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 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 2019.
I can report that we finished up November in the black.
The amount we ended the month of November with?.....$1087.56
Income or Funds We Can Access
The "income" in November---
* Monthly annuity payment of $3222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1848.67
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $635.84
* Blogging Revenue of $133.73
Total "Income" for November.....$5916.91
Expenses in November---
* Healthcare Premium for November was $1,848.67(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in November came to $2980.68
Total Expenses....$4829.95
$5916.91-$4829.35=$1087.56
Slush into November $17,496.43+ $1,087.56 addition=$18,583.99
Then the hot water heater died in November so we had to take $1076..00 out of the Slush Fund to pay for that.....
$18,583.99-$1076.00=$17,507.99 in the Slush Fund heading into December.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $11.56 for November.
That's how much overage in November we had after paying for the water heater, $11.56.
So basically November was a wash in terms of putting any money aside. I am glad we didn't have to touch savings. ;-)
Outgo
**The Sinking Fund was emptied in November of it's $468.37 to put toward the car insurance. Using that we only had to use $248.95 of income to cover this irregular bill. 8-)
FINAL THOUGHTS on November----
It was pretty uneventful financially. Except for paying for a broken water heat, the car insurance premium(which we knew was happening)and paying for Chester's surgery things were monetarily boring which is how I like it. ;-)
THOUGHTS going forward into December 2019----
The only irregular bill due in December are the Long Term Care premiums.
There is Xmas spending on the credit card coming up in December(amazingly Xmas comes every year!!), the electric bill will continue to rise with Winter here.
There will be some medical bills coming due as well in December for appointments in November.
On the bright side I'll be using my "small economies" cash to cover the food bill this month.
If we can have bills and income balance about even and not have to pull cash from the Slush Fund in December I'll be a very happy camper.
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 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 2019.
I can report that we finished up November in the black.
The amount we ended the month of November with?.....$1087.56
Income or Funds We Can Access
The "income" in November---
* Monthly annuity payment of $3222.24(after tax withholding)
* RMSA(Healthcare account)reimbursement of $1848.67
* Interest earned on non-retirement accounts of $635.84
* Blogging Revenue of $133.73
Total "Income" for November.....$5916.91
Expenses in November---
* Healthcare Premium for November was $1,848.67(paid for with RMSA reimbursement)
* Variable Expenses in November came to $2980.68
Total Expenses....$4829.95
$5916.91-$4829.35=$1087.56
Slush into November $17,496.43+ $1,087.56 addition=$18,583.99
Then the hot water heater died in November so we had to take $1076..00 out of the Slush Fund to pay for that.....
$18,583.99-$1076.00=$17,507.99 in the Slush Fund heading into December.
The Slush Fund on it's Page(tab at the top of the blog)shows an addition of $11.56 for November.
That's how much overage in November we had after paying for the water heater, $11.56.
So basically November was a wash in terms of putting any money aside. I am glad we didn't have to touch savings. ;-)
Outgo
As for the variable expenses this November, here are the good and the bad side of things....
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
HERE are the GOOD THINGS
* Phone charges and internet were approximately the same as last month.(Within $2 or so).
* The water bill was $15.38 lower than in September.
* The WAM was the same as in October.
* The health insurance premium was the same as last month.
* The Amazon and M/C bills were less than October's bills($41.64 and $79.99 less respectively)
* The water bill was $15.38 lower than in September.
* The WAM was the same as in October.
* The health insurance premium was the same as last month.
* The Amazon and M/C bills were less than October's bills($41.64 and $79.99 less respectively)
HERE are the BAD THINGS
* The electric bill was $74.83 higher than October. It's that time of year folks. ;-)
* The gas card bill was $23.88 higher than last month.
* The water bill was $5.80 higher than in October.
* The semi-annual car insurance was due to the tune of $717.28.**
* There was a vet bill for Chester's neutering of $477.28
* The electric bill was $74.83 higher than October. It's that time of year folks. ;-)
* The gas card bill was $23.88 higher than last month.
* The water bill was $5.80 higher than in October.
* The semi-annual car insurance was due to the tune of $717.28.**
* There was a vet bill for Chester's neutering of $477.28
The Food Budget costs for November are in another post, which is located . Food costs are included in the credit card payment(mainly but sometimes our WAM cash too).
**The Sinking Fund was emptied in November of it's $468.37 to put toward the car insurance. Using that we only had to use $248.95 of income to cover this irregular bill. 8-)
FINAL THOUGHTS on November----
It was pretty uneventful financially. Except for paying for a broken water heat, the car insurance premium(which we knew was happening)and paying for Chester's surgery things were monetarily boring which is how I like it. ;-)
THOUGHTS going forward into December 2019----
The only irregular bill due in December are the Long Term Care premiums.
There is Xmas spending on the credit card coming up in December(amazingly Xmas comes every year!!), the electric bill will continue to rise with Winter here.
There will be some medical bills coming due as well in December for appointments in November.
On the bright side I'll be using my "small economies" cash to cover the food bill this month.
If we can have bills and income balance about even and not have to pull cash from the Slush Fund in December I'll be a very happy camper.
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?
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
Sluggy
