My 2012 Financial Journey.....

**alotofgooddeals** · 12-18-2011, 06:53 PM

Total budgeted income for 2012 unless dh gets disability....will be
27,670
monthly payments
mortgage is 450.00, it is 442.00 however i will be paying 450.00 as it is easier that way....

internet is 40.00 a month
electricity is 180.00 a month
phone (we have net10 phones so trying to figure out a cheap way for this....) i am going to budget 70.00 a month for this because we have four phones....
wood for heating 50.00 a month
satellite television is 36.00 a month
car insurance is 88.00 a month and will be going up as sixteen year old son will be added...
400 a month in gas because i drive 2 hours a day one hour there and back for work...
300 for groceries

giving me a total of 19264 a year towards bills...but my income is 27,670 which means i have $10,000 that is not accounted for...something is definitely wrong as I never have enough money...so i figure if i write this down and come back weekly and write down what was spent and what came in it might give me an idea on where it is going!
I do have student loans that are in deferment right now because i can't afford to pay them...I am behind on my light bill and house payment to the point that i need to do this. Next month is going to be a hard one because i need to get back on track so nothing is going to go out unless i write it down and it must be a necessity...

**Momto5RN** · 12-18-2011, 09:36 PM

is that # after taxes or is that 10,000 mostly going to taxes

**alotofgooddeals** · 12-19-2011, 07:18 PM

that is what is left....and we just received news that our house payment will go down by 50.00 a month giving me an extra 600.00 so i am on my way to figure out what to do....i dont have alot of bills like credit etc...except for student loans....i am thinkin its time to start paying on those....

**ladytoysdream** · 12-19-2011, 07:25 PM

Do you have a vehicle payment ?
Medical payments or health insurance ?

**alotofgooddeals** · 12-19-2011, 07:30 PM

inheritance and insurance premiums are taken out of check before i get the check so that is already deducted....its amazing to write it down on paper and realize that i dont need to live in this poverty as much as i do.......I would love to get the student loans payed off and the mortgage....realizin that it might be a possibility...

**ladytoysdream** · 12-19-2011, 07:46 PM

QUOTE...a total of 19264 a year towards bills...but my income is 27,670 which means i have $10,000 that is not accounted for....../UNQUOTE

Your difference is $ 8406 , not $ 10,000
which is $ 161.65 a week.

$ 300 groceries ,do you track that or guessing ?

clothing ?

pocket money / allowance ?

**VanVivCam** · 12-19-2011, 07:46 PM

Well, unless you have miscalculated somewhere (and I hope you haven't), I would knock those student loan out of the park. Hope you have a wonderful year of paying off your debts. I will be working this year on paying down the mortgage!

**Lady_V** · 12-19-2011, 08:00 PM

estimated income 27670

mortgage (450) 5400
internet (40) (480)
electricity (180) (2160)
cell (70) (840)
wood (50) (600) -- *650 (based on 17.50/wk)
cable (36) (432)
car ins (88) (1056) -- *4000 (based on a higher rate for new driver, additional gas, additional wear/tear meaning more oil changes)
gas (400) (4800) -- *5200 (based on 100/wk)
food (300) (3600) -- *3900 (based on 75/wk)

Balance (8302) --*4608

I don't see anything in there for health insurance, medication, clothing, gifts, oil changes, taxes, car inspection, hair cuts or anything else that likes to suckle at our money

**auntie2many** · 12-19-2011, 08:02 PM

What about birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, shipping costs, postage stamps, haircuts... I saw a lot of things not listed that perhaps those extra dollars are going to.

A2M

**alotofgooddeals** · 12-19-2011, 08:14 PM

and i am guessing that you are right....i never have enough money actually get behind and some of those ideas that you shared may be the reason why.....insurance will go up slightly but not even close to the 4000 that someone stated....gas is the 400 a month because i have calculated in what i use per week...during vacation weeks we barely use any....there are 6 weeks during the year where we barely use any and that is why i calculated it at 4800....and not the 5200...its more like 320 but i rounded it up to the 400 a month...but like birthdays and such i didnt include them in...so that is another expense i will have to fiure it in...however this year i plan on doing rebates and such which will give me extra money per month that is not caluclated into my income total....thanks for all the ideas and input on where that money is going.....

**ladytoysdream** · 12-19-2011, 08:16 PM

Quote...400 a month in gas because i drive 2 hours a day
300 for groceries .../unquote

Are these numbers by the month ?
Remember a month is 4.3 weeks.

So is it $ 100 a week or $ 400 a month for gas ?
This could be 52 wks x $ 100 or 12 months X $ 400

Groceries , is it $ 75 a week or $ 300 a month ?
$ 75 x 52 wks or $ 300 x 12 months.

It's going to make a difference in your yearly number totals.
You need to get either all monthly numbers or all weekly numbers, if you want to find out where some of your missing / unaccounted money is.

You're going to have to write things down as you spend money. Then you will start to see patterns. Track the money.

**alotofgooddeals** · 12-19-2011, 08:19 PM

but all the ideas are starting to explain where it is going...thanks again...

**laura-n-sasha** · 12-20-2011, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by alotofgooddeals

Total budgeted income for 2012 unless dh gets disability....will be
27,670
monthly payments
mortgage is 450.00, it is 442.00 however i will be paying 450.00 as it is easier that way....

internet is 40.00 a month
electricity is 180.00 a month
phone (we have net10 phones so trying to figure out a cheap way for this....) i am going to budget 70.00 a month for this because we have four phones....
wood for heating 50.00 a month
satellite television is 36.00 a month
car insurance is 88.00 a month and will be going up as sixteen year old son will be added...
400 a month in gas because i drive 2 hours a day one hour there and back for work...
300 for groceries

giving me a total of 19264 a year towards bills...but my income is 27,670 which means i have $10,000 that is not accounted for...something is definitely wrong as I never have enough money...so i figure if i write this down and come back weekly and write down what was spent and what came in it might give me an idea on where it is going!
I do have student loans that are in deferment right now because i can't afford to pay them...I am behind on my light bill and house payment to the point that i need to do this. Next month is going to be a hard one because i need to get back on track so nothing is going to go out unless i write it down and it must be a necessity...

Originally Posted by alotofgooddeals

that is what is left....and we just received news that our house payment will go down by 50.00 a month giving me an extra 600.00 so i am on my way to figure out what to do....i dont have alot of bills like credit etc...except for student loans....i am thinkin its time to start paying on those....

Using your comments, I made up a small spreadsheet for you. It is attached to this comment. It is a picture not a spreadsheet but if you PM me, I can send it to you.

If you click on the thumbnail, I took what you said and made a few upgrades. First off, I have Net10 phones and it is $33.59 for 300 minutes and 2 months time. I am showing what it would be if your family went through that much time in one month. However, it would be half if you only re-upped every month with only two phones.

I would suggest finding out what the increase will be for the car insurance. Ask if the price can go down for your son if he takes a class in driver's ed. Get your son to get a job to pay for the gas and extra insurance.

If you have internet, why have satellite TV? Is the internet slow or fast? The reason I ask is because you can see shows on a fast internet, but not a slow one.

I also put a line in for the student loan and for an emergency fund.

I would also suggest a couple of other lines:
Sewer and trash, recycling
Taxes (property, federal, state)
Household Maintenance (Buying stuff, getting a plumber, etc.)
Vehicle Maintenance (oil changes, rotating tires, etc.)
Personal Maintenance (clothing, toiletries, etc.)
Fun Stuff (everything but eating out)
Eating Out - not only for you but the kids

The rest, gifts and whatnot, you have to decide if it is worth it to you. But I would suggest that there be an emergency fund and start paying off the school loans.

Write everything down, all expenses so you can track where everything is going. Good Luck and you can PM me to get that spreadsheet.

**alotofgooddeals** · 12-20-2011, 08:11 PM

yes son is currently looking for a position...he just turned 16 and around here they dont hire until 16.....we have been quoted aroud 40 extra dollars a month to add him to our insurance with him driving 30 to 40 percent of the time.....he also is an honor roll student which they say will make the insurance not as high....at 16 years of age...he will only be allowed to drive back and forth to work and school if need be....he will have to have a destination too go through.....we will not allow him to cruise without having a destination to go to...haha..

**NikoSan999** · 12-21-2011, 07:26 AM

The others have pretty much already said what I was thinking when I first read your post. The stuff missed.

Stamps
Birthdays/Christmas etc
Oil changes even if do it yourself
Needed money for school....books, lunches etc
Any blow money even if for a bottle of nail polish etc...99cents adds up thru out the year
Clothes
Hair cuts
Medicine...co pays etc

A long time ago...LONG time ago before we moved to Florida, we spent a couple months every night writing down where every penny went even if it was 5 cents for a sucker ( he was on a sucker kick ) every night. He was VERY surprised how much he spent on small small items. I wasn't but couldn't prove it to him until we did that.
It was a pain in the butt but it proved what I had been trying to tell him when he asked where's it going.