Needing support and budget help

[Flower Sack]

This post is long overdue and totally just a cry for advice and a friend to lean on...so here's the story:

DH and I both work OOH...we both work commission based jobs with no base salary. Up until recently we'd been cruising along financially speaking (paying all our bills on time, saving a little money, etc.) then I had some medical issues arise that required some extensive medical testing, we each had a couple of "not so great" months financially speaking and now we're struggling. We never had a hard and fast budget, because each month's expenses would vary as to what we could afford but we always covered the basics...now we seem to be hanging by a thread, or a dollar.

I have begun applying for a more secure PT position that would supplement my commission based income and DH is in the process of interviewing for a salary based sales job (with commission bonuses). Here's the catch with this potential job (for DH) it has a lower salary (even with commission bonuses) than his current job. So I would definitely need to step up and find more income to bring in.

As our of tax filing, we made more money in 2009 than we'd ever made as a married couple and I feel like we're worse off financially than we've ever been...I'm not sure if it's because we totally quit using credit cards and are paying off debt so it "feels" like we're more strapped for cash or if we're missing a huge chunk of the budget equation.

Here's our budget:
mortgage (with insurance and taxes escrowed): $1667.42
car payment: $423.00
student loans: $135.00
gas (budget plan): $30.00
electric: $90.00
city utilities (water, sewer, trash, recycling): $65.00
phone: $125.00
internet: $29.90
insurance (for 2 cars): $135.00
debt payments: $400.00
groceries: $400.00/month
personal expenses: $150.00/month
car gas/maintenance: $200.00

This is a super bare bones budget...if DH were to get this job, his take home pay wouldnot quite cover this...

my income would help to fill the gaps, but we probably need something more...because this doesn't factor in daycare, business expenses...

what else am I not thinking of?

Also, how do you create a budget? Good books/websites/resources?

Thanks so much for reading/listening and helping me figure this out...

[TwinMomPlus]

You should post that over on http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/

You will get a lot of really great responses and ideas.

My only question is do you need a $400+/month car? Can you sell/trade for a cheaper car?

[woodchick]

How many people are in your family?

$400 seems a little high for groceries. That is usually a category that can be cut down by planning meals based on the grocery circular and sales, and then sticking to your list!

[Vaske]

You're paying almost $1000 per month toward various debts, not counting the mortgage...that's a lot of deferred costs to handle all at once, about a quarter of your take-home income. No wonder you feel poor.

Your husband taking the salaried job would help even out your cash flow, but I'm worried that you'll fall further and further behind, because of the lower income. And if you take a part-time job, be careful that you're not losing money after paying for work expenses and daycare. It looks like you're almost able to live on one income, even with debt payments. Ratcheting your standard of living down one more notch might be easier than taking on another job.

Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover book is probably a good place for you to start. I think he has a free basic budgeting tool on his website (daveramsey.com), if you don't want to buy the book. You definitely should read about his Debt Snowball (and the emergency fund). The faster you can pay off all that debt, the better.

[Flower Sack]

Originally Posted by TwinMomPlus

You should post that over on http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/

You will get a lot of really great responses and ideas.

My only question is do you need a $400+/month car? Can you sell/trade for a cheaper car?

We would be losing money if we sold/traded the car at this point, it's a lot of money I agree. But, it's our only reliable car and so it needs to stay.

Originally Posted by woodchick

How many people are in your family?

$400 seems a little high for groceries. That is usually a category that can be cut down by planning meals based on the grocery circular and sales, and then sticking to your list!

We're a family of 4 and my youngest DD has severe food allergies that require special dietary restrictions. That's eats into a ton of our food budget. We also try and eat local/organic whenever possible. Some months we spend significantly less than this (when things are locally available in season...)

Originally Posted by Vaske

You're paying almost $1000 per month toward various debts, not counting the mortgage...that's a lot of deferred costs to handle all at once, about a quarter of your take-home income. No wonder you feel poor.

Your husband taking the salaried job would help even out your cash flow, but I'm worried that you'll fall further and further behind, because of the lower income. And if you take a part-time job, be careful that you're not losing money after paying for work expenses and daycare. It looks like you're almost able to live on one income, even with debt payments. Ratcheting your standard of living down one more notch might be easier than taking on another job.

Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover book is probably a good place for you to start. I think he has a free basic budgeting tool on his website (daveramsey.com), if you don't want to buy the book. You definitely should read about his Debt Snowball (and the emergency fund). The faster you can pay off all that debt, the better.

Thanks for understanding! I too am worried that we will fall further and further behind.

We are looking at Dave Ramsey's books and trying to find a FPU course nearby right now!

[JamieCatheryn]

Everything looks normal to me for a moderately frugal budget except the mortgage and car payments are twice what we are paying. Any way to have less to pay on the cars? Trade in for something older perhaps? Also the personal expenses, see where you might cut down there by putting off purchases and projects, packing lunches if dining out gets you.

[TwinMomPlus]

Have you heard of Angel Food Ministries? They are a low cost food program, selling boxes of food through local churches. The reason I mention it is because now they offer wheat free and gluten free boxes. I don't know if that would be good enough for your daughter, but wanted to mention it anyway. There are no income requirements to participate.

https://www.angelfoodministries.com/