Too many bills-- Not enough money! HELP!

**kshealy** · 08-20-2012, 09:34 AM

Somehow, my husband and I have gotten totally behind on some bills. I need HELP to organize and pay *most* of these bills between this week and next week!

Here is what is due:
House- $979.17- all due
Gas- $149.79- $99.29 past due
Power- $77.98- all due
Water- $35.97- all due
Trash- $30.00- setting aside to pay quarterly
Daycare- $670.00- $300 past due
Phone- $427.11- $239.76 past due
Auto loan- $271.51- all due
Satellite- $265.41- $97.92 past due
HH Gregg- $0.00- caught up
Jareds- $0.00- caught up
Progressive- $128.86- auto withdrawl on 9/7
Lawn maintenance- $75.00
Gym- 164.24- due 8/30
Internet- $39.61
My personal spending cash (weekly, will come out Thursday, includes gas, lunch, etc)- $100
Husband personal spending (same as above)- $150.00
Groceries (weekly)- $130.00

Current Income:In bank- $1,418.45
Husbands check on Thursday- $590.00 +/-
My check NEXT Thursday- $900 +/-
Husbands check NEXT Thursday- $590 +/-
(I am paid bi-weekly, husband is paid weekly)
Child support- $595 on 9/7

Someone PLEASE help!! I can't go into the holidays with our finances going like this!! Also, we have a trip to Disney World planned for the second week in October (cannot be cancelled, everything already booked).

THANK YOU!!!!!

**Spirit Deer** · 08-20-2012, 09:59 AM

I see a lot of things you can cancel. Start there. You need to be in emergency mode till you get all bills current and have enough to meet the next month's bills. Cancel the following and don't make excuses about why you can't. Excuses won't pay the bills. If your gas money is for getting to work, keep that from your personal money but don't use it for anything but work. Take leftovers for lunches. Cut your own grass. Why pay for a gym membership and lawn care when you can kill two birds with one stone by pushing a lawn mower around the yard yourself?

You're in this much trouble and you're going to Disney? Seriously?

You can get DVDs from the library for free. Watch TV on your computer.

Cancel:

Satellite- $265.41- $97.92 past due
Lawn maintenance- $75.00
Gym- 164.24- due 8/30
My personal spending cash (weekly, will come out Thursday, includes gas, lunch, etc)- $100
Husband personal spending (same as above)- $150.00

Why is your phone bill so high? Do something about that. Cancel cell phones if you can, or at the least, make sure you don't go over your minutes and incur any extra expenses with it. Use your land line or Skype.

Phone- $427.11- $239.76 past due

**mamachop** · 08-20-2012, 10:13 AM

I agree with Spirit Deer! All excess and unnecessary spending should be cut asap.

**kshealy** · 08-20-2012, 10:30 AM

I agree that some things need to be cut, but there is a cancellation fee for cancelling all services that you've mentioned and I don't want to cancel them if they will be caught up in the next few months. As for mine and my husbands spending, that includes our weekly gas to and from work, any items that we may need urgently or last minute, etc. My husbands trip to work alone is over 30 miles a day and mine is a lot of in-town driving (taking son to pre-k, to work, back to school, home, grocery store). As for the cell phone, it is our only phone. We have it on the smallest minute plan and we don't even touch those. The bill is this high because I didn't pay it a few months ago and there was a reconnect fee. It is usually around $175 for a month.

As far as Disney goes, we have had this trip planned for over a year and we have been saving like crazy, having a yard sale, etc all so we can take our son. My husband isn't even going because he doesn't want to spend the money on the ticket and miss work. I am going with my family of 15 other people and because we all went in on a house together and my parents have bought my sons ticket, I cannot back out-- TRUST ME! I've certainly thought about it!

**LynnLC** · 08-20-2012, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by mamachop

I agree with Spirit Deer! All excess and unnecessary spending should be cut asap.

Agree. Way too many extras. And Disney? Sorry but you can't afford it right now. Update from above post....How much is Disney total?

**Greebo** · 08-20-2012, 10:45 AM

I am confused by your budget.

You've got weekly, bi-weekly and monthly expenses all in one list. Too hard to do the math. You need to work out your budget as a Monthly animal and start thinking longer term than just "this week we have...".

Originally Posted by kshealy

I agree that some things need to be cut, but there is a cancellation fee for cancelling all services that you've mentioned

Again, short term thinking.

Avoiding a cancellation fee is a lousy reason to keep paying for something you can't afford. If a Cell phone costs $300 to cancel but will cost you $2,000 to keep for the rest of the contract, eat the $300.

and I don't want to cancel them if they will be caught up in the next few months.

You got in this mess because you've been out of control with your money. You need to cut back severely and re-evaluate what you really can afford before you start taking these things on again.

As for the cell phone, it is our only phone. We have it on the smallest minute plan and we don't even touch those. The bill is this high because I didn't pay it a few months ago and there was a reconnect fee. It is usually around $175 for a month.

I have two cell phones, one of which is an Android with a data plan, and my wife has a data plan for her tablet, and our bill isn't this high. You can get this lower.

As far as Disney goes, we have had this trip planned for over a year and we have been saving like crazy, having a yard sale, etc all so we can take our son. My husband isn't even going because he doesn't want to spend the money on the ticket and miss work. I am going with my family of 15 other people and because we all went in on a house together and my parents have bought my sons ticket, I cannot back out-- TRUST ME! I've certainly thought about it!

You can back out. You don't want to back out. If you haven't spent the money yet, you should back out. Disney is not worth your family's financial health, and your son will get over it. Traumatic as it is, I can say from having NEVER gone to Disney as a child, you get over it.

**kshealy** · 08-20-2012, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by LynnLC

Agree. Way too many extras. And Disney? Sorry but you can't afford it right now. Update from above post....How much is Disney total?

My parents are buying my sons ticket (all of the grandkids tickets for Christmas). So, my ticket will be $360 for 6 days there. I am planning on taking between $500-$700 for spending/ food/ etc. My biggest fear is getting there and not having enough money. My son is only four, so I want to make this as magical as possible. Of course, he will not get everything he wants, but I do not want to HAVE to say no because we don't have the money. I already have $300 saved towards spending, we are having a yard sale this weekend (estimating another $200 from that) and I still have another $300 set up to go into savings over the next few weeks.

**FrabjousDay** · 08-20-2012, 10:51 AM

Your initial post is framed as a short-term problem in need of quick resolution, but you have a bigger picture issue...you can't afford your current lifestyle. Time to be brutally honest with yourself, and make some real decisions.

**brennasmom** · 08-20-2012, 10:55 AM

Here is what I would do, you need to seriously tighten your budget:

Here is what is due:
House- $979.17- all due
Gas- $149.79- $99.29 past due
Power- $77.98- all due
Water- $35.97- all due
Trash- $30.00- setting aside to pay quarterly
Daycare- $670.00- $300 past due Pay asap
Phone- $427.11- $239.76 past due find cheaper alternative, that seems really high
Auto loan- $271.51- all due
Satellite- $265.41- $97.92 past due cancel
HH Gregg- $0.00- caught up
Jareds- $0.00- caught up
Progressive- $128.86- auto withdrawl on 9/7
Lawn maintenance- $75.00 cancel
Gym- 164.24- due 8/30 cancel
Internet- $39.61
My personal spending cash (weekly, will come out Thursday, includes gas, lunch, etc)- $100 gas only, no extra spending $$, pack your lunch
Husband personal spending (same as above)- $150.00 gas only, no extra spending $$
Groceries (weekly)- $130.00 seems high for 3 people, you should be able to get by on $100 per week

Do you have any items you can sell to get caught up on everything?

**Spirit Deer** · 08-20-2012, 11:19 AM

Let me get this straight: You're having a garage sale so you can raise money to spend $700 at Disney when you have bills that are in arrears and are in danger of losing essential services like child care. What?

You can slice it however you want to, but you only have XXXX dollars to pay the bills you actually NEED to pay. Using money from a garage sale for something as frivolous as a Disney trip means you will not be able to use that money to cover your bills. Again, what?

I'm not sure why you came here. It does not seem like you really want any advice or assistance in solving your problems. If you're looking for justification for bad spending habits and not setting workable priorities, you have come to the wrong place.

Your biggest fear has already happened. You DON'T have enough money for this trip. And you won't as long as the bills aren't paid and there's not enough to cover the next bills.

And before you decide I'm just someone who doesn't like to have fun, guess again. But we've never made a late payment in our lives, and when the money was not there to blow on non-essentials, we were not shy about telling our kids outright we couldn't afford it. Somehow, they survived.

Why can't the grandparents take your child to Disney without you? Win-win, he gets to go on the trip like a kid and you get to pay your bills like a grownup.

**Greebo** · 08-20-2012, 11:21 AM

Originally Posted by kshealy

My parents are buying my sons ticket (all of the grandkids tickets for Christmas). So, my ticket will be $360 for 6 days there. I am planning on taking between $500-$700 for spending/ food/ etc. My biggest fear is getting there and not having enough money. My son is only four, so I want to make this as magical as possible. Of course, he will not get everything he wants, but I do not want to HAVE to say no because we don't have the money. I already have $300 saved towards spending, we are having a yard sale this weekend (estimating another $200 from that) and I still have another $300 set up to go into savings over the next few weeks.

Are the parents going? Maybe *they* could take your son, and you could save nearly $1,000 which would get you closer to caught up.

**stinkbug** · 08-20-2012, 12:27 PM

This *I have to take my kid to Disney and I can't afford to pay my bills* attitude is exactly why you have a problem. Priorities.

Yup....I'm a meanie. Yup.....my kids did without. Yup...my kids are grown ups and survived.

**stinkbug** · 08-20-2012, 12:32 PM

And in most cases.....grown ups don't get *spending money* when bills are in arrears. You should be in survival mode, not "fun money" mode.

You don't indicate where you live, but all those bills seem really high to me! How old is your child? Does daycare provide meals? That's awful high for groceries. And PAY your daycare provider...good grief! That is NOT optional!!

**Raiquee** · 08-20-2012, 12:37 PM

How much is your daycare per week? Is that figure for the month? The week? Make sure to put top priority on your daycare, as if they won't let you come due to past due amounts, then someone's outta work that will put you further behind.

Also agree with grandma taking the boy to disney? There will be other chances in the future for you to go with him, when he will remember better. Just explain it to your parents thy this trip will put you in a bad financial position.

And definitely cancel the gym membership and lawn maint. What the heck are the doing to your yard for 75 a month? And you can do gym workouts at home. These are luxuaries you can't afford right now. If Disney is really high on your list, then you need to push things down on your list. Satellite you are getting ripped off on. Look at other options or call and downgrade your package. That doesn't even include Internet and thats obsurb!

**Nadders11** · 08-20-2012, 12:46 PM

I quickly played with some of your numbers...and to pay everything up to date and still maintain your personal amounts for spending money and groceries...you'll be 86 in the hole again. Plus I don't know your regular amounts for your monthly expenses when everything is up to date. Perhaps you can post a budget for us?

You need to slash expenses. Gym, lawn care....phone....food. Cut everything back. If you want to go to Disney you best be able to maintain your bills and be able to pay them when you get back too. You can't do it all. First priority is to pay your house bills and daycare. Mickey doesn't look after your kid or pay for a roof over your head.

Yard sales are good....but looks like you'll need these funds to get yourself current on your bills, not for a vacation.

You need to think long term. What about Christmas? Is there any bills coming up you'll need to pay (for us it was always home insurance due in sept every year...just like Xmas we for gott was an annual event and would screw us up....solved this by being aware of your big picture.)

To be behind on all these bills, seems like this was a problem for a while. It hasnt been working. You need a new way of using your money.