What is a bare bones budget to you?

[sadlebred]

What is a bare bones budget to you? Think you/spouse/both lose your job. You really have to cut back to basic expenses. What does that look like to you? Not money necessarily, but what expenses will you allow yourself/necessary.

Auto Insurance & Other Insurance
Cell Phone
Utilities
Mortgage
Internet
Water/Trash (combined in my city)
Lawn Care (would go down to every other week-I don't own a lawn mower & there aren't any neighborhood teenagers that mow. Would keep me from getting reported to code enforcement. Could get rid of this if I had to in cooler months.)
Car Gasoline
Groceries
Termite bond--baiting/pest control (I've seen termites at the house before, so this stays.)

Gone: Everything else including streaming services, online newspaper subscriptions, shopping, clothes shopping, etc.

[agnes]

Barebones to me means this:

Mortgage
Utilities (water/gas/electricity — HOA pays trash)
Cell phones
Internet
Food
Car gas
Car insurance
Car registration
Pets (food, vet, medication)

ETA: I'd basically be cutting all discretionary spending - no shopping, no splurging, no travel, no fun. and we don't have to worry about kids. 

[chpmnk1015]

Everything sadlebred had for the most part minus lawn care because we do that ourselves
Would also for us stop our housecleaner..
But we do have kids sports and scouts that are vital for my kids at this moment

[SusanBAnthony]

-House payment
-1 car payment
-House utilities (would cut back ie hang dry all laundry and run AC less)
-Food (but significantly more cooking from scratch and cheaper options
-Home and car and health insurance
-Stuff the kids "need"- this is a fine line, they are growing so still need some things
-Dog food and basic vet care and preventative meds
-Internet and probably 1 streaming service
-cell phones


I am probably missing a few things.

Also we would likely keep a kid activity each or something like that, as we have enough savings that I'd be willing to spend it on that. Or they could get jobs if we didn't have the savings.

[melmel4854]

Mortgage and condo fee
Car payment, insurance and gas
Pet insurance because I have a wild beast for a kitten
cell phone-although I am on my mom's plan and I venmo her monthly.. I may be able to ask her to pay this if absolutely necessary
Food
Internet
Cat food and litter
medication
electricity and heat

I am probably missing things, but those are the ones that come to mind

[krystee]

We would also have two car loans, student loan, small cc payment because part of our bathroom remodel overage went on a 0% CC, medical copays/prescriptions, and I’d set aside a small amount for gifts so the kids wouldn’t be too impacted. I would still want them to have them on their birthdays and Christmas, and would want them to be able to go to close friends’ and cousins’ parties. Things like necessary car maintenance if new brakes are needed, etc.

[kadams767]

Utilities (natural gas, electric, water, garbage, internet).

Car expenses would depend on how long the situation went on - we have two cars, but they are both paid off, so we probably would just try to use them less to save in gas. If things got dire, we’d sell one both for the cash influx and to save approx. $125/month on gas and insurance.

Ironically, we’d have to increase the cell phone expense, because we both have phones paid for by work right now.

Homeowners insurance and property taxes.
Groceries.
Health insurance/COBRA, medications
Pet expenses - food, vet visits for our dog.

[plutosmoon]

Rent
Car payment
Utilities (gas/electric/cell/Internet)
Groceries
Toiletries
Basic household supplies
Car insurance
Renters insurance
Car gas

It's probably not all that different than my regular budget since I run a tight budget currently.

Last time I did bare bones I went without medical insurance it was just too expensive. I'm in MA now and have better options, so maybe health insurance.

Dance for DD is the tricky one, she's on her studios competition team and now in their pre professional program. If I pull her she can't rejoin team for a year or more, I'd probably cut her to the minimum class load and keep dance. I'd hate for her to lose that if I could pull the cost from savings.

[mainelyfoolish]

In the unlikely event we were both unemployed, I could cut out savings, my kids’ allowances, charitable giving, and our DirecTV streaming service. We would adjust our home temperature to be less comfortable to save on electricity, and I would cut out convenience foods and restaurants/take-out. When memberships like Amazon Prime and Sam’s Club are up for renewal, I would cancel them. I would buy the bare minimum for school supplies and clothes for my kids. I would trade down to less preferred, cheaper brands of food and supplies. I would not buy gifts. Unfortunately, a lot of the money I save doing those things would probably go to buying health insurance.

I would still need to pay for our mortgage, electricity, trash, cell phones (we have a minimal plan already), pest control, car/umbrella/life insurance, car gas/maintenance/registration, medical & prescription co-pays/co-insurance & orthodontia payments, household items (laundry detergent, toilet paper, etc.), cat food & litter, and food. I would also try to keep my internet service.

[heygrey]

Mortgage
Strata
Gas/electric
Car insurance
Car gas
Food
Internet
Cell phones
Misc. necessities

I wouldn’t cut our streaming services unless it was absolutely dire. They are less than $40/month and are things we use a lot.

[agnes]

I wouldn’t have to cut streaming because I use other peoples’ log ins or get free through like my cell phone

[gt7301b]

Auto Insurance & Other Insurance
Cell Phone
Utilities
Mortgage
Internet

Water

Trash

Car Gasoline

Car Payment

Groceries

After school care

Home cleaning

One streaming service

We would cut the discretionary spending, streaming services, newspapers/online papers, eating out, and travel.  At least initially we would try and keep our child in his activities but probably wouldn't sign up for new ones when the time came.  I would keep our cleaning person because she has been with us a long time and I imagine she would feel the cuts just as badly, if not more than us. 

[wildrice]

I think we would cut back on streaming, but not cut it entirely - if we were both unemployed, we'd need something to do! But perhaps we'd cut YouTube TV and just stick with some of the less expensive streaming services.

I think we'd basically cut out eating out, entertainment outside of the house, charitable giving, cleaners, monthly massages for both of us, and probably cut back on student loan repayment (I would want to at least cover interest though, unless things were extremely dire). We don't use much gas as it is but I guess we'd be using even less, and we only have 1 car so we wouldn't get rid of that. Also really thinking twice about any shopping we do - most of our shopping is "needs" anyway, but some things we could probably put off or live without if we really had to.

We obviously couldn't cut mortgage, utilities, car insurance, I wouldn't cut pet insurance ($14 a month), food we could be mindful of but would still need to eat, and I guess that's about all of our bills?

[Velar Fricative]

Mortgage, taxes, home insurance
Electric and gas
Water
Cell phones
Car insurance
Gas for the cars (but drive less)
Minimum debt payments (unless we can do forebearance)
Groceries (but shop more at Lidl and stick to sales)
Cable and internet (for relatively cheap entertainment)
YMCA family membership plus Peloton (we get so much bang for our buck as a family from both, it's great for our health, and the Y would offer outside-the-house recreation for the kids)
Necessary clothing and household items (check marketplace, look for sales, etc.)

We would aim to preserve as many of the kids' activities as possible too, if we can. But if we can't, then we can't.

[jinkies]

Thanks for asking this! I was wondering what people considered bare bones when I was reading the other thread.

Our house and cars are paid off. So for us, bare bones would be:

1. Property taxes
2. Car and home insurance
3. Phone/internet/tv
4. Electric/Gas
5. Trash removal
6. Sewer
7. Gas and maintenance (inspection, oil change, etc) for the cars
8. Groceries but there is a LOT of room for us to cut back from what we spend currently. (Shopping at less expensive stores, maximizing sales and bulk buying, making less expensive meals)
9. Pet food and care
10. Clothes/shoes for growing kids. Would have to make the most of thrift stores, sales and hand me downs, but there would still be expenses, especially for my younger one (older one is both closer to fully grown, and cares much less about his appearance)

My kids' activities are generally not very expensive-- Scouts, Civil Air Patrol, and mountain biking. Or at least, the expensive parts (uniforms and buying a nice bike) are already done. So I think they would be able to keep those activities, maybe just scaling back on which "extras" they participate in.

In the event that my H were to lose his job, we would be in serious trouble because we currently pay something crazy low like $100/month for health insurance and would have to add buying insurance and paying copays back into our budget. 

[sadlebred]

jinkies I was wondering what "basic" means to a lot of people. As a single income earner in a single household, I think my "bare bones" is probably barer than many. Certainly some things like mortgage & taxes/rent (if you don't own your house outright) utilities, trash, water, car expenses, food are non-negotiable.

[mommin]

Dh was laid off last week and I am a SAHM so this is our reality. Luckily, we will be getting a severance for the next couple of months. Anyway, here is where we’re at-
We have four kids so some things other wouldn’t include.
Mortgage
Sewer/trash/city landscaping fee
Utilities
Cell phones/internet
Car insurance
Gas (less now that DH is home)
Yard maintenance (we pay DD1 to do this as her “job”)
Clothes (very small amount only for kids needs)
Food (trying for $150/wk until we get SNAP benefits)
Household misc. (hoping for $200/mo)
Small Christmas saving
Haircuts (spacing mine out during unemployment)
College textbooks for DS1
Home warranty (called today to reduce this)

What I’ve cut so far-
Eating out
Home decorations and projects
$600 off food budget (I’m shopping my freezer)
Adult clothes
Monthly house cleaning
Car wash membership
Donations
And probably some other stuff
Vacation savings

[flygirl]

My efund is based off of:

Mortgage/taxes/insurance
Gas/electric/water/trash
Food
Internet/cell phones
Vehicle insurance/gas
Pet food
Some fun money (haircuts, etc)
Household account (annually billed things - though a lot would be cut, copays)

[sadlebred]

mommin I'm really sorry to hear about your DH. I hope he can find something soon!

I agree with the parents of growing kids-you can't stop buying your kids more clothes when the outgrow the old ones. Would you be open to receiving a friend's/relative's hand-me-downs or shopping thrift/consignment? or buying at Walmart or somewhere cheaper?

We didn't live near many relatives, but when we went to visit mom's family we always seemed to get stuff (my cousins are a lot older than me & my sibling). Sometimes we'd wear it, sometimes not. If not, it got donated. My mom didn't shop thrift, but half my Xmas presents as a kid came from local garage sales. Mom was a pro at yard sale shopping.

[brooke77]

We have about 6 months in savings. We would use that without making any cuts. If we were looking at 6+ months without employment for either of us, our bare bones would be:

-mortgage
-utilities
-food
-gas
-health and car insurance
-internet/streaming service
-cell

[jewel]

If we had no income, I would cut almost all extra, unnecessary spending. I’d keep:

Mortgage
All insurance
Utilities
Cell phones
Internet (but cut streaming - we do get Disney, Hulu and espn free with Verizon phones)
Be very frugal with food

Assuming the job loss is expected to be temporary, I wouldn’t be worried about clothing, gifts, etc. I have a kids’ gift stash I can use. I cut my kids and h’s hair and would just stop getting mine done. We have plenty of clothing in current sizes and several sizes up. We probably would be driving very little so there shouldn’t be much gas use or car expenses. I would put a hold on paid kid activities.

If we had no jobs, my main concern would be what to do about health insurance. I think we could hold off on Cobra and then activate retroactively if something major happened. My H has a pretty easily employable profession, but if something strange happened and he couldn’t work, I could go back to work in my previous profession, to bring in some money and health insurance. At the very least, one of us would likely work at Starbucks or somewhere that provides insurance, if possible.

[quesyrah]

Mortgage
Utilities (electric, gas, water/trash)
Internet
Cell phone
Groceries
Gas for the cars
Auto insurance
Homeowners insurance


I feel like the pandemic really traumatized us. My husband was furloughed for over a year (I’m a SAHM and homeschool our kids full time) and there was about 4 months that our state froze unemployment payments.
During that time our hot water heater started leaking and had to be replaced and our minivan bit the dust. We spent $3,500 at the mechanic just for another problem to pop up that was going to cost $6,000 to fix.

We learned what it’s really like to have no income and have to totally rely on your savings. The good part is that so much was closed so we didn’t feel like we were missing out on things like eating out, etc. but having to go through so much of our savings and not knowing when he would go back to work was stressful.

We have a healthy efund again (probably too much cash savings) but it helps me sleep at night.

[bee20]

I have looked at this and my bare bones is only about a 12% reduction. I'd be cutting my entire travel/entertainment budget and clothing, and then about a 25% reduction in food and gas. My only subscription is a local gym membership and I think I'd like to keep that for my mental health, but they likely have a low-income option because it is a city service.

[sadlebred]

Jul 5, 2023 22:48:06 GMT -5 bee20 said:

I have looked at this and my bare bones is only about a 12% reduction. I'd be cutting my entire travel/entertainment budget and clothing, and then about a 25% reduction in food and gas. My only subscription is a local gym membership and I think I'd like to keep that for my mental health, but they likely have a low-income option because it is a city service.

Anyone else want to say what their percentage is? Mine is 45%, but this includes stopping anything into savings.

[bee20]

sadlebred , I budget based on spending, and don't include savings in my budget

[aspentosh]

We had to do this when H lost his job in 2020 (sole income for our 3 person household). We had an 8 month e-fund buffer in cash, but it was December of 2020 and we had no idea how long it would take to find a new job with how slowly things were moving.

We cut back to:
minimum on the mortgage
utilities (electric, water, internet, cell phone)
no eating out
529 payment (we have a predetermined monthly payment plan)
insurances

We cut out:
tv streaming
clothes/gifts shopping (thankfully I'd already bought most of our gifts for Christmas and DD's birthday in January)
eating out
travel, investment, Roth IRA, etc savings
donations
paid outings

[quesyrah]

Jul 6, 2023 20:06:18 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

Jul 5, 2023 22:48:06 GMT -5 bee20 said:

I have looked at this and my bare bones is only about a 12% reduction. I'd be cutting my entire travel/entertainment budget and clothing, and then about a 25% reduction in food and gas. My only subscription is a local gym membership and I think I'd like to keep that for my mental health, but they likely have a low-income option because it is a city service.

Anyone else want to say what their percentage is? Mine is 45%, but this includes stopping anything into savings.

55% for us.

It would include stopping contributions to all sinking funds, eating out and entertainment spending.

[sadlebred]

One other thought, "bare bones" depends on how much you have in your e-fund, if you get a severance, unemployment, etc. In Georgia (USA), the maximum unemployment is $1600/month. That doesn't cover the mortgage and food. It's really sad.

[sent]

The one time my husband was laid off, he was too lazy to file for unemployment because he works in a different state than where we live so it wasn't as straightforward. Definitely wouldn't let that happen again!

I think we would have to cut weekend takeout, vacation plans and various upgrade projects we have tentatively planned like the fence. Looking for a new job was basically full time for him, so it's not like he'd have all this extra time to mow the lawn or clean the house. He wouldn't ever participate in those tasks anyways. So although those are extra services, I wouldn't cut them immediately and the cleaners would be cut before the lawn. I'd cut back on eating out breakfast and lunch. One perk of being self-employed is that I can't get fired LOL. But I would have to take over the mortgage + two more years of car payments until he got a new job so I'd dip into savings if it came down it.