums, 2 x Medigap supplement premiums and 2 x Part D drug supplement premiums. All those still end up costing a bit less than what we paid before I hit Medicare age. Go us.
THOUGHS GOING FORWARD INTO FEBRUARY 2024--
More credit card charges for the trip from the Holidays will roll in, heating bill will be higher(it's Winter, duh! and it's unseasonaly cold in Louisiana now) and I have a modest payment due in February for the shore excursions for this April. I'll use c/c points again toward the excursions bill as I paid the cruise off in January
I am going to try to keep the purse strings closed in February on food/toiletries and any other miscellaneous spending. Let's hope the power and water don't go off anymore, which will mean more spending.
I've got 3 medical appointments the first week of February, the Painful doc later in February and more Neurologic testing come March as well as a Painful doc follow-up that month. Not sure yet how much OOP that will entail.
Here's hoping 2024 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 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
