Where could I cut back? help!

[Mochashello]

OK, I'm new here. *waves* Hi!

My family is in a tight spot and I am trying to find ways to cut back. I still have the more "drastic" measures available to me (i.e. second job, downgrade vehicle, etc) but for now I want to see what I can do before reaching that point. Here is a breakdown if anyone cares to lend some advice:

save $100 (I'm rarely successful at doing this, but it's in the budget!)
DTV 61.00 (I'd like to downgrade but hubby wants to upgrade)
HELOC $585 (interest only- 4.45%)
Compassion Int'l $32
Mike's spending $80
Michelle's spending $80 (this is flexible but I try to give us each $20 mad money per week)
Verizon $125 (3 cell phones in our plan)
City- water, sewer, etc. $145.00 (fluctuates)
Groceries $520 (includes occassional $5 pizza or value menu meal)
Gasoline $390 (with gas prices and hubby working an hour away)
Kid's allowance $72 (3 kids- one gets $3 week, one gets $5, and one gets $10)
tithe $150 (I'd love to get this higher, but...)
car insurance $95
discretionary $80 (this is family mad money- slurpees once a week, or kids need new socks, etc)
Mortgage $1,545.00 (4.125% due to change in Jan.- yikes)
website 10.00 (family site)
edison (6th) 200.00 (fluctuates in different seasons)
AT&T (5th) $75.00 (landline and internet- which is necessary)
toll roads $80.00 (for hubby to get to work)
Gas $45 (fluctuates- will go up in winter)
gym $31 (gets reimbursed through hubby's work)
Orthodontist $75 (for 2 kids braces)

We have one credit card that normally has a zero balance but currently has $1750 on due to various things such as: our dog had puppies (lots of vet bills!), the van needed service, etc. We have no car payments or other debts- it is all in the HELOC. Right now we need to get my husband's car serviced (the light is on) and both vehicles have tires that are quite bald. The dog's registration is overdue and that is $100. My husband got a ticket for using his cell phone while driving and had to pay $55 for that (was $90 but he went to court). The oven ignitor went out a few months ago and I just fixed that for $260! Yikes! My son needs new shoes for gym (he's outgrown them), my kids did not get school clothes this year. Oh, my son will turn 13 in November, my daughter will be 11 in December, and also my dad and my husband's mom have birthdays in November. Not to mention the kids will want Halloween costumes next month.

Some things I've thought of- downgrade the DTV package to the family pack. (though hubby wants to go with Dish and spend about $7 more than we are now to have it in 4 rooms instead of just the one we currently have) Also, to try and reduce the electric bill somehow. How do you cut back on groceries when you are feeding a family of 5 on no more than $120 a week as is? And that is not just food- that's TP, paper towels, soap, shampoo, cat and dog food, cat litter, anything that is bought at the grocery store. Oh- and hubby is supposed to call the auto insurance company to inform them that he is now working from home twice a week and see if they lower our premium with the fewer miles he drives.

We're paid every 2 weeks and each check is $2335. We contribute $50 to a 401K per month, and we block tax withholding (we never owe much, if anything, with all the loan interest we pay and the kids we have).

So where can I skim some more off the budget? We don't want to sell the car or the van (we just got them this year and neither were brand new) and we just want to see what else we can do to cut back without resorting to the more drastic measures.

OK, sorry this post is so long. Not sure if anyone has any advice for me other than to ditch the cars or something, or get rid of the DTV. But I want to try. *keeping my fingers crossed*!

[justpeachy92]

One thing that jumps out at me is the phone bills, if you are comfortable getting rid of the landline and just using your cells I would consider that. I just saw a commercial the other day for At&t about a new program where you can get your internet through them without having a landline phone.

[Mochashello]

oohh.. That's interesting. We currently are bundled with them. My only hesitation is that I have kids and only the oldest has a cell. If I go somewhere and leave them I'd like themto have a landline- to reach me, and also for 911 purposes, etc. I'm sure you've heard the difficulties of 911 on cell phones.

[Helpinghand]

I came up with an extra $94 in your budget. If you add that to the $100 a month you are already saving, and trim your mad money fund by $5 a week, cut your family mad money down to $50 a month, and cut you monthly grocery expenses by $30-40 a month you should be able to save about $300 a month. Obviously you want to work on paying off the credit card, but I would pay minimum monthly dues until you establish a baby emergency fund.

Some of this extra money may have to go to birthday/holiday preparation, but the goal should be not to rack up anymore debt on the credit card. Since you are paid every two weeks you should also get two extra paychecks a year. We get ours in August and December, but you may be on a different pay schedule. I would take this and knock out your credit card debt, and use the rest to get the kids clothes or any other necessities.

If you meal plan, and monitor grocery sales you shouldn’t have a problem saving on your grocery bill. Currently we spend about $75-$80 a week for a family of four. One is a baby but we pay for diapers, baby food, and formula, as well as all toiletries on this budget. Savings can definitely vary depending on your location. I also spend about fifty dollars at Sams Club a month, and stock up when I see a great sale. Menu planning has also helped us limit how much we eat out.

We have Mad money as well, but when we get in a bind, it is the first thing that goes. You might consider using it for shoes and birthdays over the next couple of months.

I hoped this helps a little. The good thing is that you have a budget in place. It’s much easier to hold yourself accountable when it’s written in black and white.

[amanjud]

Groceries are always an easy one to cut back on. We currently spend about $450/mth for a family of 6. That's way down from when I originally started slashing it. Cutting out most of the extras and sticking to the list really helps. Shop around for deals and go to places like Aldis (they have been my lifesaver!)
I also agree with cutting back the mad money a little if you really need that extra cash.

Does DH get reimbursed for the tolls to get back and forth to work? If not, could you claim this on your taxes as work expenses?

[Michelle]

First, welcome to Frugal Village

Some things I would do in your situation to cut back:

• Cut back on groceries. Use coupons, shop sales, don't buy convenience foods
• Your mad money. Cut that back from $40/week for the two of you to $20/week.
• Cut back on your family mad money. I would at least cut that in half.
• Convince your dh to downgrade DTV
• Can you reduce your tithe? I'm sure it's important to you, but if you're worried about your mortgage rate increasing in January, now is the time to start preparing for that.
• Is public transportation available for your dh so he doesn't have to pay tolls on his commute? If so, you'd still need to compare the tolls costs vs. the subway/train/bus costs as well as any money offset by a decrease in car insurance (see next item)
• If he *is* able to change to public transportation, you may be able to get a lower rate on your car insurance because he's not driving as much.
• You mention having the opportunity to downgrade your car. If it saves you money, do it.

By just cutting your "mad" money as I've indicated above, you save $120/month. There is money to be had, it's just a matter of what you're willing to sacrifice

[joyofsix]

save $100 (I'm rarely successful at doing this, but it's in the budget!)
Do this
DTV 61.00 (I'd like to downgrade but hubby wants to upgrade)
Show him what he can watch on the computer. If he won't downgrade at least agree to stay at this point not upgrade.
HELOC $585 (interest only- 4.45%)
Compassion Int'l $32
Mike's spending $80
Michelle's spending $80 (this is flexible but I try to give us each $20 mad money per week)
Halve or third this
Verizon $125 (3 cell phones in our plan)
City- water, sewer, etc. $145.00 (fluctuates)
Groceries $520 (includes occassional $5 pizza or value menu meal)
Save as other's have suggested. Consider the pizza or value meal the family splurge. See below
Gasoline $390 (with gas prices and hubby working an hour away)
Kid's allowance $72 (3 kids- one gets $3 week, one gets $5, and one gets $10)
Um, sorry kids. 1/2 their allowances?
tithe $150 (I'd love to get this higher, but...)
car insurance $95
discretionary $80 (this is family mad money- slurpees once a week, or kids need new socks, etc)
keep this to essentials (socks) Look for free or cheaper fun. Library movies, parks, local programs, take your own snacks, etc.
Mortgage $1,545.00 (4.125% due to change in Jan.- yikes)
website 10.00 (family site)
If it's cancellable and not too important to you it's gone.
edison (6th) 200.00 (fluctuates in different seasons)
AT&T (5th) $75.00 (landline and internet- which is necessary)
Get rid of landline. Buy a cheap ($10) tracfone for home?
toll roads $80.00 (for hubby to get to work)
Gas $45 (fluctuates- will go up in winter)
gym $31 (gets reimbursed through hubby's work)
Orthodontist $75 (for 2 kids braces)

[ladykemma2]

save $100 save baby emergency fund
DTV 61.00 cut, period
HELOC $585 (interest only- 4.45%)what is the balance?
Compassion Int'l $32cut
Mike's spending $80
Michelle's spending $80 (this is flexible but I try to give us each $20 mad money per week)
Verizon $125 (3 cell phones in our plan)
City- water, sewer, etc. $145.00 (fluctuates)
Groceries $520
Gasoline $390
Kid's allowance $72 cut
tithe $150 this is up to you i would tithe on takehome pay
car insurance $95
discretionary $80cut
Mortgage $1,545.00 (4.125% due to change in Jan.- yikes)
website 10.00 (family site)cut, not necessary for life
edison (6th) 200.00 (fluctuates in different seasons)
AT&T (5th) $75.00 (landline and internet- which is necessary)
toll roads $80.00 (for hubby to get to work)
Gas $45 (fluctuates- will go up in winter)
gym $31 (gets reimbursed through hubby's work)
Orthodontist $75 (for 2 kids braces)

stop all retirement contributions, pay off all debt, beans and rice, rice and beans, listen to dave ramsey archives on his website for free. i listen to them while i do the chores.

[McD]

Here's what popped out at me right off the bat:

DTV 61.00--Downgrade. You can watch most shows free online thru various websites. MSN had an article not long ago. Show that to hubby. If he is insistient you keep it, ask if he's willing to cut back on his spending money to do so.

Compassion Int'l 32$ What is this?

City- water, sewer, etc. $145.00 This seems really high for water/sewer. Is this quarterly or monthly? Our water/sewer/trash is rarely over 30$ monthly.

Groceries $520 You can reduce this by watching sales, planning meals based on what you can get cheap, using coupons, etc.
website 10 What is this? Could this be cut?
edison what is edison?
At&T Could you cut your phone down to the absolute basic service? That seems high. We have cable internet and only pay about 30-40$ a month for it.

[ladykemma2]

me again

read the very lengthy post "what are your best frugal tips" to get started.

the nice people here told me to:

use 1/2 the laundry detergent or make your own. wash in cold. hang to dry. i saw immediate savings with this.

a lot of people have good luck with coupons (I don't)

unplug everything to reduce phantom load. for me, this resulted in an immediate savings of 100 a month. use power strips.

plan meals with existing supplies, make a shopping list, eat before you go, shop with a calculator to keep a running total, keep to the list, be open to surprise loss leaders. For example last week my walmart had hamburger helper for 27 cents a box. i bought ten, not on the list.

when my pocket money is gone, it's gone.

i do worry about my credit rating and while i live debt free, i keep one credit card and charge one thing on it a year, and pay it off slowly. i also use it for travel.

i am a huge dave ramsey, mary hunt and jerrold mundis fan. read their books! Listen to dave on the radio archives.

I stockpile (LDS provident living)

i brown bag lunch and do intentional leftovers

after you get debt under control, consider sinking fund/freedom account for annual and intermittent bills. homes and cars wear out and need to be budgeted for.

cutting cable was painful but necessary. i cried and cursed the ex husband all the way to return the boxes.

edited to add: your son needs new shoes, your kids new school uniforms, and yet your hubby wants to upgrade the cable. i mean this in all kindness but think about that (wink)

[Mochashello]

Thank you for all the replies. I have a couple questions.

Groceries- how on earth do you managage to spend $75-$80 or so on a family our size? Does that include your toiletries, paper goods, and pet supplies? Because for me when I say groceries, this is what I mean. We have 2 cats and 2 dogs so when we run out of litter or food our grocery bill that week goes up, so usually any skimming I've been able to do in the week or two before that gets eaten up. I shop at the $1 store for a lot of things. We go shopping when the butcher puts out the "cheap meat"- when ground beef is sold for $1 a pound and we get 5 lbs at a time and separate it in individual bags. Then for example we'll buy buns- often from the $1 store- and have burgers with one of the pounds of beef so we feed the whole family for $2. We eat hamburger helpers a LOT. We eat some pasta but not as often as I'd like because it does not go over well with the kids and my husband does the low-carb thing and has to make himself something different when we have pasta.

The credit card is only used for emergencies but like I said we've had a few of those lately. I'm pretty good at not using the card otherwise but now I have that looming over me and I hate it.

The HELOC balance (someone asked) is $154,509.62. We had an addition put on our home a few years ago and we consolidated our debts.

The savings always gets used up and it's not for trivial things. Something will come up. Trust me, we don't live like kings. We go without. But there are some things that you can't refuse your kids. My 5th grader had her heart set on joining band and we had to rent an instrument paying 3 months upfront. That was around $75 right there. The car registrations were both just due around the same time so... no savings.

Cut the allowance? I have an 8th grader who gets $10 a week. But he pays for his own school lunches if he doesn't want to brown bag it, and he's almost a teenager- how can I not give him any money of his own? That's just really hard for me.

"tithe" is nowhere near 10% so basing it on take home pay doesn't help. Last month I think I only did $100 and this month I have been tempted to skip it altogether. But I worry about slipping into that mindset, especially while we are sitting on our couch watching our $60 DTV. I don't know, it's tempting but it feels wrong to me. I'm not sure what I should do about that one to be honest.

"Mad money". My husband usually spends his on food or on a book or something. Last month, my husband, my son, and I pitched in to buy a cable we needed to connect the video camera to the computer to upload videos. So we each had $12 put into it. This amount is flexible, and as an example, this next paycheck my husband and I are each getting $20 for the next 2 weeks instead of $40. That's $10 a week that we have control over. $10 of being able to decide- is it worth it to get this cup of coffee, this pack of gum? Without that money there is no freedom whatsoever. There are definitely times when that money gets cut, but I don't see how I could cut it any further. Gum and lattes and such do NOT get onto the grocery list. Which, I'd still love to see how you all spend so much less than I do there.

Toll Road. I've asked him about this. Firstly, there is no public transportation that leads to his work. Secondly, there is a route that does not use the toll road but it would add another hour to his trip EACH way. We already managed to get him permission to work from home twice a week and that saves on gas and tolls. But they are still expensive. He had a carpool buddy but he doesn't work there any more and no one else lives in our area.

We don't eat out. Eating out for us is spending $10 at McDonalds for all 5 of us. Once in a blue moon we may go out to eat with my parents after church or something- but then they usually pick up the tab! And lately we haven't done that anyway- nobody has the money for it. My mom, SIL, and myself had a girls night on Friday night. SIL wanted soup so my mom said we'd be going to the grocery store to get some of their pre-made soup. I tucked a can of chicken noodle from my pantry into my purse before leaving instead. Oh- and I also usually eat less than 1,000 calories a day to "save on groceries". How do you do it? We don't eat vegetables either. I do plan our meals most of the time. Can someone give me specific examples of how to cut back on the grocery money?

The way I see it, DTV is the only concrete thing I can change. And maybe the Compassion Int'l- but who wants to tell the starving child that you are too "poor" to keep helping them? The times I don't save that money is not begcause I decide to buy myself a new pair of shoes- in fact both hubby and myself really need new clothes- his are full of holes and don't fit- mine mostly don't fit but now that fall is on the way I have more variety to choose from. But anyway, the "savings" usually gets eaten by unplanned expenses or even when my husband goes over on the grocery budget- the prices of meat and dairy have gone up and other basics have gone up. We buy no-name brands most of the time except when it really makes a difference. I buy cereal from the dollar store, and the chips or crackers for the kids lunches. I try to turn off the lights around the house when nobody is in the room.

I read the thread about everyone saving on their electric bill and it boggles my mind. I don't know how I could get our bill down more (without investing in energy saving devices first- which would require money we don't have). Ideas?

Any other bills I could cut down?

Thank you to everyone who has replied so far. I will go back over the answers and consider what I could put into use. =)

[Cricketlegs]

Right off the bat I see your grocery amount is high.

Get some good scratch recipesand stop buying prepackaged expensive stuff. It may look cheap but for the amount you get and the zero health benefits it is NOT a good deal.

Meat, starch, veggie---make a meal plan.

Meats choices, add BEANS once a week or at least 2 times a month.
Starches--potato, rice or pasta
Veggies--buy big bags of frozen and use what you need

Pizza is the easiest thing to make at home.

There is no chefboyardee, hamburger helper, pancake mixes, corn bread mixes,micro oatmeal, frozen pizzas and pot pies for the frugal woman.

She knows she can make these things herself for a fraction of the cost, right from her pantry and it will make MORE for leftovers, taste better and be healthier and cost less!

Save your Emergency Fund. IT is what keeps Mamas sane in times of trouble.

Welcome to the boards and stick around. Great ideas are here for free!

[Cricketlegs]

Okay I see you added pets to your grocery amounts so I can see the amounts go up. I budget pets seperate so I didn't think it might be included.

I also have my stockpile fund and hba's tend to be in my stockpile.

I haven't had a roll o paper towels in YEARS.

[cheles2kids]

I will say up front that I have not read everyone's posts, but the first thing that caught my eye is the $125.00 to Verizon.

I would pay the fee and break your contract, depending on how long you have left on your contract and then go with pre-paid cell phones. I think our fee would be right at $200.00 to break the contract.

We also have Verizon and spend around 90.00 a month, but our contract is up in December, so what we would spend on breaking the contract would eat up about what we would be spending over the next couple months, did that make sense?

But I've already bought two TracPhones and will be ready to purchase our minute cards come December!

Also wanted to say that I've never met another Mike & Michelle (especially with this spelling) couple!
Hello from Mike & Michelle in Tennessee!!!

[justpeachy92]

Does your husband follow a low-carb diet for health reasons, like diabetes. You say your family eats alot of hamburger helper meals, those are pasta meals, made from refined overpressed stuff with little to no nutritional value. If your husband is fixing himself other food because he doesn't eat the carbs, there explains alot of your grocery money. It sounds like you are buying food for your meal and his meal. I would suggest going to the library and getting some low-carb cookbooks for ideas that meat your husbands dietary wants/needs that the whole family will enjoy. It would also benefit your family better if you spent the money you currently spend on chips, crackers and high sugar cereals on vegetables. Then while at your library look for a cookbook that will give you ideas for treats you can make at home for the kids. In the long run learning how to cook more from scratch and relying less on convenient foods will not only be cheaper but also healthier for your family.