Here are the numbers of my family's total starting debt. Tomorrow is the day we will start our debt reduction, it is our 7th wedding anniversary. We hope to be out of debt by our 10th anniversary.
Here are the starting numbers:
Husband's Auto Loan: $792.32
Credit Card #1 $10,545.57
Credit Card #2 $9,787.15
Student Loan $8942.22
Total Debt (9/23/07) $30,067.26
Please check back to follow up on my debt reduction process.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
An Update
Sorry I haven't posted here in a while. I've decided that posting my daily spending is too tedious a task. Instead, I will probably post about my spending once a week or monthly.
We have a calendar on our kitchen counter where we write every purchase. That is working well for us, along with the budget spreadsheet on the computer.
I am proud to say that my family went 5 weeks without using a credit card! We would have went longer if not for an unexpected expense with my husband's computer (which he uses for both work and his own business). Of course, we'll start all over again and see how long we can go without using a credit card.
The problem is, right now we have no savings...I'm trying to fill that up (baby step #1).
We have been staying under budget so far this month. However, there are 8 days left in September, and we have $8.37 left in our budget :( The big reason for this is a pre-planned plane trip that my husband and daughter are taking. After that, there will be no more trips until the summer.
However, we have enough groceries to last the rest of the month, so I don't think we're going to go too far over budget this month. That will hopefully leave more money available to start building up our savings.
On September 30th- I will post more about how we stayed under budget or went over budget in some categories.
We have a calendar on our kitchen counter where we write every purchase. That is working well for us, along with the budget spreadsheet on the computer.
I am proud to say that my family went 5 weeks without using a credit card! We would have went longer if not for an unexpected expense with my husband's computer (which he uses for both work and his own business). Of course, we'll start all over again and see how long we can go without using a credit card.
The problem is, right now we have no savings...I'm trying to fill that up (baby step #1).
We have been staying under budget so far this month. However, there are 8 days left in September, and we have $8.37 left in our budget :( The big reason for this is a pre-planned plane trip that my husband and daughter are taking. After that, there will be no more trips until the summer.
However, we have enough groceries to last the rest of the month, so I don't think we're going to go too far over budget this month. That will hopefully leave more money available to start building up our savings.
On September 30th- I will post more about how we stayed under budget or went over budget in some categories.
Friday, September 7, 2007
The Current Budget $1200
The Current Budget. This is my family's current budget...the total amount we have left to spend on things after all other expenses have been paid is $1200. As I mentioned before, I do need to tweak this a little bit- probably making a more realistic budget of $1500 a month. This will happen within the next couple of months, after we refill our savings account.
Groceries/Household Items $600
Gas $290
Dinner Out $100
Clothing $80
Doctor Visits/Prescriptions $40
Car Repairs/Maintenance $20
Babysitter $20
Movies/videos/games $20
Gifts $20
Hobbies $10
Misc. $0
To look at these items line by line:
Groceries/Household Items- $600 for 3 people for the month. This is pretty much on target, we sometimes go over when we have expensive toiletries to buy, or if we host a dinner or cookout...but, $150 a week is where we stand. I search for sales in the weekly ads, and write a menu and a list, and pretty much stick to the list. (I'm planning to keep my budget at $600.)
Gas- $290 a month. Depending on the cost of gas, this can be over or under budget. My husband commutes 50 miles a day round trip to work and I commute 25 miles a day round trip to work. I try to combine other outings on the weekend, but if we do go on a day trip anywhere, it obviously costs more money for gas that month. (I may bring this category up to $300/mo)
Dinner Out- $100 a month. This is definitely where we go overbudget- $100 a month will give our family 4 cheap meals out, 3 good meals out, or 6 trips to fast food places. We usually mix it up throughout the month- but I think I need to raise our budget. Last month, we spent $297- but we were on vacation one week. My husband and daughter go out to breakfast once a week (spending $10-15 a week), and then there are times when we don't feel like cooking. We're trying to limit our eating out to the weekends only...but it is hard. When we have friends that want to go out to lunch or dinner with us, it really brings us overbudget...and we don't want to kill the little social life that we have. (I plan to raise this category to $150/mo.)
Clothing- $80 a month. That is basically one or two new articles of clothing per month per person...and if we need shoes...uh-oh! If we limit our trips to the mall and don't buy much online, we should be able to stay within the $100 limit. My daughter's clothes all come from Target or Old Navy...and sometimes they have great sales. Old Navy is a favorite of me and my husband as well. (I plan to raise this category to $100/mo).
I however do enjoy more expensive clothing such as American Eagle, NY and Co, and The Gap...it is good quality and stylish...but it costs more. I will admit that I have a lingerie addiction, and there have been months where I've spent hundreds on lingerie alone...I am working hard to control that addiction and avoiding Victoria's Secret and other stores and websites where I used to throw my money. We recently found an outlet mall that has The Gap and Banana Republic outlets, so if we go there a couple of times a year, maybe I can find nice clothing at a more reasonable price.
-Note: I have tried Target clothing for myself, but it only seems to last a few washes before things start falling apart. My daughter does better with the Target clothes, since she grows out of it in one season. As for cheap, nice looking clothes that last about a year- Old Navy wins my vote.
Doctor Visits/Prescriptions $40 a month. Sometimes we're on target, sometimes we're over or under...this is a tough one. I have $20 co-pays, so this leaves room for 2 doctor visits or 1 doctor visit and 1 or 2 prescriptions a month. There are deductibles and other things, so sometimes I get bills to pay more than my co-payment...it depends on what time of year it is. My insurance year re-starts in July, so we seem to spend more on this during the summer months. (I plan to keep this category at $40 a month for the time being).
Car repairs/Maintenance $20 a month. With oil changes, car washes, and any other general repair on our 8 year old and 12 year old cars...we need all the money we can in this category. Last month, I think we went $2500 overbudget on this category and had to resort to credit cards. (I plan to raise this category to $40 a month, and hopefully have enough savings in place to handle major repairs).
Babysitter $20 a month. Sometimes we spend nothing on sitters, but if we want to go out alone for more than 3 hours a month, I'll need to raise this category. We have family members that babysit for free...but we don't want to ask too much or take advantage of their kindness. A babysitter charges anywhere from $7 to $12 an hour to watch our child...and we usually go out after she's asleep. It is hard to pay someone that much just to sit in your house and watch a movie. But, she is watching the most important person in our lives, so it is worth it. We're going to avoid getting a sitter for a couple of months and see how things go...that will save in this category. (I plan to keep this category at $20 a month for the time being).
FYI for non-parents- a typical night out for us- let's say 6 hours: $50 for the sitter, $30 for the dinner, $20 for the movie....that's $100 out the door in one evening (and that's for a simple outing!)... we're going to try to watch DVDs at home, and just stay in more for the time being. Going out is fun, but our wallets can't handle it!
Movies/games/videos: $20 a month. We've been staying under budget with this. My husband has stopped buying new computer games and he gets used X-box games occasionally for a low price. If we don't go out to see a movie in a month, we can stay under budget. We can rent 4 movies at Blockbuster for this price...that works out well for us. (and no, we don't use NetFlix or Blockbuster online...sometimes there's only 1 movie a month that we want to rent, so it doesn't make sense for us to pay for a service like that). ( I plan to keep this category at $20 a month).
Gifts: $20 a month. This works if only 1 person has a birthday each month. When you factor in a card, wrapping paper, and a small gift- it is a minimum of $20 per person per occassion. And this isn't factoring in the holiday season, which is coming soon! (I plan to raise this category to $60 a month...not sure what to do about the holidays yet).
Hobbies: $10 a month. We've actually been under budget lately- that's because my husband has stopped his more costly hobbies a while ago. This $10 will buy us 1 book a month, that's about it. For now, we're sticking with inexpensive hobbies (if you don't include the monthly class fees...which are factored into our monthly expenses). Our current hobbies are: Dancing and cheerleading for my daughter, dancing and writing for me, and volleyball and reading for my husband. (I'm going to keep this at $10 a month for now)
Miscellaneous expenses: $0 a month. Things always come up...we have a house and yard to care for and maintain...and sometimes we end up buying other things that don't fall into the above categories. (I plan to put $200 a month into this category)
There's our $1200 budget- which we've been trying to live on for the past 2 years...most months are unsuccessful. I plan to tweak those numbers and give us a $1500 a month budget, while using all remaining funds to pay back debt. This will continue to be difficult. We do want to have money to enjoy life- but to do that we need to get out of debt!
Groceries/Household Items $600
Gas $290
Dinner Out $100
Clothing $80
Doctor Visits/Prescriptions $40
Car Repairs/Maintenance $20
Babysitter $20
Movies/videos/games $20
Gifts $20
Hobbies $10
Misc. $0
To look at these items line by line:
Groceries/Household Items- $600 for 3 people for the month. This is pretty much on target, we sometimes go over when we have expensive toiletries to buy, or if we host a dinner or cookout...but, $150 a week is where we stand. I search for sales in the weekly ads, and write a menu and a list, and pretty much stick to the list. (I'm planning to keep my budget at $600.)
Gas- $290 a month. Depending on the cost of gas, this can be over or under budget. My husband commutes 50 miles a day round trip to work and I commute 25 miles a day round trip to work. I try to combine other outings on the weekend, but if we do go on a day trip anywhere, it obviously costs more money for gas that month. (I may bring this category up to $300/mo)
Dinner Out- $100 a month. This is definitely where we go overbudget- $100 a month will give our family 4 cheap meals out, 3 good meals out, or 6 trips to fast food places. We usually mix it up throughout the month- but I think I need to raise our budget. Last month, we spent $297- but we were on vacation one week. My husband and daughter go out to breakfast once a week (spending $10-15 a week), and then there are times when we don't feel like cooking. We're trying to limit our eating out to the weekends only...but it is hard. When we have friends that want to go out to lunch or dinner with us, it really brings us overbudget...and we don't want to kill the little social life that we have. (I plan to raise this category to $150/mo.)
Clothing- $80 a month. That is basically one or two new articles of clothing per month per person...and if we need shoes...uh-oh! If we limit our trips to the mall and don't buy much online, we should be able to stay within the $100 limit. My daughter's clothes all come from Target or Old Navy...and sometimes they have great sales. Old Navy is a favorite of me and my husband as well. (I plan to raise this category to $100/mo).
I however do enjoy more expensive clothing such as American Eagle, NY and Co, and The Gap...it is good quality and stylish...but it costs more. I will admit that I have a lingerie addiction, and there have been months where I've spent hundreds on lingerie alone...I am working hard to control that addiction and avoiding Victoria's Secret and other stores and websites where I used to throw my money. We recently found an outlet mall that has The Gap and Banana Republic outlets, so if we go there a couple of times a year, maybe I can find nice clothing at a more reasonable price.
-Note: I have tried Target clothing for myself, but it only seems to last a few washes before things start falling apart. My daughter does better with the Target clothes, since she grows out of it in one season. As for cheap, nice looking clothes that last about a year- Old Navy wins my vote.
Doctor Visits/Prescriptions $40 a month. Sometimes we're on target, sometimes we're over or under...this is a tough one. I have $20 co-pays, so this leaves room for 2 doctor visits or 1 doctor visit and 1 or 2 prescriptions a month. There are deductibles and other things, so sometimes I get bills to pay more than my co-payment...it depends on what time of year it is. My insurance year re-starts in July, so we seem to spend more on this during the summer months. (I plan to keep this category at $40 a month for the time being).
Car repairs/Maintenance $20 a month. With oil changes, car washes, and any other general repair on our 8 year old and 12 year old cars...we need all the money we can in this category. Last month, I think we went $2500 overbudget on this category and had to resort to credit cards. (I plan to raise this category to $40 a month, and hopefully have enough savings in place to handle major repairs).
Babysitter $20 a month. Sometimes we spend nothing on sitters, but if we want to go out alone for more than 3 hours a month, I'll need to raise this category. We have family members that babysit for free...but we don't want to ask too much or take advantage of their kindness. A babysitter charges anywhere from $7 to $12 an hour to watch our child...and we usually go out after she's asleep. It is hard to pay someone that much just to sit in your house and watch a movie. But, she is watching the most important person in our lives, so it is worth it. We're going to avoid getting a sitter for a couple of months and see how things go...that will save in this category. (I plan to keep this category at $20 a month for the time being).
FYI for non-parents- a typical night out for us- let's say 6 hours: $50 for the sitter, $30 for the dinner, $20 for the movie....that's $100 out the door in one evening (and that's for a simple outing!)... we're going to try to watch DVDs at home, and just stay in more for the time being. Going out is fun, but our wallets can't handle it!
Movies/games/videos: $20 a month. We've been staying under budget with this. My husband has stopped buying new computer games and he gets used X-box games occasionally for a low price. If we don't go out to see a movie in a month, we can stay under budget. We can rent 4 movies at Blockbuster for this price...that works out well for us. (and no, we don't use NetFlix or Blockbuster online...sometimes there's only 1 movie a month that we want to rent, so it doesn't make sense for us to pay for a service like that). ( I plan to keep this category at $20 a month).
Gifts: $20 a month. This works if only 1 person has a birthday each month. When you factor in a card, wrapping paper, and a small gift- it is a minimum of $20 per person per occassion. And this isn't factoring in the holiday season, which is coming soon! (I plan to raise this category to $60 a month...not sure what to do about the holidays yet).
Hobbies: $10 a month. We've actually been under budget lately- that's because my husband has stopped his more costly hobbies a while ago. This $10 will buy us 1 book a month, that's about it. For now, we're sticking with inexpensive hobbies (if you don't include the monthly class fees...which are factored into our monthly expenses). Our current hobbies are: Dancing and cheerleading for my daughter, dancing and writing for me, and volleyball and reading for my husband. (I'm going to keep this at $10 a month for now)
Miscellaneous expenses: $0 a month. Things always come up...we have a house and yard to care for and maintain...and sometimes we end up buying other things that don't fall into the above categories. (I plan to put $200 a month into this category)
There's our $1200 budget- which we've been trying to live on for the past 2 years...most months are unsuccessful. I plan to tweak those numbers and give us a $1500 a month budget, while using all remaining funds to pay back debt. This will continue to be difficult. We do want to have money to enjoy life- but to do that we need to get out of debt!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
September 2007 Finances
Well, this month, things are still a little screwed up. You see, we spent about $900 more than we earned in July paying for August. We had vacation, car repairs, medical expenses, ate out too much, etc. So, in calculating September's finances- I factored in a -$900 for August's overbudget category. I'm hoping to be able to eliminate the "overbudget" category soon.
So, we then have about $1000 left for all other expenses during September. I've currently budgeted $1200 a month for other expenses, but that is being VERY frugal. In reality, we may be able to get by with a budget of $1500 a month after all bills and utilities are paid. In any case, we're starting off September 2007 with -200...IF we stay in budget. And I don't know where we can find $200 extra dollars or how we can only spend $1000 this month.
Savings: our savings is $25 right now. I want to put $975 more dollars in that account before we start tackling our debt...which is around $30K, not including the mortgage.
This will be a challenge! My family is trying to go the entire work-week (luckily it is only 4 days this week) without spending ANY money. This is difficult...we've made it 1 day so far! If groceries and gas for the week are already paid for...and we don't eat out...and no unforseen expenses arise, we'll be able to do it.
Then this Saturday will be the day to refill the cars with gas and stock up on groceries for the next 2 weeks. If we find that we can do it this work-week...we'll try it again next week. Maybe with 4 weeks of living like that we WILL spend less and break even, or at least be less in the negative as opposed to this past month.
So, we then have about $1000 left for all other expenses during September. I've currently budgeted $1200 a month for other expenses, but that is being VERY frugal. In reality, we may be able to get by with a budget of $1500 a month after all bills and utilities are paid. In any case, we're starting off September 2007 with -200...IF we stay in budget. And I don't know where we can find $200 extra dollars or how we can only spend $1000 this month.
Savings: our savings is $25 right now. I want to put $975 more dollars in that account before we start tackling our debt...which is around $30K, not including the mortgage.
This will be a challenge! My family is trying to go the entire work-week (luckily it is only 4 days this week) without spending ANY money. This is difficult...we've made it 1 day so far! If groceries and gas for the week are already paid for...and we don't eat out...and no unforseen expenses arise, we'll be able to do it.
Then this Saturday will be the day to refill the cars with gas and stock up on groceries for the next 2 weeks. If we find that we can do it this work-week...we'll try it again next week. Maybe with 4 weeks of living like that we WILL spend less and break even, or at least be less in the negative as opposed to this past month.
How I Pay Bills
This is the habit that I've gotten into for paying monthly bills. First of all, I use the PREVIOUS month's pay to pay for the following month. I didn't always do this, and there have been issues in the past when a paycheck was coming later than expected and we had 19 cents in our checking account. With this, at least I don't miss a payment or go into negative numbers in the checking account.
For example: I got paid on August 31st, my husband got paid on August 10th & 24th. I add up the total of those three paychecks, and that is how much money we have to live on during the month of September.
On September 1st, I pay ALL of my bills that are due in September. (some haven't arrived yet, but I estimate the cost, and pay them as soon as the bill arrives.) About a 2 years ago, I asked for e-statements for all of my bills. I flag all the e-statements in my inbox, and pay them on the 1st. I only write checks for daycare and dance lessons, since they currently don't have online payments available.
I have a spreadsheet file that has really helped me out. I will post a sample soon. In it, I keep track of all due dates, the amounts or expected amounts due, and subtract those from the total of the previous month's paychecks.
The leftover money is what we have to live on for the month...our budgeted expenses. Any amount over our budget goes directly to savings or debt repayment. It used to go to debt repayment, but some issues last year depleted our savings...so right now, it is going to refill savings.
For example: I got paid on August 31st, my husband got paid on August 10th & 24th. I add up the total of those three paychecks, and that is how much money we have to live on during the month of September.
On September 1st, I pay ALL of my bills that are due in September. (some haven't arrived yet, but I estimate the cost, and pay them as soon as the bill arrives.) About a 2 years ago, I asked for e-statements for all of my bills. I flag all the e-statements in my inbox, and pay them on the 1st. I only write checks for daycare and dance lessons, since they currently don't have online payments available.
I have a spreadsheet file that has really helped me out. I will post a sample soon. In it, I keep track of all due dates, the amounts or expected amounts due, and subtract those from the total of the previous month's paychecks.
The leftover money is what we have to live on for the month...our budgeted expenses. Any amount over our budget goes directly to savings or debt repayment. It used to go to debt repayment, but some issues last year depleted our savings...so right now, it is going to refill savings.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Labor Day Weekend Spending
Well, the start date for the debt reduction plan was September 1st. I hope to make it through the month without needing to rely on credit cards. So far, we've spent $272.91 over the past 3 days.
Here's how it all adds up:
Groceries $220.49 - That includes other household items such as detergent, trash bags, toiletries, etc. It does add up quickly. That's only for 1 week's worth of groceries for 3 people...next Saturday is the larger bi-monthly shop.
Gas $31.45 - This was just topping off the tanks on my car and my husband's car. We shouldn't need to fill up again until the weekend...(we hope)
Eating Out $20.97 - This included $15.50 at Waffle House for my husband and daughter. We're trying not to eat out much at all- but we make an exception for the Sunday morning father-daughter outing. It is a nice bonding experience for them, and it gives me a couple of hours to sleep in, shower, and relax alone in a quiet house. It is "my time"...and really my only alone time...I'd say all of that is worth $15.50. He also takes her to a park playground afterward- which is free...a great price! :)
The other dining out cost was $5.47 at McDonald's tonight. This was for 2 milkshakes & a sundae. It was very cheap, but I was reluctant to go. Since it was technically "the last day of summer"...we did it...as cheaply as possible. My husband will be working 11 days in a row after tonight, he deserved a treat.
Free things we did this weekend: We took 3 trips to the neighborhood pool. (Of course, we pay HOA fees, but we pay them whether or not we use the pool.) This gave us hours of fun out of the house. We took 1 trip to our neighborhood playground, and my husband and daughter to one trip to a local playground. I also returned some library books, but didn't have time to check out new ones. At home, we did yardwork, organized closets, I worked out to DVDs I own, we watched 2 DVDs that we own, blew bubbles outside & my daughter played with games and toys that she got as birthday gifts.
I will post more about how I pay bills and our monthly budget soon.
Here's how it all adds up:
Groceries $220.49 - That includes other household items such as detergent, trash bags, toiletries, etc. It does add up quickly. That's only for 1 week's worth of groceries for 3 people...next Saturday is the larger bi-monthly shop.
Gas $31.45 - This was just topping off the tanks on my car and my husband's car. We shouldn't need to fill up again until the weekend...(we hope)
Eating Out $20.97 - This included $15.50 at Waffle House for my husband and daughter. We're trying not to eat out much at all- but we make an exception for the Sunday morning father-daughter outing. It is a nice bonding experience for them, and it gives me a couple of hours to sleep in, shower, and relax alone in a quiet house. It is "my time"...and really my only alone time...I'd say all of that is worth $15.50. He also takes her to a park playground afterward- which is free...a great price! :)
The other dining out cost was $5.47 at McDonald's tonight. This was for 2 milkshakes & a sundae. It was very cheap, but I was reluctant to go. Since it was technically "the last day of summer"...we did it...as cheaply as possible. My husband will be working 11 days in a row after tonight, he deserved a treat.
Free things we did this weekend: We took 3 trips to the neighborhood pool. (Of course, we pay HOA fees, but we pay them whether or not we use the pool.) This gave us hours of fun out of the house. We took 1 trip to our neighborhood playground, and my husband and daughter to one trip to a local playground. I also returned some library books, but didn't have time to check out new ones. At home, we did yardwork, organized closets, I worked out to DVDs I own, we watched 2 DVDs that we own, blew bubbles outside & my daughter played with games and toys that she got as birthday gifts.
I will post more about how I pay bills and our monthly budget soon.
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