I have a really wonderful doctor, but the nurses at her office are so frustrating to deal with. I'm calling to get my doctor's opinion, not your opinion after you just admitted that you haven't even glanced at my chart or listened to anything I said in the message I left. Don't get huffy with me for politely disagreeing with your opinion when I know that my doctor will have a different one. Why do I have this exact same conversation every time I have to call my doctor for the same thing?
For the record, I appreciate nurses and all that they do.
Post by estrellita on Jul 23, 2014 19:59:44 GMT -5
Ugh, Debbie Downer time. I don't understand how people afford things. Between student loans, rent, and other bills, we can barely save money. We would like to buy a house at some point (soonish) but we don't have even close to a decent down payment. I feel like we make an OK amount (not ideal, but OK). I'm trying to cut back on certain things (quitting smoking should have helped!). I'm not even contributing to my 401K right now. I don't want to move but this apartment is a terrible layout for cats + kid so I feel like we don't have many options. I'm just frustrated and overwhelmed and wish I could figure this out I'd go to MM for budget advice but I'm sure I'll be told to cut cable and do things that aren't totally feasible for us. It's not that we're bad with money, there just seems to be a LOT going out and not quite enough coming in. I don't know what to do anymore!
I sooo wanted to say something on that GP thread, but I see luv2rn4fun and HoneySpider have it handled.
(I lurk over there so I don't miss any BFPs of ladies that I know. Dirty lurker, guilty.)
I shouldn't have said anything. I read it a few times and finally had to respond.
The thing that bothers me about the OP is how she keeps insisting that anyone who has been TTC longer than her (which is basically everyone) is making this into a pissing contest. Um, no. Sometimes you just know things from experience though.
Confession: we cut cable when we were in major savings mode. I will try not to suggest that for you.
Yes, I was going to say to post it here too! I know there are a lot of ladies here who are MM-savvy.
estrellita I'm sure it seems overwhelming but there are always ways to cut back. We live on a tight budget now but we did not cut cable (because that's not happening with 2 sports fans in the house!)
Confession: we cut cable when we were in major savings mode. I will try not to suggest that for you.
Hmm ok. I might DD it at some point just because not everyone needs to know how much (little) we make, haha. Hopefully I don't forget anything!
Monthly bills (rounding up on most for an even number):
Rent: $820 currently, going up to $830 Student loans: Mine are about $220, H's are about $180 Car payment: $235 (super low interest rate, no refinancing needed) Car insurance: $110 (down from $130, will look around in Sept once H's policy is up) Cell phone: $160 (MIL pays $30 for her share and we put her checks in our savings, so technically it's $130) Cable/internet: $160 (could cut cable and it would be $50 for internet.. but I like DVRing my shows and sports!) Electric: Lately, $70 thanks to the AC Netflix: $9 Savings: ~$200 ($50 from each paycheck, I get paid biweekly and he gets paid twice a month)
I think that's all the actual bills. Adds up to $1,974 including the rent increase. Our income is about $3,270 after taxes and health insurance (I also put a little in an FSA that we will probably max out next year and I pay $15/month out of my paycheck for the gym). So we have $1,311 left over for food, cat food (which is $60/bag, we get it maybe every month or two), personal items, etc.
Our main issue is that we buy so much food. We both buy lunches more often than we should, which I know adds up. I have so little energy, especially now, that it's hard for me to cook things at night to bring for lunch the next day, or there ends up being enough leftovers for just one person because H eats a lot. I want to meal plan so bad but it just doesn't happen. Non time consuming ideas here would be wonderful!
We don't spend that much on gas anymore because we pretty much drive a few miles to work and back, with the occasional ~30 mile drive to the ILs or friends' place or more rare ~90 mile drive to my parents'. We have no debt other than the car payment and student loans.
Anything I forgot, any more info you need or any ideas let me know! I know it seems like we have a good amount leftover but I want to save like crazy and it's not happening
estrellita I'm sorry. I know what you mean though.
So reading about the job stuff reminded me. Ya know months ago when I told you guys about that job DH interviewed for and kept getting positive feedback? Well every person loved him and told him it was his if he wanted it. Problem was, he was never officially offered the job. His last interview was a phone interview with the regional manager who had worked at a previous company that DH worked at and they knew a lot of the same people. The guy loved him and said it was his just that they had to get it settled through corporate and it would be awhile before he could get back to him. DH never heard from them again. Eventually the job posting was removed and DH just figured that wouldn't be a company he would want to work for anyway. Last week they reposted the same job. Who knows.
I sooo wanted to say something on that GP thread, but I see luv2rn4fun and HoneySpider have it handled.
(I lurk over there so I don't miss any BFPs of ladies that I know. Dirty lurker, guilty.)
I shouldn't have said anything. I read it a few times and finally had to respond.
The thing that bothers me about the OP is how she keeps insisting that anyone who has been TTC longer than her (which is basically everyone) is making this into a pissing contest. Um, no. Sometimes you just know things from experience though.
Anyway, whatever.
Yep. It's all about perspective. But like you said, whatever!
I sooo wanted to say something on that GP thread, but I see luv2rn4fun and HoneySpider have it handled.
(I lurk over there so I don't miss any BFPs of ladies that I know. Dirty lurker, guilty.)
I lurked over there and read that post.. I kinda wanted to say something but coming from me I don't think it would have as big of an impact. I get that feeling of disappointment and some jealousy when it doesn't happen right away, but really?
bk1 That's really weird. I wonder why they never contacted him. Did he try calling them at all?
They did almost everything through e-mail. The HR lady never wanted to be on the phone (I'm guessing because she was in a different time zone?) I think because it took so much to get to that last interview he had kinda given up on the company before that. I don't think he ever tried to reach out.
Unfortunately he had a bad time with a different HR person from that company a year earlier. He had applied for a different job, got the offer, but things fell through because of her. He talked to the manager over all of the USA (international company) and he was suppose to get a different HR person in contact with DH and never did. I think he is done ever applying for a job with that particular company.
*** I have nothing against people in HR, that is actually part of what I studied in college. DH just had problems with the HR people for this particular company.
- can you get a fan or two to help keep the rooms your in colder. (They usually use less power then an ac unit) - instead of buying lunches out could you maybe buy one of those precooked chickens and make chicken sandwiches with them. (No cooking involved and it should be enough for 2-3 days worth of sandwiches.) - instead of cutting cable can you shop around for different prices/packages? - try to write down every penny you spend for the next 2 weeks (both you and H) and go through it at the end of the 2 weeks and see where you can cut money
1: Food. I know exactly your struggle with food. We "budget" $500 a month just for groceries (we have an extra line for eating out) and still go over every.single.month for just two people!!! I still can't figure out how we do it! I did learn recently that going to the grocery store more often results in me spending MUCH less. If I only buy exactly what I need for 1-2 meals then I am not stocking up on food we may waste. Sometimes we would buy ingredients then eat out, so effectively paying for 2 meals and throwing one away. How awful that was. Not sure if shopping for 1-2 meals at a time would help you or not. Last month we only went over by $30 so that was a huge improvement.
2: Cell Phone. Another savings idea is to change your cell plan. We only pay $70 for two people with TMobile for unlimited talk, text, and data. They will buy out your current contract if you're in one.
3: Savings. You mention wanting to save more, and you're right that you feasibly have enough that it should be possible. Can you split up your paycheck to be automatically deposited into two different accounts? You could do $500 in savings off the top and then you won't be tempted to spend it. Or, you could just deposit it into online savings right away on pay day so it isn't connected to your debit/credit cards.
1- I have thought about that, but I feel like I'd get too lazy to stop at the store and then cook. I'd probably end up picking up a pizza and telling H to preheat the oven. I think H and I just need to sit down, plan some meals for the week (with some flexibility worked in) and really stick to it! I also want to do a day where we just make freezer to crockpot/stove/oven meals so really there's no excuse unless of course we forgot to take it out of the freezer which does happen..
2- We actually just lowered our bill from about $190 by switching to my mom's plan. Our plan includes unlimited everything for the phones and insurance, then $5/month for our tablet. We've looked into the buyouts, but from what we saw, they make you pay it out of pocket, then 2-3 months later give you a Visa gift card for the amount. We don't have the funds to buy ourselves out and wait that long for a gift card. Plus we're steering very clear of those monthly phone cost plans because it ends up costing more in the long run. I'll stick with my upgrades every ~18 months or whatever it is!
3- We already split the paychecks, $50 from each goes directly into a savings account that we originally opened for the wedding. It's at a different bank than the one we primarily use. There is an ok amount of money in there but we just used some for a down payment on the car (actually put that on the credit card for the rewards and plan to pay it off right away from the savings). It's just not growing as fast as I'd like, but I don't feel comfortable bumping my contribution back up (I used to do $100/paycheck, even when I was part time) until I feel good about the rest of our spending!
We seem to have the same problem that you do financially. (This is pre two mortgages. We are in a totally different situation now but soon we have it back under control.) Basically on paper it looked like we should have money left over but we never had as much as we should.
The best things I do in trying to monitor things are:
1. When grocery shopping I almost only shop sales. Only buy meat when it is on sale and stock up on that kind of meat. Only buy the produce that is on sale (except for a couple core things we always eat like apples and bananas). Basically buy/stock up on the sale items.
2. I shop a local store for my meat/produce and I shop at Aldi's for basics (flour, sugar, canned goods, dairy).
3. I try to meal plan, but if nothing else know easy meals that I can make at home. Crock pot meals are awesome for this. (I understand the lack of energy. We have been eating out more then normal).
4. We also do small things like almost never go out to the movies. Instead we watch Netflix or rent a movie.
What did me best was when I made saving a "bill" and transferred money right away out of checking into savings. Once in a while I would have to transfer a little back but that is when I saved more then I ever have. I would calculate how much I thought I should be able to save (after everything, food, gas, leaving a bit for entertainment) and transfer over the rest.
This is what I was doing while I was trying to pay down our debt and build up some savings. After I had debt paid off I was lazy about saving as much as we could have and just spent more on food/entertainment. I'm hoping once we move and sell the first house that I can get back into the "saving first" mode.
-We do need a new fan. Our oscillating one broke and the other one we have sucks. The fan on the AC unit is definitely not efficient. But it also gets SUPER hot in there and it doesn't help that H is a heater himself, so it's been really hard to stay cool. I try wearing shorts to bed and we got a cooling gel foam mattress topper but that doesn't seem to help enough. -I thought about getting a rotisserie chicken and using that for different things, but my fear is wasting it and/or getting sick of chicken, haha. It is on my list of things I should really do though. -Unfortunately this is the only option we really have. There is one other internet provider but they partner with Direct TV and we can't get a satellite on this side of the building. It was more expensive to have the other company for internet and our current provider for TV. I hate the cable monopoly!! -I have used Mint in the past but it's a pain, haha. I just get sick of having to sort every transaction. I set it up to put certain stores in a category, but it either does it wrong or it ends up fitting into a different category (like what do I do with "Target"? Could be groceries, clothes, DVDs, gifts, makeup, medicine? It's annoying to sort it all out ). I do know from Mint thought how much we were spending on smoking, and that was a big thing that helped me quit. I need to sort everything and look at our food costs now!
estrellita you're not going in the hole each month so you are better off than most people! It's tough balancing so many wants/needs at once.
1) Housing - what's not working with the layout of your current place? Is it totally not doable? I understand wanting to buy a house, but it's not everything. Homeownership is kinda sucky at times and can be a huge drain on finances. Sometimes a good rental situation can beat homeownership, at least in the short term.
2) 401k - does your company offer a matching contribution?
3) Are the student loan balances high? Could you focus on paying one of those off? This has two benefits - sense of accomplishment and increased cash flow.
4) Ok, I'm going to say it Your phone/Internet/cable bills are 10% of your take home pay. Anything you could do to bring those down would be a huge win! And if you cut cable and put that toward savings, you would increase your monthly savings by 50%!
5) I like jjwritergirl's strategy of automatically taking savings out of your paycheck. When we were a one income household, I think I had $150 per month ($75/paycheck) taken out and put directly in an ING account. I never missed that money. Out of sight, out of mind.
6) Groceries is a tough one. I guess I would focus on not eating out and compensating as much as needed with your grocery trips. Less eating out, but more prepared foods from the store, if that makes sense. Maybe help you get in the habit of grocery meals and then build from there. But I get it, you're tired and feeling crappy so just do what you need to right now to get by here!
I guess I would pick one goal and one goal only. For example, say your current savings is at $3,000...make your 1st goal to get to $4,500. And focus only on that. Watch it every day and throw $5 here, $10 there, plus your regular $200/month. Set a small goal, then another, then another.
Stay motivated! Read personal finance blogs. Check out personal finance blogs from the library. Listen to Dave Ramsey's radio show - I always found him to be super motivating when we were in debt payoff/saving mode.
And try to relax I am also freaking out about all of the money going out of our household recently. I just have to trust that if I continue to budget and watch our spending that it will work out okay.
-I do try to buy things at least on Cartwheel. I love looking at the stuff on the Weekly Ad list so it's double savings! I need to get my iPod up and running again to use the coupons. We do try to use coupons when we go to the actual grocery store but sometimes there aren't any for the things we need. I should pay more attention to when meat is on sale and buy extra. We just have the freezer on the fridge but there isn't that much in there most of the time. -We need to try Aldi again. I haven't been there in forever! -I definitely need to work on more crockpot meals! I have so many pinned on Pinterest. I just need a kick in the butt to do it. -We don't go out to movies either really. We've seen like, 4 movies in the last ~2 years and those have been the Hobbit movies and Star Trek movies. H wants to go to movies all the time but I'm not a movie person. I really think it's our restaurant spending that gets us. Of course now that I'm not drinking, it's slightly cheaper, haha.
-I do try to buy things at least on Cartwheel. I love looking at the stuff on the Weekly Ad list so it's double savings! I need to get my iPod up and running again to use the coupons. We do try to use coupons when we go to the actual grocery store but sometimes there aren't any for the things we need. I should pay more attention to when meat is on sale and buy extra. We just have the freezer on the fridge but there isn't that much in there most of the time. -We need to try Aldi again. I haven't been there in forever! -I definitely need to work on more crockpot meals! I have so many pinned on Pinterest. I just need a kick in the butt to do it. -We don't go out to movies either really. We've seen like, 4 movies in the last ~2 years and those have been the Hobbit movies and Star Trek movies. H wants to go to movies all the time but I'm not a movie person. I really think it's our restaurant spending that gets us. Of course now that I'm not drinking, it's slightly cheaper, haha.
Sounds like you have a great attitude about making changes!
For the most part DH is the spender and I am the saver. I tend to run things like we never have money, which isn't the best way to do it but it is basically my default setting. I just wanted to share a few tips I try to do.
estrellita - I've been wanting to post our budget here to get opinions, since we've been working so hard on it. I'm really proud of how well we've done this month, and we're hoping that we've finally found a budget that we can stick with. It helps that we have a solid goal that we're working toward, rather than wanting money in the bank just because it's smart. Haha.
Would anyone be interested in a "Share Your Budget/Give Each Other Tips" thread for ongoing discussions and check-ins about how things are going and MM types of things? (I don't want to go to MM with my budget either!)
estrellita you're not going in the hole each month so you are better off than most people! It's tough balancing so many wants/needs at once.
1) Housing - what's not working with the layout of your current place? Is it totally not doable? I understand wanting to buy a house, but it's not everything. Homeownership is kinda sucky at times and can be a huge drain on finances. Sometimes a good rental situation can beat homeownership, at least in the short term.
2) 401k - does your company offer a matching contribution?
3) Are the student loan balances high? Could you focus on paying one of those off? This has two benefits - sense of accomplishment and increased cash flow.
4) Ok, I'm going to say it Your phone/Internet/cable bills are 10% of your take home pay. Anything you could do to bring those down would be a huge win! And if you cut cable and put that toward savings, you would increase your monthly savings by 50%!
5) I like jjwritergirl's strategy of automatically taking savings out of your paycheck. When we were a one income household, I think I had $150 per month ($75/paycheck) taken out and put directly in an ING account. I never missed that money. Out of sight, out of mind.
6) Groceries is a tough one. I guess I would focus on not eating out and compensating as much as needed with your grocery trips. Less eating out, but more prepared foods from the store, if that makes sense. Maybe help you get in the habit of grocery meals and then build from there. But I get it, you're tired and feeling crappy so just do what you need to right now to get by here!
I guess I would pick one goal and one goal only. For example, say your current savings is at $3,000...make your 1st goal to get to $4,500. And focus only on that. Watch it every day and throw $5 here, $10 there, plus your regular $200/month. Set a small goal, then another, then another.
Stay motivated! Read personal finance blogs. Check out personal finance blogs from the library. Listen to Dave Ramsey's radio show - I always found him to be super motivating when we were in debt payoff/saving mode.
And try to relax I am also freaking out about all of the money going out of our household recently. I just have to trust that if I continue to budget and watch our spending that it will work out okay.
1. This is our floor plan. Currently, we have the litter boxes in the bedroom on the left side's closet (where the laundry is). Best place for them, until you consider this will be the baby's room. I would love to move them to the bathroom, but that would require letting the cats into the kid's bedroom all the time which isn't ideal. There's really no other good place that is out of the way.
2. Yes. If I contribute 6%, they contribute 7.5% I think it what it works out to be. They do 3% regardless of whether or not I contribute, so it's not just sitting there, which is nice.
3. I owe about $20k total. I've been on income based previously (before we got married and I got a good raise) and deferment before that, so I haven't paid a ton down on them yet. I think H owes around $15k. We both have 3 loans if I remember right (probably sounds dumb, lol. They are all at the same companies so they get lumped in together when I think about them) and I think the highest interest rate ones still had high balances. I know I've paid off smaller ones in the past. I will look at those balances though. I thought about bumping my payment up a little on the lowest amount/highest rate one or making some extra payments when we can.
4. That is a good point. We have discussed getting rid of cable and getting Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime, but I'm nervous because I wanted to make sure my favorite shows will be on there and up to date (at least somewhat, I know sometimes you have to wait a week). Hulu Plus didn't seem worth it when I was looking into it previously.
5. Answered that above, probably while you were replying
6. This is definitely our hardest thing. I like the idea of only doing stuff from the store, even if it is Easy Mac, at least it's cheaper than picking up a pizza or Chinese on the way home!
I like the idea of focusing mostly on a certain goal. We were doing that previously with some debt we had. We focused strongly on H's credit cards, then a vet bill we had (it was interest free as long as we paid it off in time, which we paid off way early), then a "personal loan" H had at his old bank. Now I'm trying to decide if we should try to get the new car paid off faster, student loans paid off faster, or just keep making the usual payments and worry more about savings (and with a kid on the way, I'm leaning towards this). Any thoughts on that? For reference, we owe about $12k on the car at 2.99% (just bought it), student loans are mentioned above, I know my highest rate ones have 6.8% and the other is lower, not sure about H's.
bk1 - Our household is the same way. I am a saver, and H is a spender. He never overspends, but he honestly didn't understand the point of a savings account when we met. Now he understands and he's willing to stick to a budget for the sake of saving, but I have to be the one to sit down and say, "This is how things are going to go."
-I do try to buy things at least on Cartwheel. I love looking at the stuff on the Weekly Ad list so it's double savings! I need to get my iPod up and running again to use the coupons. We do try to use coupons when we go to the actual grocery store but sometimes there aren't any for the things we need. I should pay more attention to when meat is on sale and buy extra. We just have the freezer on the fridge but there isn't that much in there most of the time. -We need to try Aldi again. I haven't been there in forever! -I definitely need to work on more crockpot meals! I have so many pinned on Pinterest. I just need a kick in the butt to do it. -We don't go out to movies either really. We've seen like, 4 movies in the last ~2 years and those have been the Hobbit movies and Star Trek movies. H wants to go to movies all the time but I'm not a movie person. I really think it's our restaurant spending that gets us. Of course now that I'm not drinking, it's slightly cheaper, haha.
Sounds like you have a great attitude about making changes!
For the most part DH is the spender and I am the saver. I tend to run things like we never have money, which isn't the best way to do it but it is basically my default setting. I just wanted to share a few tips I try to do.
Haha, this is totally us too. H likes to go to the store daily if he could. I think he just wants to get out and do something. Usually it's stuff we need, but sometimes it's not. He also likes to buy random things and I have to keep telling him no, lol. But then again I'll totally spend money when it comes to going to a Twins game or a trip or something. I think the difference is that I'd rather spend money on experiences rather than stuff!
ETA: He also has a totally different view on credit cards. He's content racking up interest and only making minimum payments. I'm more about paying it off ASAP. One time he had like, $200 left to pay off on a card. I asked him why he didn't just pay it off. We had the money in the savings and it would cost more in the long run. He never thought of it that way!
katespade I think that would be a good idea! Would be nice to have you ladies to keep me in check
Post by HoneySpider on Jul 23, 2014 22:10:32 GMT -5
estrellita If you want to get better about bringing your lunch, go for something easy like a peanut butter sandwich. Do you have a desk at work where you can keep a few non-perishables? You don't have to think as much about what to bring and you're also not as tempted to go out a pick something up.
I think meal planning and writing it down somewhere visible is really helpful. And don't be afraid to build in easy meals like breakfast for dinner (yum) Cheap AND easy!
estrellita My parents have this for the litter box, and they keep it in the corner of the living room. The entrance for the cats is facing the corner of the room so guests have no idea that it is anything more than a plant.
estrellita - Okay! I'll set one up. From the couple of discussions we've had here about budgeting, it seems like a lot of us are at similar places and it would be great to have support and people to bounce ideas and frustrations off of!
bk1 - Our household is the same way. I am a saver, and H is a spender. He never overspends, but he honestly didn't understand the point of a savings account when we met. Now he understands and he's willing to stick to a budget for the sake of saving, but I have to be the one to sit down and say, "This is how things are going to go."
When I started helping DH with his finances (before we were even engaged) he had a mortgage, truck payment, student loans, and 12 credit cards. Yeah.....
estrellita Could you swap bedrooms? Probably not ideal, maybe not even doable. But then you could either leave the boxes as is or jam them in bath attached to baby's room so cats would have access from dining room. One advantage to this plan is you would still have laundry access while baby is sleeping.
If there is a smaller student loan balance that you could knock out quickly, that might free up a little extra cash each month. Otherwise, I would prioritize saving right now. Just building up as much cash as possible in preparation for baby.
estrellita- I was going to say the same thing as ewall. Can you move the rooms around? I don't think is like the laundry in the babies room either. (Unless baby sleeps through laundry.)