Random Budget Post

[jigsy]

As I stated in the flameworthy thread, I'm not looking for any suggestions really, I know that in order to reach a lot of our goals, we need more income, and I am working on that...I'm hoping a FT gig will happen for me after the new year, but if people are still just wanting to see...here it is. You can comment if you want, maybe something new will be said, but we are pretty stuck where we are at the moment.

DH Income=2500/month
My Income=1200/month
Total Income=3700/month
(We have a mortgage payment, but we are renting the house and that is a 0 sum game right now...renter covers the mortgage)

FIXED COSTS
Rent - 1608
Utilities - 75
Cell phones - 155
This is one thing we will be changing shortly once DH has some time to figure out what phone he wants. We will be switching to Virgin Mobile for a little bit, and the cost will go down to $70/month
Renters Insurance - 8
Student Loans (DH) - 270
Student Loans (Me) - 250

VARIABLE COSTS
Grocery - 400
Transportation - 250
Mr. Jiggles - 40
Restaurants - 100
DH Commuting Costs - 100
DH "Fun Money" - 150
My "Fun money" - 75

Total Expenses - 3481

I am pretty sure I am leaving something out, but I am not sure what. We don't do a hard budget, but we really need to. I'm not sure where the rest of the money goes otherwise.

Few notes:
-I just started another PT job (retail) and should be bringing in 600 or so more a month
-We aren't currently saving anything for retirement. We do each have small IRA's with less than 10k in them each. This is something we will start up again once I am working FT
-Our e-fund has dwindled, but we are no longer withdrawing from it. It dwindled after the move when I was looking for some work, and we used it to pay security deposits and furniture when we got the apartment
-There is no travel line, but we do travel quite a bit, however, it is significantly cheaper due to DH job. And all our airfare just comes out of his paychecks. Travel might go down due to Mr. Jiggles living with us now...we don't have a dogsitter.

So there you have it. 2 people with pretty low paying jobs living in the big city. :drink:

[Deleted]

Dec 19, 2012 12:05:45 GMT -5 jigsy said:

Travel might go down due to Mr. Jiggles living with us now...we don't have a dogsitter.

Ahem...

[jigsy]

Dec 19, 2012 12:07:52 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Dec 19, 2012 12:05:45 GMT -5 jigsy said:

Travel might go down due to Mr. Jiggles living with us now...we don't have a dogsitter.

Ahem...

You are on my list to call/beg next time we both want to OOT at the same time.

[Deleted]

No begging required. As long as I'm in town, I'll do it. Seriously.

[aspentosh]

Dec 19, 2012 12:11:00 GMT -5 @esquirefish said:

What about things like health insurance, dr. copays, etc? How is transportation different from DH's commuting costs (is one for car payments, the other for subway passes or something)?

I was wondering the same thing.

Do you have a car? What about payment, gas and insurance for it? Or saving for one?

[jigsy]

Dec 19, 2012 12:11:00 GMT -5 @esquirefish said:

What about things like health insurance, dr. copays, etc? How is transportation different from DH's commuting costs (is one for car payments, the other for subway passes or something)?

Insurance is paid for out of DH check, amount posted is take home. We also have an FSA that we use to pay for Dr. appointments...we haven't gone over the amount yet.

Transportation is different because of our unique situation. DH is based at JFK, we live in DC, so Dh commutes (he's a pilot). So the additional money is for when he needs to pay for the flights. Sometimes he doesn't need to, but sometimes he does. Transportation covers our metro riding around town.

[pugz]

I would tote watch Mr. Jiggles if we still lived in D.C. Boopers would probably teach him bad habits though.

[jigsy]

Dec 19, 2012 12:13:47 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

Rent seems high, but you're in DC right?

It blows they pay pilots so shitty

Yup...I realize rent is high, but there are not many cheaper options where we wanted to live...I actually think we found a pretty decent place with rent on the lowish scale.

No car, no plans for a car, I don't want to pay for parking right now, and I don't miss driving. We rely on public transportation.

[jigsy]

Dec 19, 2012 12:15:54 GMT -5 pugz said:

I would tote watch Mr. Jiggles if we still lived in D.C. Boopers would probably teach him bad habits though.

LOL. That would be awesome...I love seeing pugs get together, they always seem so happy to find another one of their kind. I am lucky that Jigs is a pretty good boy and pretty easy to watch, I won't feel bad for AH if/when she ends up sitting for us...he's pretty awesome.

[Deleted]

Dec 19, 2012 12:17:02 GMT -5 jigsy said:

No car, no plans for a car, I don't want to pay for parking right now, and I don't miss driving. We rely on public transportation.

And if you change your mind after June, you can buy my car for a very reasonable price. ;D

Do not feel bad about asking me to watch Mr. Jiggles. I have a second petsitting gig coming up, and I'm actually half-heartedly trying to get a little side business going.

[aspentosh]

I won't say a word about your rent. For DC, that's pretty darn good.

Overall I think you're doing well.

[jigsy]

Thanks Aspen.
Like I said, I know where our weaknesses are. I really do want to start saving for retirement, and adding money back to our savings, but I just don't see it happening until I am working full time.
But I thought I would post anyways, I'm not shy about my finances. Hell, DH is in a career with a set payscale. Even if you don't know his airline, most are pretty close to each other (as long as you compare regional to regional, mainline to mainline). However, most people see his hourly rate and think it is awesome, but pilots aren't paid like normal people, so it really isn't all that great. In fact, almost 1000 of his monthly income is from his per diem, so actual salary is pretty low. All our pilot friends say that the airlines goal is to pay a pilot as little as possible and keep them above the poverty line...it looks bad to have them standing in line with food stamps. lol and

[aspentosh]

BIL is a pilot for one of the big airlines. It was eye opening to see/hear about payscales and such. BTW, (belated) welcome to the DC area!!

[kate1482]

How long is the upgrade at his airline? Is there any movement? I remember when I made more at a random receptionist job I took after college then my dh's (then bf) first year flying and he had people's lives in his hand!

[jigsy]

Upgrade is uncertain right now. I guess official forecasts are 7-8 years, but I really think it will either be sooner, or he will be at a mainline before then. The industry is in such a unique place right now, and with the massive retirements that are coming, I think movement will happen quickly over the next 5 years.

At least I hope. There is such little movement right now, but mainlines only started recalling their furloughs and open hiring in the past couple months. There are a lot of guys who want out of the regionals after being there since 9/11. Of course, at DH's airline, there are a lot of guys who are going to stick around until the end because they are making fat salaries without working because they are so senior.

[Deleted]

Why does your husband get twice as much fun money as you do?

[runblondie26]

If my DH's student loans were double what your DH is paying, I'd still be ecstatic. You don't even want to know that line item on our budget....

It's the flight school that loan that's killing us on FO pay. Living in a (MCOL)base really helps with keeping our other costs in line though.

Kudos for handling a part time job too. I'll be treading along side you until that upgrade. Shortage around the corner, right?

[kershnic]

I'm too private to post a budget, but yours is the closest I've seen on this board to mine.

[jigsy]

DH get more fun money because he is on the road 1/2 the month and doesn't have the luxury of home. We have been packing up dinners for him, but on some of his trips, he only has 20 minutes for lunch and it is impossible to do anything but give his capt. some money to pick up subway. He can't really pack a ton of sandwiches to last through 4 day trips. He also has to tip shuttle drivers and whatnot while on the road...

Runblondie - we are very lucky in re: to flight training. DH went to college where his step-dad worked, so he got free tuition, all his student loans are for flight stuff. Friends who graduated from the same program have 100k+ in loans. I feel super bad for them. I'll keep my fingers crossed for all of us that the shortage is real.

No debt other than SL's. We paid off all CC debt a couple years ago, never had a car loan, and I guess we do have mortgage debt, but that is paid by the renter.

[pitterwoo]

No advice, just wanted to toss my sympathies your way. H was employed at one of the big airlines and had a 35% pay cut years ago and eventually had to leave that job, but still hasn't ever really recovered his income out of aviation either.

[jigsy]

Thanks pitter. Honestly, I deal with the income issue alright because I cannot think of another job that DH would be happy doing. Even when he has a bad trip because his capt. is super negative and there are delays and all the crap that comes with the job, I know he still likes what he does.

Plus there are other benefits that are not monetary. I mean, we just went to Costa Rica, and criss-crossed across the country to bring Mr.Jiggles out to VA from CA, and we were able to do that for about $300 in airfare. If we had to pay full price, it would have been crazy expensive, so it was like getting a 3k bonus last month!