Budget - review me please!

[Deleted]

Jan 1, 2013 14:15:44 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Have you looked into refinancing your mortgage?

This was my thought too. You could definitely lower your rate by at least 1%.

[trident0]

You pay $400/mo for a dogwalker in a MCOL area? Can you install a doggie door in your house and cut that back to a few visits a week?

You may want to look into refinancing your mortgage, that payment looks high for your balance based on current rates.

Your budget is tighter than I would like, but if you always get overtime that could make it a little better. My concern would be if you have some kind of emergency (house or otherwise) there isn't a ton of cashflow to rebuild your savings.

[limey]

You mentioned that your mom would be willing to babysit any future kids and that you used to foster for an animal shelter. Could you use either of those as cheaper alternatives to the current dog walker?

[RandZB]

I think you should also price out daycare costs for your area in case you need to work them into your budget. There are any number of reasons that your plan of your mom watching your child could fall through, and my child care costs are more than my mortgage by a good bit so it is the biggest factor in our budget.

[holly116]

I think your food budget sounds low - $100 for eating out and bars in MCOL/HCOL area? I'd blow through that in under two outings, easy.

Also, how do you spend so little on groceries if you aren't eating out? Are toiletries/paper towels/cleaning supplies etc included here too?

Definitely look into refinancing.

[ijack]

I'd look into refinancing as well.

[holly116]

Jan 1, 2013 15:28:38 GMT -5 @simpledog said:

Jan 1, 2013 15:19:41 GMT -5 holly116 said:

I think your food budget sounds low - $100 for eating out and bars in MCOL/HCOL area? I'd blow through that in under two outings, easy.

Also, how do you spend so little on groceries if you aren't eating out? Are toiletries/paper towels/cleaning supplies etc included here too?

Definitely look into refinancing.

The food stuff is definitely right; it was our goal for 2012. We eat 100% vegetarian at home so that helps a lot. I meal plan, buy dried beans, frozen veggies on sale, etc, and we always bring our lunches. It includes house supplies, but we clean with white vinegar, use rags instead of paper towels, etc, so those costs are really low. We have to be super vigilant about the eating out/alcohol line though, because like you said it's easy to blow through that in one night. Luckily we like to cook, so we only go out to eat about once a month. Most of our fun money usually goes to wine though !

Refinancing is now officially #1 on my to do list. Thanks!

Awesome! I'm envious

[vanillacourage]

I wouldn't TTC unless you can afford child care if something falls through with your plan for free care from your Mom/MIL. I'd also get that loan repaid to your parents before your mom also watches your kid for free, KWIM?

Your pet expenses are killer. I would look for ways to cut them back. Overall I think you're doing well though.

[MrsDarcy]

Just curious, is it worth OP to refinance if she'll only be ther another 3-5 years? I guess so if she pays closing costs out of pocket?

[holly116]

Jan 1, 2013 18:39:42 GMT -5 @simpledog said:

Jan 1, 2013 18:36:50 GMT -5 MrsDarcy said:

Just curious, is it worth OP to refinance if she'll only be ther another 3-5 years? I guess so if she pays closing costs out of pocket?

This is why I originally decided against it, but admittedly I got overwhelmed and only did a cursory review of the whole process.

We paid $250 flat to refinance last year through a small, local bank. It paid for itself in less than a month. Look beyond just the large banks, ask friends/family/coworkers for recommendations.