Budget input needed...

[peanut]

So we're like most people. We have a good income, but have been negligent in the savings category over the years. Now the mortgage is paid out I need help redoing the budget. What do you think about these amounts? How do they compare to your expenses? Any ideas to make things better? Thanks!

Income = $2920.00 after taxes and deductions

Expenses
$7 bank charges
$17 life insurance
$64 car insurance
$45 house insurance

$45 phone
$120 natural gas (heat)
$75 electricity
$30 Internet
$45 water, sewer, garbage
$80 house repairs/maintenance/home decor/appliances, etc. (seems low to me)
$250 property tax

$360 groceries
$160 allowances (gifts and recreation come from here)
$160 clothing, footwear and haircuts
$100 miscellaneous (office supplies, postage, computer ink/paper, etc.)
$400 medical

$120 car gas
$5 driver's licenses

$600 emergency fund (our goal is $6000. We have $1400) (car repair comes from here, as do burial expenses)
$300 retirement fund
$50 tithe ...for now

Total $2793.
2920 - 2793 = $127

Leaves some money for capital expenses, but not much. I should point out the house needs to be renovated and the furniture replaced. Also we'll need a new car in five years.

The $300 going to the retirement fund is the maximum we can put in by law. However it is not enough. Thankfully dh has a pension, but we are looking at early retirement. We would like $80,000 to bridge us until full retirement. We have $25,000. So we want to put maximum amounts into savings.

We were hoping to make expenses (without savings) 50% or less of his take home pay. Or ~$1400/mth. That works out to cutting $400 extra. Any ideas on how to cut $400 out of this budget? This is a budget for 2 people, with an adult daughter living at home. She pays board, but we put it towards her future schooling. So we are paying for her food as well.

Thanks.

Jean

[AmyBoz]

Looks good, Jean. The one place I can see big savings possibilities are in the clothing/footwear/haircut category. Do you really spend $160 a month on these items, every month? If not, there is a place you can save big time. You could probably also cut the grocery bill a bit if it's just three adults eating.

[Start-Living]

I agreed with AmyBoz above.

You can cut back on these four:


$360 groceries
$160 allowances (gifts and recreation come from here)
$160 clothing, footwear and haircuts
$100 miscellaneous (office supplies, postage, computer ink/paper, etc.)

There are many helpful tips on here that will show you how to cut back on these. We used to spend around the same amount monthly on these same 4 catogories, we have cut back a lot. Now we spend around $250 to $300 for all these 4 catogories.

What really help us:
- cooking most meals at home, use coupons to buy grocery, and I buy mostly things that are on sale. (we go from $300 a month to $150-$170 a month)
-Stay home more often, and buy less clothes,shoes, etc. (I now shop at good-will for my clothes, and also CLEARANCE section in store) (We go from around $200 a month to $25 to $30 a month)
-Buy less expensive gifts, or make your own gifts. (We go from $150 to $200 to $25 to $50)
-I buy Ink Refill (on ebay) so that saves me lots of $$$$ on printer ink. (go from around $75 a month to $5 to $10)


I'm pretty new still, so don't have much advice/tips, but I'm sure the gals in here have lots of advices/tips on how to save on these catogories.

Good luck

[Valerie in WA]

Switch to a free checking account Save $7
Cut phone service to basics Save $20
Cut down on power (electric & gas) usage Save $50
Reduce groceries Save $60
Reduce allowances Save $50
Reduce clothing/footwear/haircuts Save $50

That's a total of $237 saved.

I think you should fully tithe. You're not in desperate-ramen-eating times, but rather are saving for your future. If you believe in tithing, you probably also believe that God rewards complete obedience.

As a matter of fact, (and, no, I didn't figure this out ahead of time) if you add the $237 I came up with to the $50 you already planned to tithe, that equals $287, which is real close to a 'true' tithe.

Congratulations on paying off your mortgage! Did I miss the announcement or did you do it on the down-low?

[FarmerSue]

Looks good Jean. Are you from Canada? Why did I think that you were for some reason? If you are, are you sure about the $400 for medical? I'm impressed with your phone bill, mine is WAY higher. Looks like about all I would do is clothes and office supplies. Maybe your daughter could chip in a little? One week you do the groceries, one week she does?
Take care!

[peanut]

Yes FarmerSue, I'm from SK, just like you.

The $400/mth. for medical is temporary. I am seeing an acupuncturist for issues that don't seem to be resolvable with western medicine for some reason. And certainly not at a cheaper price. My asthma meds were costing me $175/mth. and they weren't working very well. I chose to try alternative meds and treatments. I currently undergo 6 acupuncture treatments a month. That should eventually drop to one/month.

Start-Living:
That's what I'm thinking. Those four categories are the key. We just increased our personal allowances, so dh is NOT going to be impressed if I take those away. However, I'm open to ideas in the other three for sure. I already cook all my meals from scratch, and do any baking (not much) from scratch too. I was going to switch to organic food, but it simply is not affordable, even on a budget of $360cdn./mth. Either that or we're doing it wrong!

Right now I'm spending a lot in groceries, but I'm stocking up for the winter and processing food while I can get it at case lot prices. I hope to have enough in the grocery budget to stock up on meat this fall too. We'll see. We don't eat processed anything. I even usually make my own bread, though not when it's really hot out. We don't have a bread machine and I use the oven. I try to buy soy free bread too, as I'm allergic. I also make my own diet margarine, fat-free mayonnaise, jams, jellies, pickles, granola bars, muffins, etc.

I could keep an eye on the clearance racks at the grocery store a bit more carefully than I have been. Thanks for twigging my brain on that one. I used to do it a lot, but the produce always seemed to be well over the hill by the time I get there, so I haven't bothered lately. Still...I could use some cheap bananas for the freezer.

Coupons are pretty useless around here. They are usually for brand name products or expensive products that, even with coupon, are more expensive than the cheaper products without coupon.

Clothing - I guess I should have clarified that. You are right. We will be able to reduce that soon. It is at $160/mth. because both dh and I need new winter parkas...parkas good to -50 C. These aren't found in secondhand stores I've discovered. They sell car coats or coats good to about -25 C. We're faced with buying these new. Probably at a price tag of $150+ each. I'll be shopping sales when we go to tax-free Alberta at the end of the month. Will also keep an eye open for sales here. Once we have the coats, we will be dropping the clothing budget. It was just up to save for the coats. We used to get by with less than half of that a month.

Shoes are more problematic. I need to buy orthodic ones, or ones my orthodics will fit into. My runners alone run $125cdn. They are the only runner I can find locally that fits my wide ball of a foot and narrow heel (combination last) and fits my orthodics too. I'm thinking it's another thing to shop for in tax-free Alberta.

Yeah, I'll be making my own gifts. But supplies still cost. I'm hoping to save up some of my personal allowance for education as well.

We have our ink cartridges refilled locally. We tried doing it ourselves but were constantly making a mess of ourselves and our bathroom. Dh works with the public and it just is not good to go in with ink stained hands! One thing I've noticed, since our printer quit working, we have tons of money in miscellaneous. I'm thinking dd#2 might have been using our printer a lot. It will be good to have it broken for awhile.

To be honest, miscellaneous goes for a lot of things...things like journals...I buy them at Dollarama for $1 each. Sheets, linens, even small appliances (which I've put a moratorium on anyone buying!). Also a water bottle. I was ticked to find it about half price at Walmart the week after I bought it! I'll have to wait and see what happens to this category this pay period.

Valerie in WA:
Where do you get a free checking account? I've just recently opened an ING account, but my understanding is you still need a real live bank to go into to transfer money from. And those 'real live banks' still charge $5cdn/mth. for a chequing account. At least where we live.

Phone is on basic service, plus YAK for long distance, which amounts to less than $10/mth. I have 5 brothers and sisters stretched across Canada. I keep in touch with 1 of them and my mother and father on a regular basis via the phone (dsis had brain surgery and doesn't do the writing thing well). The rest get email. Once a month I phone my sister and father, and once a week my mother. Mom usually phones me back to talk as she has a better deal.

Yeah, power and gas are an issue. I've talked to dd#2 about a few things (lights, computer, washer and dryer, leaving the radio/TV on, etc.). Also dh. We'll see what happens. In the winter here it's not unusual to have $250cdn. heating costs for our 1500 sq ft home. We're doing a lot better than our neighbors. I'm thinking we might take some money and put it towards insulated steel exterior doors this fall.

Hmmm....groceries again. I guess groceries are a bit high then. $360cdn. works out to $320US. Not much difference anymore. I think it's time to post a sample grocery list for people to give feedback on. Maybe I just have expensive recipes...

I hear you about tithing. I agree 100%. However, I have a dh who does not agree with giving anything to organized religion. While a good man who claims he believes, he just has no faith in the church per se, and refuses to attend. I am lucky to get $50/mth. out of him.

In his defense I have to say he grew up in a family where the mother gave almost everything they had to charity. The children were often ill fed and poorly clothed because of her generous spirit. Her husband had to put down a few rules about feeding and clothing their own children first before giving to others. It was a battle he fought the entire time he was alive. She just did not seem to be very nurturing of her own family.

The family holds her partly responsible for their father's death because she refused to change her cooking and dietary habits for him so he could follow the doctor-recommended diet he was supposed to be on. The children grew up feeling poor and deprived. And all blame their mother for it. It's been interesting to see how they've all over-reacted in their own weird kind of way. Anyways, that's probably more than you wanted to know about dh's family! Just felt the tithing thing needed some explanation. I'm not happy with it either, but I don't earn any money to contribute to tithe. I've decided I am going to tithe 1/10 of my personal allowance in addition to that $50 though.

Jean

[Valerie in WA]

Valerie in WA:
Where do you get a free checking account? I've just recently opened an ING account, but my understanding is you still need a real live bank to go into to transfer money from. And those 'real live banks' still charge $5cdn/mth. for a chequing account. At least where we live.

...I hear you about tithing. I agree 100%. However, I have a dh who does not agree with giving anything to organized religion. While a good man who claims he believes, he just has no faith in the church per se, and refuses to attend. I am lucky to get $50/mth. out of him.

Jean

Almost all of our local banks offer free checking - must be a regional thing. Couldn't hurt to ask though. Also, if you qualify for a credit union membership, you might find free checking there.

My dh is also fairly anti organized religion. We donate to a medical relief team (which happens to be Christian), a mission to feed the homeless (which happens to be Christian), a crisis pregnancy center (which happens to be Christian), the Red Cross, etc. I think God honors that - because I'm honoring my husband's wishes as well, and I know that's being obedient to God. KWIM?

Come to think of it, I only tithe (to the above organizations) on my own income. Do you have income? If not, your $50 seems more reasonable.

[peanut]

Valerie:
Yep, the banking thing is regional then. Credit unions here are just as expensive, or more so, than the banks. We started out at a credit union and switched to the bank because of lower fees.

I always separated tithe and charity, but it really is a moot point here. Dh just doesn't like giving to either. I tend to put my time into helping some of the types of organizations you mention. I hope that God in His wisdom, looks down and accepts that too.

Jean

[FarmerSue]

Hi Jean,
I can't find any free checking down here in South Sask, believe me I've tried. I am so impressed with your phone bill, what is YAK and can I get that out on a farm?
I'm canning these days too. I just found a bunch of boxes of jars at the Salvation Army in Estevan. CHEAP!!! I also scaore jars talking to others about canning. It seems to be less popular these days and a lot of people have sealers in their basement they wouldn't mind getting rid of. No shortage of produce around here, all the neighbours are generous, as am I.
I completely understand about the winter jacket problem........winter boots too! We lucked out this year and hubbys' company bought new ones for all employees and their wives. All black but nice. Company logos on everything but it sure helps on the clothing budget.
I have always had trouble with the coupon thing around here. They are usually for things I would never buy or would get cheaper buying the store brand. No stores have double coupons and I think that is where the REAL savings are. Have you run into double couponing anywhere?
I would like to think that donations of goods and volunteering can also be considered when tithing. I know it isn't according to the bible but I know hubby would never go for 10% these days. We're Catholic and there is so much going on with priests being convicted these days that he wonders if our offering goes to pay lawyer fees! He barely ever goes to church, I take the kids to church and teach Catechism with the other moms. I donated a LOT every year when it comes to cleaning out the cupboards for Salvation Army, Food Bank and local charities. I think it is something we do need to reconsider.

[Valerie in WA]

I agree that time and non-cash goods are 'valid' donations to the Kingdom.

[peanut]

Farmer Sue:

Cool you got jackets from the company! Unfortunately dh's employer doesn't do that.

Here's the YAK website:
http://www.yak.ca/en/ld_home.php
I don't know if you can get it on the farm or not. I don't see why not!

Most of my canning jars come from garage sales. But dh has been really reluctant about me going garage saling this year. I buy things at garage sales. If I stay home I don't spend any money! LOL Little does he know I eventually have to spend that money anyways. Right now I have a good stash of canning jars though, so I'm not too worried. I might run out of jelly jars, but then again, I can keep the Nanking cherries in the freezer and cook them up when I have a few jelly jars emptied.

About every 2-3 years I do a mega-canning session. Canned goods usually last at least that long. I am doing a mega canning session right now. I'm trying to freeze most everything though...saving my jars so they last a long time.

No, I haven't run into any double couponing in sourthern Saskatchewan. Weird. We moved from southern Alberta and they had all kinds of couponing there. But I've never seen anything here.

Jean