Need budgeting help

[corrie43]

I'm wondering if it's possible for us to get by right now on what we are making? Hoping to get some insight. I was getting $1300 a month in disability from the military for the past few years, but they suddenly decreased it. I appealed, but it went through. So as of may first we are losing $700 a month. My husband works at walmart and make about $2020 a month take home pay.
So together we have about approx $2650 a month for all expenses. Our mortgage alone is $1400 a month. We live in an association with a $900 a year fee as well. This covers our water bill though.

We are pretty frugal and spend only $300 a month on groceries for a family of four. We make too much for food stamps I believe, but do get WIC. My youngest just potty trained so no more diapering expenses thank goodness.

The biggest problem is we live pretty far from everything so my husband spends about $7 a day in gas getting to work. Even going to the grocery store is a half gallon of gas.

We do have cable becuase basically it's our only entertainment. My husband and I have not been on a date in over 6 months. We go out about twice a year, and even then we use gift cards we go for Christmas. We do have internet becuase I sell on ebay and do a lot of bargain hunting online.

My husband works nights, 5 days a week. Between the almost hour long commute each way, and his erratic sleeping habits it is almost impossible to work out of the home in a real job. The oldest starts Kindergarten half day in the fall, so I will still have the youngest at home with me. I do professional organizing when I can get a client, but haven't had a client in about a month. I live in a rural area and there is not a big market for it. I don't have the patience for other people's children and won't babysit.

I'm just wondering if anyone has made it by with their mortgage taking up so much of their income or if I should really look into getting some other kind of part time job. I have tried all the direct sales stuff and always spent more than I made. I'm just not a good salesperson. Thanks if you have gotten this far, Corrie

[knittingmomma]

My suggestions for you would be to write out every monthly expense and see if you can make it on the one income. If you can, then make a list of your priorities. For example, if your number one priority is to be home for your children, then you look at budgeting in a positive light as a way for you to do what is important to you. There are so many ways to find joy without money. Our family is enjoying our new journey now as we squeak by on very little to build our home business and market gardens. For us, being together is priceless.

Many warm wishes,
Tonya

[justmama]

So you have $2650. You take away the mortgage and you are down to $1250. Take away gas money(about $50 a week) and you have $1200. Buy food for an average month and you are at $900. Depending on where you live, you either have cable or satellite and that's AROUND $50 give or take, which puts you at $850. Then you MIGHT have a car payment or two that you need to deduct. Then you have insurance(which I can't even begin to speculate on). And what about electric? I'd say financially it's doable. But then, we live on a lot less. You need to be careful about those little spur of thte moment, "I want that" purchases and maybe go without every now and then regarding material things. But if you can be pretty frugal and watch your expenses, I'd say you can squeak by. What other option do you have, right? We've tried but the bill collectors don't like it when you tell them to take a number because everyone else is waiting too!

Meg

[Emilie]

i agree wit pp... write it up- figure it out.... you can do it i think. can dh carpool for work? make sure you do grocery shopping 1x or two per pay period and dh picks up what is needed when he goes into work...
gas is a huge killer....
can you babysit an extra kid? if you lived near me you could organize my house!!!lol. good luck mama!

[~Shanna~]

HI corrie,
Faerybugmady's assessment was really great, I agree completely. I couldn't tell if you are concerned because you actually ARE spending more money than you're making. If so:
Is there any chance of moving to cheaper and closer-to-work housing? It sounds like you are so amazingly frugal with everything else , and the housing is the hole in the bucket because it also leads to more gas money (I'm not sure if this is expensive housing for where you live?). I know this is SO much easier said than done, and there are doubtlessly hundreds of details that I don't even know about, but my objective look at your budget showed that that is the hardest burden on your budget.

I did want to add that I could sense from your post that you're hearing that the % of your income that your mortgage takes up is disproportionate and it concerns you. I've been in the same boat and worried when our mortgage was over half of what we made. But I always tried to remember that those proportions are designed by "experts" who make mainstream assumptions about me that are false (vacations, expensive clothes, etc.). Ultimately, if your family is being clothed, fed and housed on your budget, then it works!
Good luck mama

[SunRise]

I think your income is pretty good, both your husbands and your disability. But you are paying a high mortgage and fees versus your income. The recommended percentage to payout on home is 30% of your income (at least it used to be the recommendation). Right now your mortgage is taking more then 50% of your income, that doesnt include the condo fees!

You mention you have to drive quite a distance to work etc...

Can you refinance? Maybe move closer to amenities and work?

This is pretty far fetched, but maybe a consideration?

I should add, if you love your home then don't go that way, but if it is causing stress, it may be an option. I hope you work something out!

[corrie43]

We just bought the house last year and moving is not an option. We have two OLD cars. A 94 and 95. We don't need both but mine has low milage and my husband won't give up his jeep wrangler. I have done a budget and we really are scraping by. BUT I just got a call today from one of my clients and worked two hours for her. She is moving and needs a ton of help so there is some extra money for the next month or two!! Hurray!!

We are really frugal and there is just so little to cut. We buy everything from goodwill pretty much and don't have any credit card debt. Luckily our mortgage is at 5.5%, so we don't need to refinance. I think I just need to relax about it and all will be well.

[corrie43]

I forgot to add that we get about $4000 a year in tax returns and that really helps for unexpected bills.Things like home repairs, and major car repairs. I also spend about $1000 a year on plane tickets to get my 10 year old daughter out here for the summer. She lives with her dad the rest of the year. We usually end up having a pretty expensive month when she is here becuase we try to do a lot of fun stuff and drive to my parents camp on the lake a lot, about an hour away.


The hardest part is the housing near any jobs is about twice what it costs out here in the middle of nowhere. Which is why we live pretty far out here. The closest walmart is a good 35 minute drive. My husband really likes the walmart he works at and is happy with the people he works with. He doesn't want to transfer just to save an extra 15 minutes on the commute and then possibly end up not liking it.

I think I was most worried about the proportion going to the mortgage, but I think we can handle it. We know where we can cut if we really have to. Cable can go after our contract is up. My parents can always bail us out if neccesary. Thanks for the words of encouragement, I feel a lot more relaxed about finances than I was at 3 am last night up worrying.

[Emilie]

i do the same thing all the time

[Shiloh]

We make too much for food stamps I believe,

doesn't hurt to apply, I did the calculator and with our family size we'd have (3 kids and I am disabled ) if we made as high as 50k we might still get a little.

The biggest problem is we live pretty far from everything so my husband spends about $7 a day in gas getting to work. Even going to the grocery store is a half gallon of gas.

Well then why doesn't dh do the grocery shopping before or after work?

what about dh picking up some part time work closer to home? Or even just extra shifts at the closer walmart? he might like it better there but it would give him a chance to try it out.

In the meanwhile things might hurt now, but what about planning something in the future? Dh could take his courses to become a home inspector or something that would give a nice chunk of change for a half days work like that.

But since you have a country house why not use it? garden, chickens?

and just for a start start calling you companies (cable, credit cards, etc) and ask how to make your bill smaller, tell them you can't afford it but want to keep the service.

[corrie43]

My husband does do most of the grocery shopping and we combine our other big shopping trip with a few other errands. I was just trying to show how far out in the country we are. But we live in a homeowners association that doesn't allow us to have chickens or other animals. I would have loved that, and the kids too. We are going to do a little gardening this year. Planting blueberry bushes for sure.

My husband works 5 days and I feel like he shouldn't be the one to have to take on an extra, I'd like to be the one who does. He's more fun with the kids than I am...LOL I am thinking of doing things like dog walking, pet sitting ect. We live in a place where a lot of people only live here in the summer, so maybe I could offer up some kind of winter services, like checking on their house weekly ect...

Maybe we will try and apply for food stamps or at least heat assistance. I tried to get my dentist to accept only the amount insurance would cover for my fillings but he said no. After being a patient of his for almost 30 years I was a little ticked off and will be finding a new dentist.

[Shiloh]

There are some plants that will return bigger bang for your buck, herbs, etc. that don't take up much space but will give you a bigger return.

Also learning to can has been great for us to store without freezing and the electricity that can cost it also makes great cheap gifts to bring a can of jam, etc.

dog walking, pet sitting, plant or house sitting is a great thing you can do with kids or in the evenings. I'd if I had a summer house would gladly pay atleast $25 a month for someone to check on the house, make sure the pipes hadn't frozen take away any flyers.

Maybe we will try and apply for food stamps or at least heat assistance.

girl apply for any programme going the only bad thing that they can say is no.

I tried to get my dentist to accept only the amount insurance would cover for my fillings but he said no. After being a patient of his for almost 30 years I was a little ticked off and will be finding a new dentist.

absolutely!!! my dentist says he 'overcharges' insured people to their insurance max but if you had no coverage he gives a 30% discount. Everything is negotiable!