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

Frugal Friday.....Feb. 7th to Feb 13th

Here are our frugal wins for this past week....

*  I love finding marked down foods at Kroger(this really doesn't happen at Walmart).  I found that Kevin's Thai Chicken dish on clearance that I wrote about on Monday.

I also found some veggies and a couple of bagged salads with clearance stickers too.

*  We also had no food waste last week.   We cooked at home and then ate some leftovers this past week.   I had green onions that were going South so Hubs used them in his Thai meal.

*  We didn't run the heat most of the week as the temp has been so high here right now.  It hit the 80Fs a couple of days this past week.  Crazy for February!

*  Entertainment last week was free tv, YouTube watching, doing genealogy or reading.

*  I found money! 

We went to Walmart to pick up an Rx and I found 7¢ strewn about the floor beyond an actual manned checkout register as we walked by it on the way to the entrance/exit.

Found Money This Week.... .07¢

Grand Total Found this Year....... .29¢

That's all I got.

Except--

I've been out of sorts and after trying to get a discussion going on another blog.  The blog owner lashed out and her sycophants hurled personal insults at me.  Now I've got an ex-reader emailing me after she was told that her emails were unwanted and unwelcomed and she won't stop.  I don't need this kind of shit.  Has everyone in this world gone bat shit crazy?

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

Sluggy   

Wasteful Spending Can't Be Defended

This is just a piece of the list of where some of your tax dollars have gone in USAID-- 

$2 million for sex changes and "LGBT activism" in Guatemala.

$6 million to fund tourism in Egypt.

Spent $20 million on “Ahlan Simsim” — a new Sesame Street show in Iraq.

Over $4.5 million to “combat disinformation” in Kazakhstan.

Up to $10 million worth of USAID-funded meals went to al Qaeda-linked terrorist group the Nusra Front.

$500,000 to group that “empowers women” in an attempt to solve sectarian violence in Israel just 10 days before Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks. Awarded

nearly $25 million to Deloitte to promote green transportation in Georgia (the country). 

$4.67 million to EcoHealth Alliance, one of the key nongovernmental organizations funding bat virus research at Wuhan Institute of Virology, in late 2021.   

$20 million for the Strengthening Transparency and Accountability through Investigative Reporting program which used the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project as its implementing partner. 

USAID’s 2022-2030 climate strategy outlined a $150 billion “whole-of-Agency approach” to building an "equitable world with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions."

$7.9 million to a project that would teach Sri Lankan journalists to avoid “binary-gendered language.”

$1.1 million to an Armenian LGBT group.  

$1.2 million to the African Methodist Episcopal Church Service and Development Agency in Washington, D.C., to build “a state-of-the-art 440-seat auditorium.”

$1.3 million to Arab and Jewish photographers.

$1.5 million to promote LGBT advocacy in Jamaica.

$1.5 million to “rebuild” the Cuban media ecosystem.

$1.5 million for “art for inclusion of people with disabilities.”

$2 million to promote “LGBT equality through entrepreneurship … in developing Latin American countries.”

$2.1 million so the BBC can strengthen the media ecosystem in Libya, “designed to value the diversity of Libyan society.”

$2.3 million for “artisanal and small-scale gold mining” in the Amazon.

$2.5 million to promote “inclusion” in Vietnam.

$3.9 million to LGBT causes in the Western Balkans. 

$5.5 million to LGBT in Uganda.

$6 million to advance LGBT in “priority countries around the world.”

$6 million to “Transform Digital Spaces to Reflect Feminist Democratic Principles.”

$6.3 million to men who have sex with men in South Africa.

$8.3 million for “USAID Education: Equity and Inclusion.”

Another $16.8 million to a separate group in Vietnam for “inclusion.”

And yes, this agency does do "good" work at times.  And the heads of those projects that feed people(and not the terrorist groups who got millions)and provide life saving medicine can and know how to get waivers to keep their funds.  And those "real" agencies are not being shut down.

Now could you defend this sort of wasteful spending in Your Household/Family Budget?
I think not.

Sluggy

Oh Brother!

Blogger, in their infinite wisdom has decided that a private blog can only have 100 readers.  Since I've got close to 200 people asking for invites this isn't going to work for us.  I had to put up a mirror site, Sluggy 2.0 as it were, with the same posts on it.

But then Blogger didn't even let me invite 100 readers to either blog and shut some folks out.  Plus all my blog roll and pages will also have to be duplicated(this is why all of you on the mirror site don't have a blog roll or can see any of the page tabs-because I haven't duplicated those).  I also am not fond that folks on the original site can't see what folks son Sluggy 2.0 are saying.  It just isn't right and this is turning into a big old headache for me.

So I am going to wait about a week and hope that the trolls and haters have moved on to new fertile ground and open the blog back up as public.   

So hang on for a bit longer if you will.

In the meantime, here is a clip about USAID.

Sluggy

Food Spending....the January 2025 Edition

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

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for January 2025.

I have posted January'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 January.  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  $3.69

Value  $4.99

Savings  24.59%

BROOKSHIRE'S

OOP  $10.91

Value  $14.87

Savings  26.63%

KROGER

OOP  $308.37

Qs/Gift Cards  $254.43

Value $562.80

Savings  45.21%

WALMART

OOP  $77.51

Qs/Gift Cards $38.54

Value  $116.05

Savings  38.54%

********************
My best Store Savings Total was at Kroger with a savings of 45.21%.  My worse rate was at Aldi with 24.59%.  Not a bad savings rate average overall though.

I shopped at 4 different stores in JANUARY.  

TOTAL Spent in January......$400.48

TOTAL Rebates Banked....$100.00

TOTAL Spending in January....$300.48

TOTAL Coupons/Sales/Gift Cards....$398.23

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased.....$698.71

TOTAL Savings of........56.99%

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

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month....Most of our $$ was spent at Kroger(got the best deals there)and we had over a 40% savings rate at that store.

The Monthly food spending savings percentage went UP by 6.50% in January to 56.99% compared to December's 50.49% 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 1 months accounted for, I have spent a Total of $300.48 on groceries/HBA/paper goods/etc. in 2025 after rebates received.  Food prices have gotten to the ridiculous level, haven't they?

2025 Yearly Total Value of Items  $698.71

2025 Total Saved   $398.23

2025 Yearly Total Spent  $300.48

2025 Yearly Savings Total of  56.99%

The average per month amount spent is $300.48 in 2025 but that's after all the rebate monies are added in.

Remember that I withdraw all my cash rebate monies(Ibotta, Shopmium, TaDa, Checkout 51, Swag Bucks, My Points and other miscellaneous rebates-Aisle, Tremendous, Sampoll  etc. and have it sent to my Paypal)and add it back into my food budget.  I have cashed out $100.00 in January so my January spending has gone down to $300.48.

The other savings apps like Fetch, Shop Kick, Kroger Cash Back that let us get free gift cards(or $ off your grocery total-Kroger Cash Back), those are added back in when I cash those points in along the way. 

Because I don't like to let money sit in these rebate accounts and Paypal, I send $$ to my bank account throughout the year.  I have sent $ from various rebating programs and through Paypal to my bank.  If you add in all that my food spending at the 1 month point in 2025 comes in at $300.48 or $300.48 per month.

Besides all I sent to my bank account I have more $ sitting in these various rebating programs as well as in Paypal.  This is not counting ShopKick or Fetch, which all comes out in gift cards.

LOOKING AHEAD TO FEBRUARY 2025....

After we went through and organized the freezer, I am trying to eat down freezer/pantry in 2025 in preparation for our move away from here.

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 January?

*  Do you track your yearly food spending?  It's really not that hard or time consuming; just keep 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