What do you think of my budget? Suggestions? Comments?

[meredith1629]

Out of curiosity: What is your degree in?

Next question will be, is there any way you can make money part-time on the side applying those skills?

My degree is in library science. I actually have no debt from my bachelor's degree. All of my debt came from the two years I worked on my master's degree.

I could use my degree to get a part-time job but I would have to travel to a city 20 minutes away to use it. I would actually make more money working at a retail store or fast food place, which is really sad.

Also, right now I'm in a para-professional position. I hope that in the next 5 years I will be in a professional position, earning more money.

I did just sign on to "teach" an English workshop at the community college where I work. I will tutor students in developmental English for one hour a week. The pay is awesome!

[meredith1629]

Hi! For only being 29, you are doing well, and congrats on the advanced degree! I know it must be tight, so I'll give some thoughts. My basic suggestion is to try cutting some categories to the bone for a month or two, just to get an idea of how it feels to live sparsely in certain categories. If it doesn't work, bring it back up. For example, if you can cut $10 a month from the food budget and not feel deprived, why not keep on doing it? On the other hand, if it doesn't work, well then, bring it back up. Doesn't hurt to try! I look forward to hearing how your journey goes!!!

I actually did a "Bare Bones" budget and a "Desperation" budget. I think I will try to make March the bare bones month and April the desperation budget month. Thanks for the tip! I love a challenge!

Phone - $45 (Mom and I split this bill.)Does this mean you actually only pay $24?

My part is $45. We just cut out unlimited texting and saved about $18-$20 a month. We just started another 2 year contract in November so we're in it for awhile.

Cable/Internet - $50 (Mom and I split this bill.) Again, do you actually only pay $25? Or is the total $100 and $50 is your share?

My part is $50. I really love having the internet and unless I get totally desperate (in my desperation budget I cut it out completely) it will most likely stay.

Grocery - $180 (I am a vegan who tries to eat organic, non-processed foods, which sometimes cost more. I also am obese and eat more food than the average person. This total is just my food costs.) There are many reasons for obesity, so don't think I am trying to pick on you. But can you possibly work on two things at the same time here: 1) weight control and 2) lowering the food bill. Try for a modest reduction to about $160 or $150 per month.

If only it were that easy! I did take my February grocery budget down to $150. Unfortunately, lowering the food budget only encourages me to buy more junk. This is a constant struggle for me.

Restaurants - $30 (I rarely use this much. Leftover money gets used to grocery stockpile hot deals or to my ER Fund.) Try to set a goal for the next few months to only go out for dollar menu items. What if you made it a treat to go out once a week, but only spent $2-3 on dollar menu items? For a month, that would total about $8-12. If you find that doesn't work for you, then you can return to your original budget amount. But if you can do this, then you are saving about 2/3 of your budgeted amount!! And I find that knowing I have a weekly treat day is great motivation! Just a burger, fries, and a glass of water makes an OK meal for me.

The only dollar menu items a vegan can get are fries (and at some restaurants, like McD's, even those aren't vegan). Maybe apple slices at McD's. I'm not sure as I haven't eaten at McD's in years. I do drink water when I go out. The mark up on soft drinks is unreal.

Gasoline - $90 You seem like the type of person that wouldn't waste gasoline. How far do you commute?

My commute is about 6 miles total. I don't live very far from work but it is unsafe to walk to work, or I would at least a few days a week.

Pets - $20 (After food and litter, the leftover money goes to an account for vet bills.) Many will disagree with me, and that's OK, but if money gets really tight, you can give away your pets and eliminate this expense.

I will never get rid of my baby!!

Gifts - $33.33 (This includes money to put back for Christmas.) This also is an easy category to cut back on.

In my bare bones and desperation budget this category was cut quite a bit.

Misc. - $14 Means what?

Stuff that comes up during the money I need to buy/pay for that isn't covered by any other category.

Entertainment - $20 (I usually don't use this much on entertainment. Leftover money goes to ER Fund.) Many will say that this is not much for entertainment, but I know that we can entertain ourselves for nothing. Can you try to cut this back more?

I am quite a homebody and don't really go out much. I could cut this category back.

Thank you all for your suggestions! I have really changed my budgeting because of them!

[achrissmile]

Not to offend anyone, but I disagree with the person who said to get rid of the credit card. It's hard to get a good credit score without having credit history from revolving credit, and a loan ( student loans don't count, or at least didn't in our case).
Obviously she doesn't need to carry a balance in anyway, but keeping a credit card open and using it occasionally and then paying it off, will build a good history in your credit.

[Greebo]

Not to offend anyone, but I disagree with the person who said to get rid of the credit card. It's hard to get a good credit score without having credit history from revolving credit, and a loan ( student loans don't count, or at least didn't in our case).
Obviously she doesn't need to carry a balance in anyway, but keeping a credit card open and using it occasionally and then paying it off, will build a good history in your credit.

You are unfamiliar with the ultimate goal of the Dave Ramsey plan, I take it?

[TheRootedNomad]

Like some of the others have posted I think you have a good handle on what you spend and why. Now the real question is how important is paying off that debt? Is it more improtant than the misc. fund? If so than the misc. fund goes. So the first step I'd take is that I'd go down the list asking myself that question with each category.

The next step is to look at where can you cut back in a category without eliminating it. I think one of the big things you can do here is cut back the grocery budget. Yes, I have read your above statements and I here you. I also live in Kentucky and am battling our grocery bill as I keep watching the prices skyrocket. The reality is though that I'm not in a place at the moment where it as large a priority (to reduce that bill) to me as it sometimes is. That said let me give you another way of looking at cutting it back. Obviously you are not going to be paying off your debt in full in a couple of months so we're talking long term here. Maybe for the moment your grocery budget stays the same but you can start planning a garden. Somebody you know has seeds from thier best producers last year, talk up your garden and get some. Then start the seedlings inside in recycled something, cups, milk cartons, ect. Plan a variety of stuff, in as large a quantity as you can house. Then if the bell peppers don't do well you have plenty of zuchinni (sp) (which I happen to know grows like a weed here). This will save you TONS on your summer fall grocery budget AND if you learn some basic canning (and again talk this up some one has jars to give away) next winter as well. It also meets your vegan diet.

What??? The problem is you rent. Container gardening can produce BUNCHES or you can see if a friend or relative close by is willing to share thier ground for a joint garden. We do ours at my mother's because my sister still lives home and she seems to have a special touch with plants.

Another area you might be able to cut back is cosmetics. Not by changing what or how much of it you buy but maybe by trolling the internet for coupons/deals/trial sizes of your products. You might even be able to call or e-mail the company and ask specifically for coupons. Tell them you love thier product and hate to give it up but that your budget is really tight. Ask if there are any promotional deals availabel.

After you've really looked at each list item like that then comes the "for me there is nothing else to cut, now what?" Now you think about attacking it from the other end and how can I bring in more income? Online survey sights, a part time job, clearing out the clutter and yardsaling, ect.

Anyhow, that's just my thoughts as I am once again re-evaluating our budget here as well. Wishing you the best with this.