can you help me go over my budget?

[mrstim]

I really want to pay our debts off as soon as we can - I hate this feeling of debt, plus paying the truck payment does strap us a little. We owe $7500 on the truck (worth 12K)

Income (40 hours only) $1942 after taxs, medical insurance & 401k at match only

Tithe: $250 (tithe 10% on gross)
Offerings: $116
Groceries: $386
Utilities, includes water & garbage: $200
Gas: $130
Phone includes internet: $49
Cells: $105
Newspaper Subscription: $12.70
Clothing: $35
Sinking Funds (gifts, dr. copays, car insurance & tags, home insurance & taxes, oil change supplies, tax filing fee) $225
Blow Money: $100 ($75/dh, $25/me)
Entertainment: comes from our blow money
Truck Payment $305

Total Expenses:1923.70
Leaves $18 left over.

As a note - DH is working a TON of overtime. Like 4am - 3:30 pm right now. The overtime is beautiful, however we're having to cash flow some repairs to our home this month for $1500. NOT what I want to do but alas, it's important. THEN today I had to order parts for our truck - $100. I feel like we get NO traction.

Cell Phones are unlimited minutes to 10 numbers since all our family is long distance. We originally were going to cancel our home phone and just have cells but in our area the only internet we can get without a home phone is only $10 less than our internet and we figured it was worth the extra money to have the security for me of a home phone.

Personally, I think blow money is high, of course the truck payment is high but if we pay the payment off at the normal payment it's only 24 months till it's gone.

Utilities are budgeted at $200 because while this month it was $150, (we live in Alabama) in the dead of winter and hot hot months it's often $225-$250 so that works a buffer in place.

I think the food budget can decrease some - I need to be better at planning, using what we have, not just replacing everything we use. I think I could probably get that down to $300 possibly. I am Gluten Free and my son is allergic to HFCS and artificial colorings.

I'm also going to check into downgrading our newspaper to JUST Sunday for the coupons/ads instead of all week - we hardly read the paper anyway.

Anyone else care to make a crack at it???

[Keeta]

nak

It all adds up over time - I would drop the home phone and newspaper for sure. What are offerings? That seems high to me, is there wiggle room? I would also decrease clothing budget to no more than $20, if not less.

What's the blow money used for, typically?

[VisionaryMom]

Your truck payment really is the only thing I see where you can make major improvements. The other things I can suggest will give you nickel & dime savings, which is still savings, but you need to get rid of the truck payment. So, you owe $7,320 on it. (Yes, I understand that's not a payoff balance.)

I mean, you say that you hate debt, but that's your only debt. Your living expenses are strapping you, and you don't have rent or mortgage listed. Increasing income sounds like the way to go. Do you work? Can you find part-time or occasional work?

I would try to convince DH to cut back his entertainment by $50/month. If he could do that and you put the money toward the truck, that would help eliminate that payment sooner. Every 6 months he does that is one truck payment, so you can pay off 4 months sooner if does that.

Plus, then you could change your car insurance (I'm guessing).

The $225 per month for gifts, etc. seems pretty high to me. Can you detail out some of those expenses? (For example, what is a tax filing fee?) If you could cut out $50/month from those expenses, then you'd cut out 4 more truck payments.

We eliminated all gifts for one year & just explained (humiliating, yes) that we were broke and needed to get a handle on things. As an alternative, get better at shopping bargains or making gifts to cut down on that cost.

Sure, cut the newspaper if you don't read it. If you cut it by $8 a month, that's going to be 1/2 a truck payment.

Groceries - I don't know if you can go down to $300. The cost of food varies so much that it's hard to know. Still if you aimed to cut by $50, then (again), that's 4 payments gone. So you're down to, what, 11-12 months to pay off your truck?

What are offerings? I'm assuming they're additional monies going toward your religious community? Would you guys consider the possibility of limiting additional offerings until you have made some progress. I know some families who've decreased tithes for a short time and then "repaid" that money over time once they were in a better financial position.

[mrstim]

offerings are partly to missions at our church and then the rest is $1 each to our 2 children during Sunday services and Sunday school. That's where that comes in at - and it's non-negotiable. We may decrease them slightly but will not cut them out right now.

Blow money - DH uses his to take us all out to eat 1 to 2 times a month - never more than $15/$20 for us four to eat - we don't eat out at fancy places. It's dollar menus or the local mom and pop where the kids eat free if that. Not often. He uses the balance to either save up for tools or even uses it to buy household things if he thinks about it. This week he used $20 of it to buy 6 gallons ($60 worth) of antifreeze for his truck off his brother who didn't want to be bothered by taking it back. That sort of thing. He doesn't eat lunch out (well, once or twice a YEAR in the plant cafeteria), doesn't smoke, drink soda or beer, doesn't do coffee - very conservative.

The $225 a month is this:

$100 a month pays car insurance ($1200 a year it IS the cheapest I've shopped and shopped this one) and tags. We have a paid for 2010 Honda and then the 2003 truck.
$100 a month pays for house insurance and taxes
$25 pays for the $20 annual taxcut efiling fee, term life insurance policies on both my hubby and me, oil changing supplies and gifts throughout the year. It's not extravagant by any means.

I think we can cut clothing down - that's mainly my fault - I loooooooove thrift store shopping for myself only - the kids get clothes twice a year at the consignment sale where I sell their old stuff - I always end up breaking even with what I sell vs what they need. DH gets clothes only as gifts from my family and if he NEEDS them otherwise - he hasn't bought anything clotheswise but three pairs of jeans in the last three years, no joke.

[VisionaryMom]

[QUOTE=mrstim;15598796]offerings are partly to missions at our church and then the rest is $1 each to our 2 children during Sunday services and Sunday school. That's where that comes in at - and it's non-negotiable. We may decrease them slightly but will not cut them out right now.

Originally Posted by mrstim

Blow money - DH uses his to take us all out to eat 1 to 2 times a month - never more than $15/$20 for us four to eat - we don't eat out at fancy places. It's dollar menus or the local mom and pop where the kids eat free if that. Not often. He uses the balance to either save up for tools or even uses it to buy household things if he thinks about it. This week he used $20 of it to buy 6 gallons ($60 worth) of antifreeze for his truck off his brother who didn't want to be bothered by taking it back. That sort of thing. He doesn't eat lunch out (well, once or twice a YEAR in the plant cafeteria), doesn't smoke, drink soda or beer, doesn't do coffee - very conservative.

Okay, don't get him to cut down. Seriously. I don't think there's anything there that's unreasonable.

Originally Posted by mrstim

The $225 a month is this:

$100 a month pays car insurance ($1200 a year it IS the cheapest I've shopped and shopped this one) and tags. We have a paid for 2010 Honda and then the 2003 truck.
$100 a month pays for house insurance and taxes
$25 pays for the $20 annual taxcut efiling fee, term life insurance policies on both my hubby and me, oil changing supplies and gifts throughout the year. It's not extravagant by any means.

Well, without being able to do anything with the car insurance, then there's not much I see that you could do.

Have you discussed selling the truck? You said it's worth $12K, and you owe $7.5K. If you could get what you owe, you could buy a beater to drive for a while, assuming you're not both travel long distances everyday.

Originally Posted by mrstim

I think we can cut clothing down - that's mainly my fault - I loooooooove thrift store shopping for myself only - the kids get clothes twice a year at the consignment sale where I sell their old stuff - I always end up breaking even with what I sell vs what they need. DH gets clothes only as gifts from my family and if he NEEDS them otherwise - he hasn't bought anything clotheswise but three pairs of jeans in the last three years, no joke.

Yeah, you could cut down, but I don't think that $35/month is a big sum for 4 people. Your goal could be an even sum game for everyone - always spending only what you get from consignment or yard sales.

[Shakti77]

Total of tithe+offering to church = $366 It's almost the same as your grocery budget. Your grocery budget seems just right...

Could you hold off on the $250 tithe for a few months - especially since you do offerings of $116 to the church.

Or could you make both of them total to 10% of your income. Right now they both total to 18.88% of your take home pay. Pretty big, eh! Esp. when money is tight.

Imho, your offering could be considered a part of tithe since the offering also goes to the church. Just thinking aloud.

[Ruthiegirl]

Your budget is tight and I think some real changes need to happen. Your living expenses/groceries/clothing budgets are fine. You are keeping a tight household and I don't see a lot of wiggle room.


So, I am going to suggest some hard cuts. Forgive me if these seem harsh, but I really think you are living too close to the bone to have any luxuries right now.


Right now you pay $305 for your dh's truck. The truck has to go. I think this is your first step. Sell it for what you can, pay off the loan and buy a beater car with cash. Your insurance costs will decrease and perhaps the gas fund as well. This would give you a $305-350 buffer per month that you absolutely need.


And you pay $105 for cell phones? These need to go as well. I know we rely on cells in our modern society, but they are not a necessity and you need to be thinking in terms of what is needed and what can be cut. Your family will understand and find other ways to keep in contact with you.


Those two cuts alone will net you over $400 a month that could then be put into savings. These savings could ease the difficulty of yearly expenses (taxes, repairs, illness, insurance). I know these are hard decisions. My thoughts are with you.

[happysmileylady]

I dont' see housing on your budget?

I agree with a previous poster, your tithing and offerings are quite high. I am not a religious person at all, so take this with a grain of salt, but I think that you might want to seriously consider cutting back, for a little bit. A temporary cutback shouldn't really affect your relationship with God, and would help you pay off your debts a little faster.

The only other thing that I see is your truck-can you sell it? You say you owe $7.5k and it's worth $12k, so if you could sell it for the $12k, you would not only eliminate that $305, freeing it up for other payments, but you would have an additional $4.5k to use towards your debts, or to go buy a $4k vehicle. Doing that is likely to also decrease your insurance payments on it too.

[sewaneecook]

We are also a religious family and we tithe 10% off the top. Is there a reason you have both tithing AND offerings? It seems to me that these combined should total 10%. I understand that some are called to give more than 10%, but I don't think that would be a struggling family's calling when it appears your budget is othewise fairly good.

[mrstim]

We own our 150K house out free and clear. We paid it off back in 2008. We also own a 2010 Honda Civic free and clear that is worth $18K. We also have $8500 in savings, around $4K invested in the kids funds. It's just the day to day stuff that is ugh. DH does bring in roughly $600 a month in overtime, I bring in around $100 - $150 with selling stuff online. I was just asking if anything else in our budget seemed out of line. We budget all expenses out of his 40 hour check *just in case* but he does work a lot of OT.

The OT cashflows car repairs, home repairs - for example this year we're having to replace $500 worth of siding outside and also paint the outside which runs about $500. He's working 12 hour days so around 50 hours of overtime this month so that will be roughly $1100 before taxes. We're not "struggling" per-se, but I don't buy a lot of extras, we do live tight. No cable, not much eating out, not a lot of snacky foods, frozen meals, salon visits, mani/pedi's, - just basic simple living. Most of our friends dont understand - we're weird.

I guess I just remember back when we first got married and had around 20K in savings...I miss that. however, he does make a lot less these days. He works 2 miles away from home and is in a very stable field (pharm) so they'd have to pay a lot more than $15.45 an hour to make up for that I think.

[Ruthiegirl]

Originally Posted by mrstim

We own our 150K house out free and clear. We paid it off back in 2008. We also own a 2010 Honda Civic free and clear that is worth $18K. We also have $8500 in savings, around $4K invested in the kids funds. It's just the day to day stuff that is ugh. DH does bring in roughly $600 a month in overtime, I bring in around $100 - $150 with selling stuff online. I was just asking if anything else in our budget seemed out of line. We budget all expenses out of his 40 hour check *just in case* but he does work a lot of OT.

Then I think you are doing great!!!!! I don't see much to cut in your day to day expenses. You could probably teach the class on Frugal Living.

I guess I was thinking you were living much more bare bones. You are bothered by the truck debt? Are you guys paying it off with the OT pay?

[quantumleap]

Originally Posted by mrstim

He works 2 miles away from home and is in a very stable field (pharm) so they'd have to pay a lot more than $15.45 an hour to make up for that I think.

Since your DH only works 2 miles from home, I would sell the truck. Even if you only get what you owe on it. 2 miles is easily bikeable (we lived car free and DH worked about 2 miles from home, I worked about 2.5 miles from home, and we walked/biked year round. In the Arctic. It's totally doable). If you need/want to retain the convenience of two vehicles, keep your eyes peeled for a used car. You can totally get something reliable for a fairly small cost, potentially even another truck if you live in the right sort of used vehicle area.

I also just want to say, kudos to you guys, for having paid off your house! I'm sure that was a lot of hard work. Congratulations!

[beansmama]

I'd say nix the tithes and offerings. I know you probably wont, so it's pointless saying - but I just don't understand people being strapped for cash and paying someone else's bills/salary (ie: the church's).

But then again, I'm atheist, so go figure.

Good for you for owning your house outright! Lucky!!!

[crunchy_mommy]

Wow I think you guys are doing great, I wish we could own our house outright!

You have $8500 in savings & owe $7500 on the truck -- you could pay off the truck (or half of it, whatever you feel comfortable with) & start rebuilding the savings, especially since you are already using OT to fund repairs (which is normally what savings would fund for most people).

I wouldn't touch your tithe & offerings, I understand how important that is. We tithe as well, although we don't have separate offerings, not sure I totally understand that but I imagine it's not too negotiable!

Groceries: $386 -- There's a little room here, though probably not a ton, & since you don't eat out often it's important to have lots of tasty food at home IMO

Utilities, includes water & garbage + Gas: $330 -- this seems a little high to me... our monthly utilities run about $100 & that's with recent increases, maybe there are energy efficiency changes you could make?

Phone includes internet + Cells: $154 -- I would reconsider getting rid of the home phone ($10/mo is $120 a year...) or consider getting rid of a cell phone or switch one to a lower plan... Check if your company does corporate discounts, I save some on our cell phones that way. Our bill is $72/mo (2 phones, long distance, way more minutes than we could ever need -- but no texting/internet/etc. We also don't have a home phone, we just keep our cells charged constantly.)

Newspaper Subscription: $12.70 -- I'd cut it, especially if you don't read it!

Clothing: $35 -- that's probably what I spend in a year on clothes... but I really could use some new clothes haha... Doesn't sound outrageous but maybe could cut back a little.

Sinking Funds $225 -- are your home & car insurance combined? That's one area you could save money.

Blow Money: $100 ($75/dh, $25/me) -- seems a little high but given your explanation not crazy, what would happen if you cut it by $5-10 or so?

Truck Payment $305 -- if you paid of a portion of it you'd save a ton on interest which is like my obsession, I hate paying interest on cars, I once got a car loan because the bank was closed & paid off the loan a week later once I was able to transfer funds...

I think if you cut $5 here, $10 there you could end up with $150 or so extra a month, not a ton leftover but it's more than $18 right?!

[babygrant]

I spit water on my laptop when I read "Blow Money". hahahahaha. Realized that's play money. hehehe.

[Keeta]

Originally Posted by babygrant

I spit water on my laptop when I read "Blow Money". hahahahaha. Realized that's play money. hehehe.

Totally thought of that, too.

[elizawill]

Tithe: $250 (tithe 10% on gross)
Offerings: $116
Groceries: $386
Utilities, includes water & garbage: $200
Gas: $130
Phone includes internet: $49
Cells: $105
Newspaper Subscription: $12.70
Clothing: $35
Sinking Funds (gifts, dr. copays, car insurance & tags, home insurance & taxes, oil change supplies, tax filing fee) $225
Blow Money: $100 ($75/dh, $25/me)
Entertainment: comes from our blow money
Truck Payment $305

Total Expenses:1923.70
Leaves $18 left over.


well, i would definitely not cut tithe out. our tithe is $420 a month & although it's tight for us, i don't consider cutting it ever. as for offerings, i would look at scaling that back though. your tithe should automatically go toward missions within the church. i know our church gives 10% to missions. i would look for items you can cut in your grocery budget. i make a lot of our own things and it saves us about $30-40 each month. also, be sure to meal plan everything. as for the phone, we are going to try and get the magic jack & cut our cell phone plan back...this should save us a good bit. the MJ gets mixed reviews, so well see. the blow money seems very high if you only have $18 left - can you cut your dh's back? going on a picnic with homemade dinner would be just as nice... or staying in for family night and games, etc. you can take turns picking out the meal, etc. if possible, i'd cut clothing back too. you can get free clothes from freecycle or friends at church, etc. my kids have designer clothes and i rarely buy them a thing (we give away a lot and receive a lot, ykwim?). we get hand-me-downs that are in great condition. lastly, i'd definitely cut out the newspaper if you want more money. you can read the news online or watch it on TV. the truck payment is high, but i understand, it is what it is.

the budget looks good though. hth


ETA - the advice to pay off your truck and rebuild your savings is excellent advice! i totally agree!!

[smokeylo]

I would drop the landline and daily paper. Even just that would give you some more wiggle room. If you can figure out a way to pay less for cell phones, you should... maybe there's a 2 year contract deal out there that might save? Or do you have a family member who would add you to their family plans (that's how I keep my cell phone service at about $45 for our family).

It seems like you should just sell the truck if you have that much to pay on it and don't NEED it. If it's a hardship, is it worth it? Do you have any possessions you could sell to pay the balance down?

You're doing great.

[Chicky2]

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that you have the $ to pay off your truck in savings. Why would you want that $ sitting there collecting a tiny bit of interest (I'm assuming here), instead of paying off that truck and saving a lot of interest???

I don't get the extra offerings either. When I was a church-goer, I always tithed 10%. I put it in the offerings basket. Maybe there's a volunteer opportunity you could do instead for a time?

[SubliminalDarkness]

Originally Posted by Chicky2

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that you have the $ to pay off your truck in savings. Why would you want that $ sitting there collecting a tiny bit of interest (I'm assuming here), instead of paying off that truck and saving a lot of interest???

I don't get the extra offerings either. When I was a church-goer, I always tithed 10%. I put it in the offerings basket. Maybe there's a volunteer opportunity you could do instead for a time?

I think it's in their best interests to hang on to the savings. If something happened to DH's employment(he was laid off, fired, got sick and lost his job, etc.) they would need money to live on. Or if someone ended up in some catastrophic emergency, they'd need money. If some major repair on the house came up, they'd need money. Etc.