Anonymous
03/20/2013 12:04
Subject: Re:If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
assuming something dire has happened, like one of has lost a job.
100 cut emergency fund contribution
100 cut 529 contribution
200 move from full-week to 3 day daycare (est)
200 trim food budget severely
275 assuming I could get forbearance on my student loan
125 only pay minimums on cc debt (small amount of debt here, trying to eliminate). Not adding more cc debt though.
100 cut emergency fund contribution
100 cut 529 contribution
200 move from full-week to 3 day daycare (est)
200 trim food budget severely
275 assuming I could get forbearance on my student loan
125 only pay minimums on cc debt (small amount of debt here, trying to eliminate). Not adding more cc debt though.
Anonymous
03/20/2013 10:26
Subject: If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
--Be better about buying lunch, getting takeout instead of cooking, and reign in grocery shopping
--trim charitable contributions
--cut back on random purchases (clothes, gadgets, etc)
We don't have a lot of excess in regularly budgeted items except for food. (No cable, need internet and phone for work and have discounted phone plans already, etc.
If I knew we needed to do this long-term I could refinance our 15 year mortgage to a 20 or 30 year mortgage to lower those payments.
--trim charitable contributions
--cut back on random purchases (clothes, gadgets, etc)
We don't have a lot of excess in regularly budgeted items except for food. (No cable, need internet and phone for work and have discounted phone plans already, etc.
If I knew we needed to do this long-term I could refinance our 15 year mortgage to a 20 or 30 year mortgage to lower those payments.
Anonymous
03/20/2013 10:06
Subject: If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
Anonymous wrote:we couldn't make it if I cut that much. total monthly income is only 3800.
okay we "might" make it if I could cut daycare completely but obviously that ain't happening...
Anonymous
03/20/2013 10:05
Subject: If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
we couldn't make it if I cut that much. total monthly income is only 3800.
Anonymous
03/20/2013 10:03
Subject: Re:If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I already gave up a lot to do this -
No cable
No text plan
Go to library for books/movies
Eat less meat, cheese; cook more vegetarian food
No housecleaner
No lawn maintenance
Lower the thermostat in the winter and raise it in the summer
Wash all clothing in cold water (this saves a lot of money, believe it or not!)
Hang laundry to dry (ditto) (You can do this indoors, which is what I do. I have a clothes rack from IKEA)
Cut alcohol (it's expensive)
I'm intrigued by the laundry bullet. Don't you use up more time to iron all of those clothes?
The only thing DH has to iron is his work shirts (and not even much -- just the sleeves -- since they dry on hangars). Everything else dries really nicely and is less wrinkly than back when we used the dryer (PP is correct that clothing sitting in the dryer gets wrinkly. I'm not a SAHM so I never get the clothing out in time for it to NOT be wrinkly
)
Anonymous
03/20/2013 09:51
Subject: If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
Anonymous wrote:I keep saying I need to do these things, but don't. I would:
- stop going out for dinner.
- start price shopping for groceries. Right now, I don't pay attention and just buy what I want.
- cancel Gymboree classes.
- cancel cable.
- put my college daughter on a budget.
It might be a good idea to put her on a budget anyway, for her own sake.
Anonymous
03/20/2013 09:05
Subject: If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
I would be out on the street, because my income is only $2200 per month.
Anonymous
03/20/2013 08:50
Subject: If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
Nanny/housekeeper or food budget
Anonymous
03/20/2013 08:40
Subject: If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
I don't think we could get to $1000 unless we gave up private school.
Cable/phone/internet (could use my work cell as a hotspot): $150
Gym: $50
Eating out: $50
There might be $25 in gas we could cut if we were more careful about trips.
No lawncare, no cleaners, food budget is already $80 a week. No vacations.
Cable/phone/internet (could use my work cell as a hotspot): $150
Gym: $50
Eating out: $50
There might be $25 in gas we could cut if we were more careful about trips.
No lawncare, no cleaners, food budget is already $80 a week. No vacations.
Anonymous
03/20/2013 07:59
Subject: Re:If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
We recently cut back about $2500 per month so we already leaner than before. If we had to cut another $1000 per month we would do the following:
1) Cut cable
2) Increase deductibles on insurance ???
3) Stop prepaying mortgage. $500
4) Cut the rest of our vacation budget.
5) Lower food budget again and move further to vegetarian diet
6) Stop going out to eat at all (already cut to every other week)
If it were dire, we have several options
1) Go into savings until children are out of HS
2) Rent out home and rent a 2 bedroom condo/apartment in HS district. (Rental income- mortgage/taxes =$1500pm more in income)
3) PT-WOHP would go back to work fulltime. Currently at home due to increased parenting required for special needs children and would only do so as a last resort.
1) Cut cable
2) Increase deductibles on insurance ???
3) Stop prepaying mortgage. $500
4) Cut the rest of our vacation budget.
5) Lower food budget again and move further to vegetarian diet
6) Stop going out to eat at all (already cut to every other week)
If it were dire, we have several options
1) Go into savings until children are out of HS
2) Rent out home and rent a 2 bedroom condo/apartment in HS district. (Rental income- mortgage/taxes =$1500pm more in income)
3) PT-WOHP would go back to work fulltime. Currently at home due to increased parenting required for special needs children and would only do so as a last resort.
Anonymous
03/20/2013 07:53
Subject: If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
Cut back on college savings
Eat out less/pack lunch
Be a bit more careful with grocery shopping
That would do it.
Eat out less/pack lunch
Be a bit more careful with grocery shopping
That would do it.
Anonymous
03/20/2013 07:45
Subject: If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
We prepay the mortgage $250/month, that could go. I could easily recapture $400 or so by not eating out/being more frugal shopping. Cancel gym memberships - $100. Walk instead of metro home from work (should do that anyway) - at least $50. Could cut the clothes budget back $200/month - that's $1000 right there.
This just makes me realize how much fat there is in our budget. Yikes.
This just makes me realize how much fat there is in our budget. Yikes.
Anonymous
03/19/2013 22:57
Subject: If you had to cut $1,000 from your monthly budget
Prepaying the mortgage.