can i get a harsh critique on our budget?(upd. with plan of action post 31) - Page 3

[Thystle]

Tortilla chips are SUPER easy to make!

Buy the tortillas and cut them up and either bake on a cookie sheet or fry them.


If you can't/won't cut them out, you could save alot and fresh hot ones are sooo much better!


And then if you start feeling brave you could venture into making your own tortillas and save even more.

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by meg-momto2

really? i thought i was doing pretty good considering our restricted diet. now that i look back at what i wrote i do see that $275+$275+$100ish does add up. those were over estimates but i know i still come close to that. can i ask what some typical meals would be in your home? i've been making maybe one loaf of bread a week and most of that goes into making breading crumbs for chicken tenders for the kids. i get a 4in stack of corn tortillas for $2 and use those a lot. DS gets just tuna instead of a tuna sandwich or hard boiled eggs instead of a egg sandwich or just rolled lunch meat with spinach and some mustard for lunch. DD and i just snack during the day on left overs. i try to make a simple dinner like roast chicken and veggies or mexican night with beans, rice, sauteed pepper, corn and onions with some quesadillas. both those meals would feed our family to two maybe three days.

let me give you an example of my farmers market cost since i have a receipt sitting next to me.
small org. apple $1.69lb
org. d'anjou pear $1.29lb
org navel orange $.99lb
convent. bell pepper $2.69lb
5lbs org. russet potatoes $2.99
org. banana $.59lb
avocados $.59 each
convent. broccoli crown $1.29lb
convent. fancy zucchini $.69lb

is that really a lot? we moved from Seattle and had previously shopped at Whole Foods and PCC on occasion. the farmers market here is nearly half of what i was paying at those places. maybe i'm just of out of touch with food prices i have no idea what's what anymore.

i've got a ton of baking soda(hello Costco) and some borax. i should go dig around for home made detergent recipes. i would love to garden. i was hoping DH would get his car out of here and i could set up an above ground garden in the drive way. our yard is a constant downward slope and since we're renting i don't want to tear it up to much.

thank you, thank you, thank you everyone. i really appreciate it. i'm taking it all in, i swear.

We use corn flakes for bread crumbs. I never ever buy corn flakes. I can always get the box free with coupons but even if you did not have a coupon 99 cents is the most you should pay. One box is equivalent to at least 10 loaves of bread.

Have you looked into a CSA in your area. You will save a lot more money on your fruit and veggies. Also you should only be buying what is in season.

I never ever shop at whole pay check um I mean whole foods. It is outrageously priced.

I would use soap nuts before making my own it is cheaper. I am now allergic to soap nuts and can only use certain soaps but with shopping right I can get that detergent down to 3 cents a load for All Clear and Free.


We do not eat a typical meal. We eat a really varied diet. One night might have black beans with corn and tomatoes over corn tortillas with a spinach salad to breakfast for dinner or something quick and easy like chicken strips with homemade fries.

BTW gluten free flours do not need to be expensive. Buy directly from the mill you will save a ton.

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by happysmileylady

Oh, also, insurance, I didn't see it...unless you guys are really bad drivers, cut your car insurance to liability only. And shop around for that. If you have a $1000 or $1500 emergency fund, and you total your car, you can almost always find some sort of beater for that amount.

Actually I would look into this one. Us cutting our insurance to liability only would only save us $39 every 6 months. Totally not worth it at all.

I agree about the sales flyers.

[p1gg1e]

I havent read the whole thread so if this has been addressed ignore me

You need to get rid of the car with payments. You can not afford it. Can you go down to one car? Can you defer the student loan?

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by meg-momto2

i'm going to do some price comparison at the market vs. regular grocery store vs. TJ's vs. Costco. i may just skip Costco for a month and see how we do. o.j., 18ct eggs, coffee, carrots are all things we go through a lot and definitely less expensive there. would i look like a total nutjob walking around the store with my netbook punching in numbers? maybe i could do a strict cash only option for Costco to keep myself in check. i agree that TJ's is probably killing my budget. there's a few things i still want to get there like HFCS free condiments, organic salt free tortilla chips and GF cereal. i get coupons in our free weekly paper and have been cutting anything i thought i might use. there's not much that is either GF or not loaded full of chemical or HFCS. i'll try to use them more for household items like toilet paper, cleaning sponges and hygiene stuff.

Totally do a price check! It's saved me a lot of money. I wrote down the prices for all the basic goods at each store, the size, etc. I even went to places like Smart and Final, Grocery outlet, etc.

It opened my eyes. A lot of things that were 'good' sales in my local stores, really weren't good sales. For example, when brown sugar is on 'super' sale for 50cents a lb, I know Costco's price is 43 cents a lb. Bacon goes on sale here for 2.50/lb which is awesome. Except that, once again, Costco bacon is 2/lb. Etc, etc, etc. Now I really do know what a good deal is and know when to stock up. Butter, for example, is usually always cheapest at Costco. Even when they have super duper butter sales, the price is still 50 cents more a lb. I know I'm giving lots of examples, but I just want to show you it is worth it. I only had a problem at one store. Apparently I was not allowed to 'write' in the store. I no longer shop there, and they didn't have good prices anyways.

I went to about 10 stores total, over a couple weeks (normal shopping too, and some 'out of the way' checks). I just had a basic list of staples I wanted and went for those. My list had conventional beans (lentils, garbanzo, black, pinto, etc), brown & white rice, flour, eggs, chicken bouillon, yeast, butter, etc. Every once in a while, while I am shopping, I recheck prices/unit to make sure it hasn't gone up/down. Eggs, at Costco, have fluctuated over the year, making them a good buy sometimes, a less good buy other times.

Ami

[2cutiekitties]

Originally Posted by meg-momto2

let me give you an example of my farmers market cost since i have a receipt sitting next to me.
small org. apple $1.69lb
org. d'anjou pear $1.29lb
org navel orange $.99lb
convent. bell pepper $2.69lb
5lbs org. russet potatoes $2.99
org. banana $.59lb
avocados $.59 each
convent. broccoli crown $1.29lb
convent. fancy zucchini $.69lb

is that really a lot? we moved from Seattle and had previously shopped at Whole Foods and PCC on occasion. the farmers market here is nearly half of what i was paying at those places. maybe i'm just of out of touch with food prices i have no idea what's what anymore.

That is amazing for organic Which farmers market are you going to? I am in GA and it is quite expensive for food at the grocery stores, esp organic. Target has pretty good prices though.

Just want to mention the Costco thing for GA. They arent up to par with the rest of the country. I have priced many things, and the consesus was not to bother with them. Dont remember a lot, but for example the org froz berries are a good prices. Org butter and org milk is NOT a good price. Also they arent on every corner, so you have to drive and traffic here sucks. Now for reg stuff, yah that is different. I am spec talking organic.

[GuildJenn]

I agree that you need vitamins or whatever it takes for your kids to get whatever they're missing in their diet a priority. I would definitely cut out the orange juice & chips in order to reach that goal.

I think you also have to decide what the variety in your list is worth to you.

In the times that we've really tightened down on our grocery budget we've gone to two kinds of fruit a week - the two cheapest. So from your list that would be bananas and oranges (even with the weight of the peels). We'd've skipped the pears that week. Same thing with the bell pepper - we'd've eaten more zucchini. (Although I do think that is a GREAT price for organic peppers, but you could get almost 3x as much zucchini.)

Another way to tighten it up is not serve things that require a lot of condiments. They do add up, especially the HFCS free ones, and they don't really add a lot to your diet. For example, instead of serving hamburgers where people tend to eat 3 condiments on them, serve meatballs with polenta and a homemade (from canned tomatoes) marinara sauce or whatever.

I realize I'm nit picking your food budget but you really really need to find some way to handle the teeth issue IMO.

[TiredX2]

$200 minimum payment for my credit card
$20 minimum for a store credit card.

Are you snowballing your debt? How much do you owe and at what percentages? Have you tried contacting the lenders to reduce your interest rate? I think these need to be addressed for a long term solution. When will you pay them off (oh, it looks like you also have $300 going to car & line of credit payment plus $350 for student loan & credit card). So, you currently have $870 going to debt payment. This is a HUGE hole in your budget---it's more than your rent, food, anything else. Can you get a deferment on DH's student loan at the very least? As long as you are paying 25% of your income on debt, it's going to be really really hard. Can you imagine how much easier your life would be with $870 EXTRA a month? When does your current payment plan having you reach that goal?

=$330 after Costco and payback of accounts. i can usually squeak by if i'm really careful and we don't need an oil change or school pictures or we need to pay a co-pay for a doctor's visit or ordering special flours for baking because we're gluten intolerant or ordering Charlie's soap....

This really jumps out at me. You say that you are estimating high on your previous expenses so you should have at least $330 month "left over." I think you need to know exactly what you are spending that on. Have you ever tried to track your spending? As in write every single thing you spend any money on for 1-3 months and then evaluate? It sounds like this could be really helpful for you. Its a bit of a PITA, but it can also be quite shocking to see the info there in numbers.

Originally Posted by meg-momto2

here's what i've done today. signed up online for DH's 401k management. he's currently putting 100% allowable which equals $120-130 each pay check. his work is matching 6% so he's built up a good amount in less then two years. i can adjust the % at any time but i'm not sure how much i should. 50%? all of it?

Oh, I just reread your original post and it looks like DH might be paid $2600 + $300 + $350 monthly? Or do you take that $650 out of the $2600?

Generally I would suggest that you keep getting the match. If you mean that match 100% up to 6% of income that is a 100% return right there compared to credit card interest rates of ___? But $130 *24 = $3120/yearly. What will the difference between his current contribution and 6% be? It might not be enough to make a huge difference. No matter what, I would definatley drop down to the 6% and weigh it from there.

i looked up WIC and we don't qualify. we do have a state insurance program for the kids we'd qualify for based on our income but the kids can't already be covered by insurance. it says children under 6 have no fees so it would be just $10-35 for DS.

Are you sure? Because WIC is 185% of the poverty level, so if you qualify for the state insurance program it is likely you do qualify. Well, you probably make 185-200% of the poverty level then ($40,700-44,100 for a family of four). So, assuming DH makes $3500 ($42000 yearly) a month and only brings home $2600 my first thing to do would be to really pore over his pay stups and find out where the $900 is going. Do you generally get large tax refunds? If you have that spread out over the year you will be better off. I don't actually have any idea what your DH makes, but am throwing numbers out here for examples.

ETA: It looks like he actually brings home $2600 + your debt payments, so that might not be viable.

i called about our internet. they have an "economy" plan that's about $20 less and still faster then DSL. there's no fees to switch and i can't switch back if it doesn't work with Netflix. DH agreed to cancel the X-box subscription. he doesn't really play online right now and agreed not to buy the game he wants next month that would have online gaming options. we have a Wii and just got our Netflix disc for it. it's free to stream and we'd rather not cancel the only entertainment we get as a family.

For the future--- you can get a subscription to XBox Live for $35 often on sale. So, if you can save up the $8 DH currently pays per month for just four months you come out ahead for an entire year. You pay a HUGE premium to go month to month with things like that.

i'll try to use them more for household items like toilet paper, cleaning sponges and hygiene stuff.

Have you considered trying to cut out disposable cleaning/hygeine products? Family cloth is a great, very cost effective options. Do you buy any paper towells? Can you use rags instead? Same with sponges, etc... Fairly drastic, maybe, but it sounds like you are ready for drastic.

I think it's really impressive that you are trying to turn things around financially for your family. I hope I didn't come off rudely, it just sounds like you are ripe for some pretty major changes and I hope you can make them. Good luck!

[ssantos]

Originally Posted by woodchick

NAK- sorry for the bullet points

*Cut or reduce 401K (for now)
*Cut organics
*Send DS with a water bottle instead of juice
*Cut Cosco altogether to reduce impulse spending
*Cut Gaming and Netflix subscriptions. You'll save on your electric bill here as well. Hit up the library for movies and books for entertainment.

Off topic- I'm concerned about your DD's teeth. With Health and Dental coverage I would hope you'd have access to some assistance or a nutritionist or something. Poor dental health in baby teeth can carry over to adult teeth.

I agree with all of this. My DH lost his job a year and a half ago (still looking for one) so I went back to work after being a SAHM for 5 years with two little girls. We cut out all organics, cut the cable, never had Netflix, only retirement savings is the 7% that is mandatory for my job.

I am uncomfortable with the small amount we are saving for retirement, but the market does not seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, so it is worth it to use that money to stay out of debt. My constaint refrain is "When my husband gets a job..." we will buy organic, we will save more for retirement, we will buy a house. Until this happens, we are living as frugally as possible.

[meg-momto2]

oh gosh, TiredX2. i got confused about my own finances by reading your post. i'm sorry i didn't present everything in a clearer manner.

according to DH's W-2 from last year he made $48,000. that was with a few thousand in freelance work paid through is paycheck. his work no longer offers those freelance opportunities but he got a small raise the last week of 2009. so far for this year we get we get $2600 into main account, $300 into #2, and $350 into #3 each month. our monthly income would be $3250. i hope that helps clear up any questions on that.

=$330 after Costco and payback of accounts. i can usually squeak by if i'm really careful and we don't need an oil change or school pictures or we need to pay a co-pay for a doctor's visit or ordering special flours for baking because we're gluten intolerant or ordering Charlie's soap....

the $330 is what i have left for the second round of groceries. with the over estimate of $275 i would have $55 left. often much less because i tried to pay above the minimum on the store CC. i do track my spending. i save every receipt and keep a check book like system in my "house folder". i'm sure if i went through each receipt line by line i could find a whole bunch of money i didn't need to spend.

i was attempting to snowball the store CC into my CC. most months i was paying $50+ a month instead of the minimum $20. the store card has the lowest balance but still has one of the highest % rates. then it would be my CC, then DH's CC, the line of credit, the car loan(if there's still a balance) and finally student loan. total debt from CC's and line of credit is $11,000. only $3000 is joint with DH. i carry a larger balance then DH on our personal CC. i've though about bankruptcy(for myslef) but i didn't think it would work with joint vs. personal debt.

For the future--- you can get a subscription to XBox Live for $35 often on sale.

really? where? DH would be happy about that.

as far as cleaning products i get eco friendly dish and dish washer soap. i thought TJ's eco dishwasher soap was the least expensive i could find @ $2.99 for the 3lb box. Costco hasn't carried their eco soap since last summer. conventional dish washer soap give me a major headache, even Seventh Gen. scented stuff is to much for me. i buy the cheapest eco friendly dish soap i can find, usually Seventh Gen. on sale at Target. i use vinegar, baking soda, borax, Charlies Soap and Dr. Bonner's for everything else. Dr. B's goes in the refillable foam pumps i've had for 4 years. vinegar and baking soda for the sink, laundry and general cleaning. i've had the same paper towel roll for two months. i use rags for everything excepts washing dishes and cooking grease. i've got cloth wipes in the bathroom for me and the kids and we use them. DH has flat out refused to touch them. my one splurge is the Tilex Mold killer i get with coupon every 4-6 months. i use Dr. B in the shower for me and and the kids. i don't shave and DH uses a electric trimmer and has a beard. tooth paste/floss/tooth brushes, conditioner, deodorant, some hair wax/gel for DH that last 6+ months and the occasional giant bottle of lotion are the only things we really by for hygiene supplies. i have a diva cup and DD uses one diaper a day and i buy the generic store brand.

i have to cut my food budget. i see that now. it's the only thing i can trim any expenses from. i'm determined to get it under control. DH got his student loan deferred until June so that give us two months with an extra $180 each month to get things under control. i'm freaking out that we won't be on top of things by then and this will just start all over.


2cutiekitties- i go to the Dekalb Farmers Market. they have a website you can look up. it's less then 10mins from our house. i have a friend who drives up from Columbus once a month to buy her organic produce there. even with gas cost she's still paying less then she would for organic food in Columbus. i agree that the frozen berries are a steal at Costco. 3lbs of organic frozen blueberries are $7.79. i can't get those that cheap fresh at the farmers market when they're fresh.

i'm sure i missed some people questions and suggestions. i'm reading everything i just don't have time or answers to respond to everyone. i really appreciate all the input. i had no one else to talk to about this stuff seeing as our families are just as bad with money as we are.