Income & Spending......the March 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 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 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 March in the black.

The amount extra we ended the month of March with?....$3,069.80

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in March---

*  Monthly annuity payment of $2,608.66

*  SS income of $3,828.70

*  Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $983.98

*  Stock Dividend of $19.95

Total "Income" for March....$7,441.29

Expenses in March---

*  Irregular bills in March were $1,279.32

*  Variable Expenses in March came to $4,263.74

*  Medical Premiums in March were $698.02

Total Expenses....$4,371.49

$7,441.29-$4,371.49=$3069.80

Slush Fund coming into March of $52,235.59 and the addition of $3,069.80 in March, our end of March 2024 Slush fund comes to $55,305.39

The Slush Fund on it's own page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $3,069.80

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  The water bill, the cell phone bill and WAM were all the same as in February.

*  The electric bill went down in March by $149.03

*  Hubs Amazon c/c bill was $1,092.77 lower than last month.

*  My Amazon c/c bill was $0.

*  The Mastercard was $210.65 lower than in February.

*  The American Airlines c/c was $238.88 lower than last month.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  We had 3 irregular bills in March--

*  The Kohl's c/c was $127.64(a one off).

*  The quarterly Long Term Care premiums of $784.55 were due.

*  Chester had a vet visit for $188.87.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS for MARCH 2024---This month turned out a bit better than expected, even with the high grocery spending.  Didn't go anywhere but doctors and grocery stores and didn't do anything that cost additional money.

THOUGHS GOING FORWARD INTO APRIL 2024--Well, we have to pay a couple thousand dollars of Federal Income Taxes this month. ick.  I'd rather do that than give the government an interest free loan of our money for a year though. ;-)

But on the other hand we have the quarterly 401K withdrawal this month which more than balances the taxes out.(State taxes are due in May, but even with that we are good.)  Food & toiletry spending will be much less this month.

Here's hoping 2024 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 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

Income & Spending 2020.....the November Report

Now that we are living on an annuity and 401K$ withdrawals(some months), 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 November report---

I had 2 goals for November.......
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 2020.

I can report that we finished up November in the black.
The amount we ended the month of November with?.....$187.70

Income or Funds We Can Access

The "income" in November---

* Monthly annuity payment of $3,222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1,883.76
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $433.06

* Deposit for Booze I bought for someone on our trip  $35.00

Total "Income" for November.....$5539.41

Expenses in November---

* Healthcare Premium for November was $1,883.76(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Irregular bills in November were $520.43
* Variable Expenses in October came to $2947.52
Total Expenses....$5351.71

$5539.41-$5351.71=$187.70
Slush into November of $32,178.08 in that Fund, add the $187.70 November overage and this brings the Slush to $32,365.78 going into November.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $187.70 for November.

Outgo

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

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

*  Internet and cell phone were the same as last month.

*  There was no gas bill(these stations were too high in price).

*  The WAM was the same amount taken as last month.

*  The water bill was $1.22 lower than October's bill.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

*  The electric bill was $25.18 higher than last month's bill. This one will continue to rise as Winter sets in.

*  The credit card bill was $1204.06 higher than in October.  This was mostly due to some big purchases by Hubs and the bill's from our October trip were on this statement.

*  We had a $390.86 bill from my Amazon card.  I don't use it much and I did help to lower that bill which I'll explain in tomorrow's Frugal Friday post. ;-)

*  There was an irregular bill due in November, the semi-annual car insurance premium of $520.43.

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

FINAL THOUGHTS on November---
It was a good month overall financially.  No unusually high normal bills other than the c/c due to our trip but we knew that was coming. Any month we don't spend more on outgo than comes in is a good month with the monies.  Some large bills were due so not much overage to carry forward into the Slush Fund in November, but some months are like that.

THOUGHTS going forward into December 2020----Most of my Christmas shopping is done already so not much more will go on the credit card for December(besides food spending for the month).  My big expense this December will be the cost to mail/ship gifts.  I've got 7 packages(not counting Giveaway boxes)to ship to what seems like every state in the country this year! lol  Lots of $$ going to the USPS this year.....

We've got 2 irregular bills due in December-the Long Term Care Insurance premiums but that's it for non-usual bills this month.

Then we get to sit down and "Monday Morning Quarterback" the 2020 finances and plan out our 2021 spending.

So how was your November financially?
  

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