We're having to tighten our belt with my husband being a stay at home dad. My salary is decent, but we're definitely living month to month and we recently had to dig into emergency savings for a new oven (ugh) and know our air conditioner compressors and coils will need to be replaced in the next year or so ($$). The fact they are dying also is driving our electric bill up (plus having someone and a baby home all day...)
We currently have DirectTV and I'm considering dropping them in favor of Playstation Vue and an indoor antenna. Has anyone done this? Experiences?
We are also working to reduce our cell phone bill and I am packing lunches for work...
What else can we do short of moving (won't happen)
Take home is ~$6200/month
Budget (not including anything unexpected) -- ~$4500 (not including lunches, which I dropped but did daily as I hate packed lunch at $200 a month)
Mortgage & Property Taxes -- $2100
Utilities:
Electric -- Has been about $300 in summer, it's usually closer to $100 in winter
Gas -- $100
Water -- 40
Trash -- 30
Internet and Home Phone -- $60
Security Alarm -- $40 (have considered dropping, but would increase our insurance)
Insurance (Cars, House, Umbrella) -- $120
Car Loan-- $400
Food (2 adults and a toddler -- some organic, meat eaters) -- $700
Gas/Miscellaneous (month to month varies, includes things like haircuts, household goods, baby supplies etc) -- ~$350
Pet Insurance (A must as we have a dog breed that is known to have lots of future health issues) -- $40
Cell Phone -- $120 for 2 phones (working on reducing this)
DirectTv -- $110 (ugh!)