Eeking by
Finally caught up on all the money I borrowed from myself for two funds--property taxes/house insurance (which I accumulate all year and then pay out in November) and medical (which I accumulate and pay out as needed). To deal with our unexpected expenses earlier this year I had to rob from those funds, but once I got past those expenses I needed to pay them back.
Now I am even with those funds and hope to continue their usual accumulation until pay-out.
I still have one fund to catch-up on. It is the one I should use for this kind of thing: the slush fund. It has no particular purpose but does help guarantee I never have insufficient funds when writing a check and it provides some cushion in case of unexpected expenses. This year it was exhausted and then some, which is why I dipped into the other funds.
I like to keep at least $2000 in the slush fund at all times. Now I can finally start contributing back to it.
Depending on my credit use (which I am trying to limit), I expect to get back to $2000 by the end of July, barring any unforeseen expenses.
We may have one of those, however, as Marisa's tooth pains may signal some needed, non-insured expenses. For that I would probably have to exhaust the medical fund entirely, but for its intended purpose, then have to borrow again from the property tax fund (but at least not exhaust it completely). At least that is my forecast for what will happen.
If that, or something similar to it, happens I will need to restore the property tax fund first before contributing to the slush fund.
Besides emergency expenses, the slush fund is also there for the occasional contract expense to fix up our house and grounds. My goal is to limit spending as much as possible so we can grow the slush fund to $6000 or more, then we can consider some of those contracting expenses: drain, roof, driveway, re-piping the basement.
About the only thing I can do is keep my eye on the prize and try to reduce my spending. Looks like my July credit bill will be around $1100! Bills should total about $300 and groceries $400...so $1800...which we can make go up to $2000. That leaves $1000 we can transfer to the slush fund in mid July.
If there is a dental emergency expense I figure that won't go to the slush fund, but to refund the
property tax fund. However toward the end of July expect a quarterly bonus of around $700, so with some tight spending I might be able to scrape together enough to still restore both the property tax to its proper state and also get half of what I need in the slush fund.
We do have a planned credit use at zero percent interest for a year...at least that is what I am told. So I will work that into the plan so it is paid off at the earliest opportunity without getting in the way of our plans. However, before we do any major vacations or travelling we need to zero that out, so planning once again to target zero revolving credit balance for the first quarter of 2015.
So, tight spending and a little luck might get us through July and continue progress. Without keeping a sharp watch on spending, however, we won't be able to ever get caught up. Pay is not keeping up with rising medical expenses, including the outrageously high chloresterol drug we have to buy, and the increase in gas and food prices. On top of this the city is proposing a monthly fee for just driving on city streets to pay for road improvements.
As Marisa is funding most of the entertainment through Netflix, the interest in maintaining both Comcast and directV is waning. Comcast is now just internet connectivity and directV are the video channels. However directV prices keep going up, so will take a fresh look at doing everything through Comcast and dropping directV. If we could get everything we care about through Comcast for less than $90 additional per month we would save money. We don't have a lot of options.
Besides this, the only savings would be in smart grocery shopping, turning off and unplugging electronic equipment which uses phantom power, limiting driving and home vehicle fluid maintenance (oil, etc.). We are already doing our own cleaning (so to speak) and yard maintenance...and investing sweat equity in improving fencing and landscaping.
Now I am even with those funds and hope to continue their usual accumulation until pay-out.
I still have one fund to catch-up on. It is the one I should use for this kind of thing: the slush fund. It has no particular purpose but does help guarantee I never have insufficient funds when writing a check and it provides some cushion in case of unexpected expenses. This year it was exhausted and then some, which is why I dipped into the other funds.
I like to keep at least $2000 in the slush fund at all times. Now I can finally start contributing back to it.
Depending on my credit use (which I am trying to limit), I expect to get back to $2000 by the end of July, barring any unforeseen expenses.
We may have one of those, however, as Marisa's tooth pains may signal some needed, non-insured expenses. For that I would probably have to exhaust the medical fund entirely, but for its intended purpose, then have to borrow again from the property tax fund (but at least not exhaust it completely). At least that is my forecast for what will happen.
If that, or something similar to it, happens I will need to restore the property tax fund first before contributing to the slush fund.
Besides emergency expenses, the slush fund is also there for the occasional contract expense to fix up our house and grounds. My goal is to limit spending as much as possible so we can grow the slush fund to $6000 or more, then we can consider some of those contracting expenses: drain, roof, driveway, re-piping the basement.
About the only thing I can do is keep my eye on the prize and try to reduce my spending. Looks like my July credit bill will be around $1100! Bills should total about $300 and groceries $400...so $1800...which we can make go up to $2000. That leaves $1000 we can transfer to the slush fund in mid July.
If there is a dental emergency expense I figure that won't go to the slush fund, but to refund the
property tax fund. However toward the end of July expect a quarterly bonus of around $700, so with some tight spending I might be able to scrape together enough to still restore both the property tax to its proper state and also get half of what I need in the slush fund.
We do have a planned credit use at zero percent interest for a year...at least that is what I am told. So I will work that into the plan so it is paid off at the earliest opportunity without getting in the way of our plans. However, before we do any major vacations or travelling we need to zero that out, so planning once again to target zero revolving credit balance for the first quarter of 2015.
So, tight spending and a little luck might get us through July and continue progress. Without keeping a sharp watch on spending, however, we won't be able to ever get caught up. Pay is not keeping up with rising medical expenses, including the outrageously high chloresterol drug we have to buy, and the increase in gas and food prices. On top of this the city is proposing a monthly fee for just driving on city streets to pay for road improvements.
As Marisa is funding most of the entertainment through Netflix, the interest in maintaining both Comcast and directV is waning. Comcast is now just internet connectivity and directV are the video channels. However directV prices keep going up, so will take a fresh look at doing everything through Comcast and dropping directV. If we could get everything we care about through Comcast for less than $90 additional per month we would save money. We don't have a lot of options.
Besides this, the only savings would be in smart grocery shopping, turning off and unplugging electronic equipment which uses phantom power, limiting driving and home vehicle fluid maintenance (oil, etc.). We are already doing our own cleaning (so to speak) and yard maintenance...and investing sweat equity in improving fencing and landscaping.