Our Budget (still in progress)

[MomToTwoBoys]

So I've been trying to do a budget that we can stick to, but we somehow end up straying. It's a long and arduous task; a task that has rarely been done by both DH and I. But, with the last five months in a bit of dismay, we decided tonight to buckle down and have a good long discussion about it.

This is what we've come up with:

Total Household Income = $3245

Total Fixed Expenses = $1495.07
Total Variable Expenses = $1254.90

Leftover Cash = $458

Ugh, right?

Well, after combing through each expense, we decided to do the following:

1) Cancel the mortgage protection plan on the house. That would cut $62.85 a month. However, we still want something in place in case something happens to either of us. So, we're looking into life insurance for the both of us that will cover more than the cost of paying off the mortgage so that there's a cash safety net in place to cover funeral costs and such.

2) Check to see what the contract of our alarm system entails as far as cancellation is concerned. If possible, it would save another $47 a month. We've been here a year now and the circumstances behind the reason we got it before have improved, hence the decision to axe it.

3) Cut down on the cable. We have Netflix on top of it, but having just basic cable would still give us access to some television and we'd pay $60 less a month.

4) Find ways to further cut the gas and electric and water use. We already put up plastic on the windows in the bedrooms and we have the thermostat down to about 18. It took some getting used to, but the furnace isn't firing up as much anymore either. Also with the gas and water use, I'm taking less showers here at the house (I shower at the gym every single time I go, and I go three times a week) and if I had to, I would take the bus to the mall just to use the shower (considering I already pay for a bus pass, it wouldn't be different for me to do it there than it would here).

5) Check on the cell phone bill plan and see if we're already at the lowest possible deal. We have the phones for another three years (well, mine is two come March but DH just got a new upgrade, so he's stuck with his for a while).

DH quitting smoking saved us $250 a month, but it just wasn't enough. I'm just wondering where else we can cut, if we can. If not, I'm going to have to get a job once I have the chance to get my SIN (like a SSN, only Canadian) to make up the difference. I'm not sure how much it'll help, given that it would count against us for tax credits we already get now.

[khaski]

It sounds like you guys are making great progress- you should be proud. also really excited your hubby quit smoking- as a smoker myself, I know how hard it is to quit, and how much patience and understanding you, as the spouse, had to have those first few days. If you guys can do that, you can do anything!

[Libby]

Hmm...is it just me or do your #'s not add up? Not even close? (the #'s you posted above)

The alarm system - if you signed a 3 year term, I do recall it being cheaper just to keep your system monitored for the remainder of the contract (if you're at about a year into it or so). The cancellation fee can be the equivalent of the months remaining and then some. Read the fine print and give customer service a call?

Maybe its time to go bezerk and track every penny spent in a notebook to see where your 'leaks' are?

[peanut]

Re: the mortgage protection plan. We threatened to go elsewhere and got a much lower preferred rate from RBC. My guess is the bank will give you a better rate than an insurance company. But it's worth looking into.

For funeral expenses we just filled up an EF that I've told DH he is not allowed to touch under any circumstances. It's our funeral account. We have a secondary savings account that is actually working as our combined sinking fund and emergency fund right now.

If you do cancel your alarm service, keep the stickers and signs if you can. Just seeing them can be a deterrent to crime.

What is gas used for? Heat? And electric for lights? Have you looked into low energy light bulbs? We saw a $20/mth. drop in our electric bill when we switched to CFLs. also, we put everything on power bars and flicked the switch off before heading to bed. And I unplug all the small appliances when they aren't in use...except the microwave.

HTH.

[MomToTwoBoys]

Hmm...is it just me or do your #'s not add up? Not even close? (the #'s you posted above)

The alarm system - if you signed a 3 year term, I do recall it being cheaper just to keep your system monitored for the remainder of the contract (if you're at about a year into it or so). The cancellation fee can be the equivalent of the months remaining and then some. Read the fine print and give customer service a call?

Maybe its time to go bezerk and track every penny spent in a notebook to see where your 'leaks' are?

Oh, I re-did the math. It'd be $495.03 leftover after everything is done.

I'll dig up the contract that we signed and see what their payment situation is.

I know where the leaks are, basically. It was in Mike's smoking, my spending habits and that's about it. This budget's from January 2012 onward, so there's bound to be a few more changes. Property tax is going down $9 a month, so we'll see the savings there.

[MomToTwoBoys]

Re: the mortgage protection plan. We threatened to go elsewhere and got a much lower preferred rate from RBC. My guess is the bank will give you a better rate than an insurance company. But it's worth looking into.

For funeral expenses we just filled up an EF that I've told DH he is not allowed to touch under any circumstances. It's our funeral account. We have a secondary savings account that is actually working as our combined sinking fund and emergency fund right now.

If you do cancel your alarm service, keep the stickers and signs if you can. Just seeing them can be a deterrent to crime.

What is gas used for? Heat? And electric for lights? Have you looked into low energy light bulbs? We saw a $20/mth. drop in our electric bill when we switched to CFLs. also, we put everything on power bars and flicked the switch off before heading to bed. And I unplug all the small appliances when they aren't in use...except the microwave.

HTH.

I'd have to see if the mortgage company offers mortgage protection. We get ours through an insurance company and did it when the mortgage specialist helped us secure our mortgage through ResMor Trust Company.

We are just horrible at saving. We can't even get savings off of the ground. Every time we do, we have something pop up and it yanks from savings. By taking out two insurance policies (DH already has one) that covers the house + expenses, we can't touch that.

The gas is used for heat and the hot water heater (I think on the HWH, not sure though). We have all low-energy light bulbs in the house now. I unplug everything when we're not using it and keep lights off in the rooms until I can possibly stand it. But with dark coming here at 4pm and the sunrise not being until 8:15am, that's tough.

[tmffv]

What does the $495 need to go towards? Can this all go towards savings or debt reduction, or is it assigned to misc stuff every month? I would think that having $450+ each month to put in savings or throw at debt would be a pretty good place to be, but everyone's situation is different.