I found this (great!) site a couple of weeks ago and have been lurking and reading through *lots* of threads. Great information and I am glad to be here. I have seen how helpful members are with going through posted budgets and I hope to get some of that assistance myself. Oh, and I apologize in advance for this being so long, but I tried to break it up so it could be skimmed easily. And thanks (again, in advance) for reading!
Bottom line: we are currently spending more than we make, with my father-in-law making up the difference, and this needs to end ASAP. I was raised to never ask for or accept help, so the stress from borrowing money each month is really painful. It bothers my husband much less because he has a wholly different relationship with his parents than I do with mine, but, in any case, we need to get our financial house in order.
Short term goal: make ends meet.
Medium term goals: establish small EF, figure out a way to pay for school when DH transfers to state school from community college next year.
Long term goals: eliminate consumer debt and build emergency fund, savings, retirement.
Pertinent personal details: I am 36; husband is 39. We live in the SF Bay Area, bought a home in 2003, have no kids, and have 2 dogs and 2 cats.
We have a large amount of credit card debt ($27,126), all on one card. The minimum payment on that is certainly a large part of our monthly deficit. Not that it matters now, but in the interest of full disclosure, we accumulated it through a combination of poor decisions (buying wants, being in denial about how long unemployment would last, not budgeting, not having an EF which led to the credit card being used as an EF, trying and failing at a home business attempt) and unfortunate life circumstances (DH was laid off 3 years ago and couldn't find a job he was "qualified" for due to lack of a degree. Decided to go back to school, while working part time. He had end-stage renal disease and 1 year into unemployment, had to go on dialysis, which severely impacted his ability to work a part time job in addition to school. He got a kidney transplant 9 months ago and didn't miss any school, but wasn't able to keep up the pace of working; I was the kidney donor, which impacted my income for a short period.).
Monthly income (total - $3,518):
Me: $3,018
DH (this is an average, because it's commission-related): $500
Monthly spending (total - $4,290):
Mortgage: $2,470
Property Taxes: $275
Electric/Gas: $125
Cell Phones (2): $74 (DH needs his for work; mine is under contract and can’t be eliminated)
Car Insurance (2): $153
Car registrations (2): $31
AAA (towing/roadside assistance): $11
Dr. Co-pay: $15
Life Insurance (for both): $62
Homeowners Insurance: $78
Water: $88
Garbage: $19
Internet: $55 (DH needs this for work; we are shopping for a cheaper plan)
Netflix: $14
Gasoline $40
Tolls: $10
Prescriptions: $40
Groceries/Household: $125
Haircuts (for both): $35
Pet Care: $65
CCCS DMP $506
Deficit: $(773)
Things we have already done to reduce spending:
Utilities:
Dropped our land line.
Ongoing work to reduce electric, gas, and water usage through various strategies (thank goodness it was a very cool summer, so very few 100 degree days this year).
A/C is set to 80 degrees; heater will be set to 60.
Switched garbage service to smallest plan available.
Pets:
Switched to cheaper dog food (which turned out to be better for them and we were able to discontinue two ongoing medications/supplements).
I make the cat food, which is cheaper than decent quality prepared food.
Stopped giving the animals monthly flea treatments; avoid group "play dates" where they can p/u fleas.
Give the dogs each 1/2 a heartworm pill per month.
Take pets to cheap clinic (instead of vet) for any required vaccinations.
Grocery:
Never eat out; cook at home, from scratch.
Made a price book.
Shop sales and follow a list.
Shop less frequently.
Trying to eat less overall.
Household:
Use very few disposables (e.g. only t.p. and floss; no paper towels, napkins, etc.).
Cut back on OTC vitamin supplements.
Made a price book.
Concentrating on using less of all consumables.
Don't buy cleaning products; use vinegar, baking soda, etc.
Other:
Stopped using credit card late last year, but have to admit that if we had a crisis (auto- or home-related), we would need to use one again.
Starting a DMP this month with CCCS which will reduce our monthly debt payment to the $506 shown, and reduce interest rate to 1.9%.
Met with our insurance agent to review all insurance and reduced coverage/raised deductibles where feasible.
Got rid of our third vehicle.
Switched to cheaper Netflix plan (we don't have cable).
Stopped my 401(k) contributions.
Stopped all charitable giving.
I found a cheaper place for haircuts; am considering stopping haircuts altogether (only get one every 3 months).
Discontinued all magazine subscriptions.
Concerted effort to reduce driving and bridge crossings (all 7 bridges here are toll bridges).
Cancelled my Fastrak (auto bridge toll) account.
I've been checking out (and reading!) money books from the library (Mary Hunt didn't "speak" to me, but am looking forward to reading Dave Ramsey).
We don't exchange Christmas gifts with anyone, haven't for 4 years, but I do make lots of cookies to share (painful to think of not doing that this year).
Things we are planning to do in the near future:
This weekend we are going through our stuff to decide what can be sold and then place ads on craigslist.
Reapply for a mortgage refinance with our credit union (we did this last year and were denied due to inadequate income) using "Making Home Affordable" program forms.
We didn't put in a vegetable garden this year due to both of us recovering from surgery, but we will next spring.
We are shopping around for cheaper internet.
Other:
I have been toying with the idea of getting a second job off and on for months, but can't seem to make myself do it. I know it's just an excuse, but the thought of taking on an extra, regular commitment really stresses me out and I am afraid that the pressure, on top of my existing stress, will cause me to fall apart. I am well aware that lots of people have more than one job and manage, but...this is a weakness of mine. If I do it, I need to find something that's not mentally taxing since my "day" job already wears me out (it's a good job that I enjoy, but requires a lot of energy). I also need to go back to school and was planning on starting night school in January. But that, of course, can wait. I'm taking one class right now that I need for work, which lasts until mid-November, so I need to take that into consideration when adding commitments.
Whew, that was monstrously long, but I have tried to pay attention to the questions that I have seen get asked when people post this kind of stuff.
Thanks so much for reading. I am eagerly awaiting any and all assistance, advice, tips, suggestions, and ass-kickings.
Sincerely,
Kara
Bottom line: we are currently spending more than we make, with my father-in-law making up the difference, and this needs to end ASAP. I was raised to never ask for or accept help, so the stress from borrowing money each month is really painful. It bothers my husband much less because he has a wholly different relationship with his parents than I do with mine, but, in any case, we need to get our financial house in order.
Short term goal: make ends meet.
Medium term goals: establish small EF, figure out a way to pay for school when DH transfers to state school from community college next year.
Long term goals: eliminate consumer debt and build emergency fund, savings, retirement.
Pertinent personal details: I am 36; husband is 39. We live in the SF Bay Area, bought a home in 2003, have no kids, and have 2 dogs and 2 cats.
We have a large amount of credit card debt ($27,126), all on one card. The minimum payment on that is certainly a large part of our monthly deficit. Not that it matters now, but in the interest of full disclosure, we accumulated it through a combination of poor decisions (buying wants, being in denial about how long unemployment would last, not budgeting, not having an EF which led to the credit card being used as an EF, trying and failing at a home business attempt) and unfortunate life circumstances (DH was laid off 3 years ago and couldn't find a job he was "qualified" for due to lack of a degree. Decided to go back to school, while working part time. He had end-stage renal disease and 1 year into unemployment, had to go on dialysis, which severely impacted his ability to work a part time job in addition to school. He got a kidney transplant 9 months ago and didn't miss any school, but wasn't able to keep up the pace of working; I was the kidney donor, which impacted my income for a short period.).
Monthly income (total - $3,518):
Me: $3,018
DH (this is an average, because it's commission-related): $500
Monthly spending (total - $4,290):
Mortgage: $2,470
Property Taxes: $275
Electric/Gas: $125
Cell Phones (2): $74 (DH needs his for work; mine is under contract and can’t be eliminated)
Car Insurance (2): $153
Car registrations (2): $31
AAA (towing/roadside assistance): $11
Dr. Co-pay: $15
Life Insurance (for both): $62
Homeowners Insurance: $78
Water: $88
Garbage: $19
Internet: $55 (DH needs this for work; we are shopping for a cheaper plan)
Netflix: $14
Gasoline $40
Tolls: $10
Prescriptions: $40
Groceries/Household: $125
Haircuts (for both): $35
Pet Care: $65
CCCS DMP $506
Deficit: $(773)
Things we have already done to reduce spending:
Utilities:
Dropped our land line.
Ongoing work to reduce electric, gas, and water usage through various strategies (thank goodness it was a very cool summer, so very few 100 degree days this year).
A/C is set to 80 degrees; heater will be set to 60.
Switched garbage service to smallest plan available.
Pets:
Switched to cheaper dog food (which turned out to be better for them and we were able to discontinue two ongoing medications/supplements).
I make the cat food, which is cheaper than decent quality prepared food.
Stopped giving the animals monthly flea treatments; avoid group "play dates" where they can p/u fleas.
Give the dogs each 1/2 a heartworm pill per month.
Take pets to cheap clinic (instead of vet) for any required vaccinations.
Grocery:
Never eat out; cook at home, from scratch.
Made a price book.
Shop sales and follow a list.
Shop less frequently.
Trying to eat less overall.
Household:
Use very few disposables (e.g. only t.p. and floss; no paper towels, napkins, etc.).
Cut back on OTC vitamin supplements.
Made a price book.
Concentrating on using less of all consumables.
Don't buy cleaning products; use vinegar, baking soda, etc.
Other:
Stopped using credit card late last year, but have to admit that if we had a crisis (auto- or home-related), we would need to use one again.
Starting a DMP this month with CCCS which will reduce our monthly debt payment to the $506 shown, and reduce interest rate to 1.9%.
Met with our insurance agent to review all insurance and reduced coverage/raised deductibles where feasible.
Got rid of our third vehicle.
Switched to cheaper Netflix plan (we don't have cable).
Stopped my 401(k) contributions.
Stopped all charitable giving.
I found a cheaper place for haircuts; am considering stopping haircuts altogether (only get one every 3 months).
Discontinued all magazine subscriptions.
Concerted effort to reduce driving and bridge crossings (all 7 bridges here are toll bridges).
Cancelled my Fastrak (auto bridge toll) account.
I've been checking out (and reading!) money books from the library (Mary Hunt didn't "speak" to me, but am looking forward to reading Dave Ramsey).
We don't exchange Christmas gifts with anyone, haven't for 4 years, but I do make lots of cookies to share (painful to think of not doing that this year).
Things we are planning to do in the near future:
This weekend we are going through our stuff to decide what can be sold and then place ads on craigslist.
Reapply for a mortgage refinance with our credit union (we did this last year and were denied due to inadequate income) using "Making Home Affordable" program forms.
We didn't put in a vegetable garden this year due to both of us recovering from surgery, but we will next spring.
We are shopping around for cheaper internet.
Other:
I have been toying with the idea of getting a second job off and on for months, but can't seem to make myself do it. I know it's just an excuse, but the thought of taking on an extra, regular commitment really stresses me out and I am afraid that the pressure, on top of my existing stress, will cause me to fall apart. I am well aware that lots of people have more than one job and manage, but...this is a weakness of mine. If I do it, I need to find something that's not mentally taxing since my "day" job already wears me out (it's a good job that I enjoy, but requires a lot of energy). I also need to go back to school and was planning on starting night school in January. But that, of course, can wait. I'm taking one class right now that I need for work, which lasts until mid-November, so I need to take that into consideration when adding commitments.
Whew, that was monstrously long, but I have tried to pay attention to the questions that I have seen get asked when people post this kind of stuff.
Thanks so much for reading. I am eagerly awaiting any and all assistance, advice, tips, suggestions, and ass-kickings.
Sincerely,
Kara