Urgh

[treeluva]

So, I did move back to Oklahoma from Germany.

I did get out of the military, and I am now a full time student.

And in the process of moving, I have seemed to forgotten everything I knew about frugal living! I have blown through savings at an alarming rate.

It took a while for the GI Bill to get caught up and started, but it finally did, thank goodness.

And I am still getting unemployment for about 13 more weeks.

It has been hard, adjusting to civilian life after military life for 9 plus years. I think that I overspent to compensate for my feelings. If that makes any sense.

But, *sigh*, I am back. And I have got to make it work again.... because I really do want to finish school so I am more competitive in todays job market.

Luckily, the school I go to is not expensive at all... (18 hours only costed 2,000 dollars) and where I live the cost of living is relatively cheap.

But it is weird not having those checks being deposited on the 1st and the 15th every month. I really dont know how to handle budgeting out for the month by weeks.... which is how the unemployment comes in.

Any suggestions?

[peanut]

treeluva,

We get paid twice a month, which makes life interesting in the months with five weeks. What we do is figure out our once-a-month and once-a-year expenses, divide by 12, and put that amount aside each month. In your case, divide yearly expenses by 52 and put that amount aside each week.

The thing is to know how much you need, when, to pay what. We made a list so we could keep it straight. DH then drew up a schedule in Excel to show how much we needed in the account each pay period for different set bills.

For things like electricity, say, where the amount needed changes throughout the year, we round the average up to account for any rate increases (there usually is one!).

I hope this isn't totally confusing. Hugs to you! And congratulations on your return to school!

[Darlene]

Just popping in to cheer you on. Wishing you the best with your schoolwork, what are you studying towards?
You've had alot of changes going on & it'll take time for it all to settle down and feel comfortable. Be good to yourself.

[jamie79]

Maybe your a bit unsettled about not having the stability of the military. You know the paycheck when it comes and the routine of living the military life. Give yourself sometime to adjust. Dh will never get out of the military so I dont need to worry about this.

[treeluva]

Thanks, guys.

I am studying Communications.... concentration Radio/Television AND Public Relations with a minor in Speech Communications. It is definately challenging and quite different from military life!

And yes, adjusting to life without the "stability" of the unstable military life is hard. I never thought it would be so difficult, to tell you the truth. But having all this freedom is kinda making my head hurt!

No one thought I would ever get out, either.... but after looking long and hard at some issues, and giving it a lot of thought... (about 3 years worth of thought) I decided that it was better for my family to NOT be in the military... even with all its fringe benefits. I already had to leave my children once for a year.... and never again will I do that. It is especially tough being a single parent.... Whenever you have to go somewhere, the children get totally uprooted.

[justpeachy92]

With weekly paychecks my budget is kinda like this.
WK 1 is divided between food, clothes, entertainment and savings
WK 2 is utilities and debt
WK 3 is car expenses, loan payment, insurance, gas and some set aside for maintance(sp)
WK 4 is rent/mortgage
The months we have the 5th paycheck has worked this way for us, March Easter and stash some for summer vacation
June back to school stuff
December is Christmas shopping

[Luv2BeFrugal1]

Glad to hear you're still headin' for school!!

Just have to say...you are SOOOOO lucky to get to be in Lawton!!! My favorite family members live there and I love to visit them!!