I just redid our budget, since we just refinanced. After $300/family health insurance premium, 5% retirement savings (matched), and $150/"buy-back" for years in military service retirement plan:
$3000 mortgage/ins./taxes/escrow $740 car payment (first new car in 8 years) $150 car insurance $120 basic church donation $400 NOVEC (average) $175 Verizon (cable/internet/phone) $70 cell phones $30 trash $30 life insurance $200 braces for two kids $30 media (Netflix, newspapers) $300 kids' sports $5400 for automatically withdrawn monthly bills Food, diapers, household, clothes, schoolbooks (we homeschool)...I don't like to think about it. Honestly, I think I am starting to get anxiety attacks about the cost of living. |
Sounds like you have less than 20% equity in your home, because you mention that insurance and tax are paid thru escrow. Your discretionary spending is out pacing your mortgage by 5 vs. 2. I would be socked as well. Our bare-bones budget is about 40% of yours, but our mortgage is paid off! |
I am stunned no one jumped on this. Seriously? Why should nannies cost less for the middle class? Should BMW's and Bentley's cost less for the middle class too? If you can't afford it, don't buy it. You can't walk into a luxury car dealership and expect to pay economy car prices. Yes, lowering minimum wage would significantly improve the standard of living all around. More people on welfare and food stamps is just what we need. If people can make more money living on unemployment, welfare, working under the table etc. they're going to. Why go to work and not get by when you can get more for staying home? We need to make it beneficial to go to work...help out the people who are working full time but barely making it because they earn $100 over the threshold. Those are the ones who deserve help. The people working a 40-60 hr week at min. wage or slightly above it are the ones who deserve the breaks...not the wealthy, not the slovenly. Give people an incentive to work. |
I posted on page 1 that we get by on $2200/month or so after taxes. My rent is around $1250 or so plus utilities. Paid off my used car a few yrs ago so it's just gas, insurance and maintenance. Not much on food b/c my DS eats next to nothing. Let's see. What else? The after-school program is based on my income so it isn't much. No vacations really. Got rid of cable to save money. I'm a single parent so I rarely go out (no $$ fora sitter) so I don't spend money on going out. It is certainly doable. My son goes to a good ES b/c I chose an apt complex in a good school district. |
I keep looking at everyone's budget and wonder where you all fit in underwear, makeup, nylons, socks, floor cleaner, sponges, paper towels, laundry detergent, candles, batteries, light bulbs, stamps, tampons, soap, dishwasher detergent, etc... Do you all add these types of expenses into your grocery bill? I just don't see anyone with a realistic "Target" expense. This is the stuff that weighs us down. Add in birthday presents, sports (and equipment for said sports), school donations (public!), gas, the occasional trip to the carousel ($4/kid), it adds up even quicker. Where do you all budget for these things? |
PP, if you have no car, you must be living near a Metro stop. How did you manage to find such cheap housing? do you live in a studio? 1400 in rent, that's awesome. |
PP, not necessarily. If you live near public transportation, you can do without a car. If you are renting an apartment, you don't need lawn/property upkeep, and major repairs are taken care of by the landlord. And I definitely won't call a manicure 'an unpredictable expense'. |
Someone else may have already jumped in on this but I'm not sure why someone's so stunned by a two-adult household to have five degrees. DH is an attorney (2 degrees); I'm an academic (3 degrees -- bachelor's, master's, doctorate). I realize I may sound defensive, but why would five degrees be a "waste"? We could not have our current positions or incomes without the education -- I'm not getting the PP's point. |
Totally. I am one of the first PPs, and I was brutally honest that we spend at least 7500, and that includes all the "target" crap you mention. This is our big budget buster, for some reason. How do people reign in spending on this? We shop at Costco when we have the time to make a run. I even "make" some of my cleaning products (we only use green products) when I have the time, but I really feel like the only way to save $ on this stuff is to go without. Is that what people do? I think most of the people who posted that they only spend 3000 a month or less, either don't live in DC, or have NO idea what they actually spend each month. |
2500/rent
300 groceries (includes household items like laundry soap, toilet paper, etc) 230 insurance (car, life, renters) 100 toddler expenses (diapers, wipes, milk) 600 cash (this is what we use for lunch or dinner out, gifts for birthdays, gas and any other unexpected small expense) 430 car payment 100 metro 100 verizon 90 cell phones Ugh this is depressing me. |
I don't think people are "outraged" so much as simply not really believing you. Either you are working some serious magic with the money, or you are not really accounting for what you are spending. It just defies logic that you are feeding yourself, your baby, and your DH (even part-time) on $40/week. We want to know what you are eating -- what foods you buy and how you make that last for 7 days worth of meals. Heck, just buying toilet paper, shampoo and paper towels - plus a head of lettuce and a tomato - could take up your entire $40 for the week. How do you fit in household items, like cleaners and paper products? Are you growing some of your own food? Almonds these days cost $10/pound, so even making your own almond milk is $$$$. Seriously, how are you doing it? |
To the pps with the large target bills[list], you might want to try amazon subscribe and save for those items. While I don't know how much the direct saving is on each product, the benefits are: predictable monthly cost, and no splurge spending at target (ie on the nonessentials) |
Our bare bones budget would also just be around 5000, and our mortgage is about 2100.
Car payment of 340, but that will go away in a year |
I agree PP: honey, vanilla, and almonds (ingredients for almond milk) are all expensive... I try not to spend more than $40 on food a DAY and I often don't succeed! If this woman is for real, I would really like to know her tricks because I could learn something from her! |
To be completely honest, DH is the one who does the budgeting but I'm the one handing the money to the cashier at the grocery store so I know how much I spend.
Since our utilities are based on sqft I mostly use cloth (cleaning rags, diapers, napkins) for cleaning supplies, etc we go to Costco with a friend 3 or 4 times a year, I buy produce locally, we use freecycle and craigslist a lot... I clean with water and vinegar and we don't use fabric softener. TMI here: I BF and didn't have a period still got pregnan with #2 so it's been almost 33 months since I had to wear pads. I planed the pregnancies around the same time so I won't have to buy maternity clothes since I'm pregnant during the exact same seasons and fingers crossed to have same gender so we will save money there too ![]() On the menu... today for Bfast we had fresh fruit and omelet. Lunch was rice patties and beet root casserole, dinner was pizza. Nothing abnormal I guess.
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