Are Your Expenses Going Up, Down, Or Staying Even?

[staceyy]

With the economy being what it is, how are you faring? When I was laid off for good a year and a half ago, there was quite an adjustment for us, as we were used to living the good life on two good incomes. Since then, we've had to dip into our savings a couple of times and we both have suffered illnesses. Still, through time, frugality and lots of prayer I can see our current expenses shifting downwards.

Through frugality, my food bill has decreased by $150 although we are eating better quality meals now. By shopping around for car insurance, we've been able to lower our car insurance by $70 a month. Our car will be paid off this year which will give us another $400 a month.We switched to a mailorder pharmacy for our meds, lowering our prescription costs by $300 a month .I'm a non-driver and dh rarely drives his car as he is usually out of town working. When we do have to buy gas, we get discounted gas from our local grocery store that averages about thirty cents off per gallon. Milk prices are going up but we buy whole milk and mix it with half water to get 2% milk. I am doing the drugstore rebates and getting all of my toiletries and drugstore items for free. I'm beginning to learn to garden and I make most things from scratch including a lot of my own cleaning products. I've learned to reduce all of my utilities. Over time, a number of our bills have been paid off, and dh received a raise. So through time, frugality, and prayers our expenses are going down. I still regret we had to dip into our savings though, and that we aren't able to contribute more to our funds. I guess this will be the next area for us to concentrate on.

[Mamaw]

My expenses seem to be going up rapidly. Although we are a two income family the $$$ sure dont go as far as they used to. Lately we have been hit with several car repair bills. DH little car is in the shop so he is driving the darn truck around. I have 650.00 in gas expense this last month for it! JEEZ!!!! I really wish he would just sell the truck and the boat and get a little car with better gas milage and less expense for plates, tires and the like but he wont hear of it. Plus DD is ill and we have been paying her expenses for almost the last year. I know I have to severly cut back but frankly I am tired of being the only person in my home who realizes or even cares about finances. I swear the minute I try to discuss money, DH just starts to make smart remarks and/or grumble. He has not had a raise in over 3 years now and I dont see him trying to change jobs, etc...Sorry for the vent here! But in answer to your question, expenses are rising and the income is not rising to meet them.

[peanut]

This is kind of weird. We just printed out a 12 year summary of our financial picture. It appears we've held steady in expenses for the last 12 years! Some individual items may go up or down, but we've kept the total to the same amount. Interesting. I'd say we are definitely enjoying a higher standard of living for the same money spent. So I'd have to say that the frugal measures I've implemented over the years are what has made the difference. We simply don't feel the pinch as much as most people.

[jamie79]

Well lets see. A couple of months ago we paid off a bill but now in the fall we have ods going to college.We spend the same on mortgage every month. Try to keep the food, electric and water the same too. Cant control the rise of gas prices.
I know both our electric and water companies have asked for a raise in their rates.
I am looking for a part time job. Dh is military. He gets a cost of living raise every January. We try to keep expenses down so I would say we are about even.

[i.m.cheap]

With food prices rising, and gas at $3.00 a gallon, our expenses are way up.

[my4littlebuffaloes]

Our expenses are up for sure. Food prices, gasoline, clothing, toiletries. Everything has gone up. When we moved last August dh had a big increase in pay, however our budget is tighter than ever. I keep wondering what more I can do and if it will ever go back down.

jennifer

[nodmicks]

Ours are quite up. I'm so grateful we got our debt paid. I cant imagine it with all the rising prices if we hadn't

[trishh]

Ours keep going up. The fan in the air conditioner was going out and the air conditioner just ran and ran. Had a repair man out and he said it just needed the filter replaced is all that needed to be done. My husband had changed it 3 months prior to him coming out. Anyway it went out 1 week later and it ran our electric bill up by 53.00 dollars. The air conditioner is another story anyway the utillity bills and gas and food are all going up at an alarming rate. Now with droughts and where i live floods the weather conditions are hurting food productions for us and our animals. There raising prices faster than the economy can catch up to.

[lizard22]

Everything is going up even though we are using less. I have actively been trying to use less electricity but the bill just went up by $20. When I looked at what we used last yr vs. this yr. we actually used less this yr.

I can only imaging what the bill would have been if I did not try to cut back!!

[thrifty gal]

Our expenses have went way up. I keep hoping things will go down, and we all get a break.

[Buckeye5]

Our expenses are way up. Medical in the thousands, DS eats like a wild man, (he has now grown 8 inches in 15 months, and he just turned 14 and is 6 ft 3 in.) his clothes I do get at Goodwill when possible, our propane wwent from $181 every 5 weeks during the winter months to $511.46, our auto insurance increased along with health, house, and life. Gasoline and groceries are ridiuclous. Real Estate taxes increased this year, water has stayed the same, garbage service increased added fuel sur-charges.

[tlenad]

My expenses have been going steady down for the past year or so. I made some radical decisions in order to have that happen. This time last year I was getting ready to move back in with my paretns and had cut a lot of the fat from my budget. That trend has continued since I've been home.

I've also paid down quite a bit of debt which is the majority of my expenses currently and in the next couple of months have scheduled to pay off two more debts baring any major catatrophes. With those two debts paid off, I should have another $500 a month in the budget. Of course it will go to debt reduction but still less monthly payments means a bigger snowball or more wriggle room in the budget either way I look at it.

Now for the things that are going up. Of course food and gas which drive me crazy. I've been looking for ways to cut back on driving and have made some progress but still it's around $30-$40 a week just for gas alone. I'm beginning to seriously look for a car pool buddy we'll see how that goes. Of course, I'm think of getting a second job which will mean a bit more driving but hopefully that will be more than covered by the extra income.

Food ought to be going down hopefully by the middle of next month. We have a small garden put in with tomatoes and cucumbers. We spend about $5-$10 a week on these two vegies alone so it will be nice to have that expense drop. Also during the summer my appetite curbs just due to the hot weather so that will drop some of the cost as well.

[annymoll]

Groceries are higher for us, but all else stays the same. Our homes and vehicles are paid for, so it gives us more money to save.

[Mom23boys]

Our grocery bill seems to have gone up, but I attribute that to purchasing more organic and health foods. Our electric bill fluctuates. During the winter months it is outrageous, but during the other months of the year, it is reasonable. Of course our gas for the vehicles has increased due to rising gas prices which is beyond our control. We did add DS#3 to our verizon wireless plan which is an extra $9.99 a month. Our car insurance went up this year when we added DS#2 to the policy. A 16 year old male does wonders to your insurance!!

[McD]

With husband deploying for Iraq, our income has increased and our expenses have decreased. We are spending less on groceries, gas, electric, insurance, water, etc. And our mortgage bill decreased due to the Soldier's and Sailor's Act.