How are we even here already?
I’ve been counting down to April for months, since it will be my first full month of being jobless!
I did some of the prep work for this budget ahead of time. It involves some challenges in estimating income because I’m supposed to get my annual leave payout, but it was not included in 1 April’s final paycheck. I assume it will come separately but will be making phone calls if I don’t start seeing evidence that the payout is on the way.
I have an *idea* of how much it will be, but with taxes and no retirement contributions, I have to ballpark it. For my purposes, I’m estimating $5,000.
Income is still high this month, as long as I get my leave payout in April. Most of that will go into short term savings (which I used to designate for sinking funds, but right now it’s a cash stash account to live off of). A hefty amount of that will go to taxes… we always owe because I like to invest more of my take-home up front. I got our tax documents to the accountant a few days past the deadline (I didn’t realize there was one, but it makes sense), so she’ll be filing an extension. We may not end up paying taxes until later when it’s fully prepared.
I had a medical procedure in March and am expecting a bill soon, so that’s why healthcare is so high. We are covered through my employer plan until the end of April, at which point we’ll switch over to my husband’s employer plan. That will affect his take home pay, but I need to get access to his employee portal to get more info on that (because he doesn’t bother going in there). Open enrollment is in October, so if I have a full time job by then with better benefits, we’ll switch out of there again.
It’s also my birthday month, and we have a day trip planned, so I’ve added a little more to “Entertainment” and “Restaurants” than will be there in subsequent months.
I’m trying to be realistic about these categories, but I also consider it my job right now to ensure we’re spending responsibly, especially with food. I’ve been meal planning and shopping the sales, so I’m curious to see how I do by the end of April.
How do you think your taxes will pan out? Will you owe a lot? Do you prefer more take home pay up front or try to avoid owing anything?
-K