As promised below is my household budget.
Take Home Pay- 1790.00
Fixed Expenses......
Savings- $15.00
Rent- $634.00
Student Loan #1- $533.00
Student Loan #2- no payment due
Car Insurance- $199
Renters Insurance- $13.50
CC #1- $33.00
CC #2- $20.00
Variable Expenses......
Gas- $120.00
Groceries- $50.00
Dominion Power- $60.00
Cable- $50.00
Cell phone- $78.00
As is stands I am over budget by 6.50 per month
This is my budget for December as I will be paying all my bills for November tomorrow. Now I know what you don't see is my car loan listed in my budget. What I have done is year's past is pay my loan up for the year with my income tax returns, but that didn't happen like I wanted this year, the reason why I am past due. I have about $200 that I am going to put toward it and $300 in my state taxes that I have not filed yet, so this will get my account current.
Now looking at my budget, you are like me....where am I going to get the money from to pay down my debt, well I have a a part time job! This money is not ever going to be added into my monthly budget and applied directly toward my debt. Its not income that is steady so I don't want to make it seem I have more money per month that I do. I go on Monday to sign my paperwork and I hope to have my first check by December!
A few things about the numbers, my power bill is never $60 per month. For November it was $44.10, but just incase it is ever that high, I set that amount aside. Any money that is not spent goes to debt. And I know you are looking at my grocery budget, $50 per month WHAT!?!?! I use coupons and have a really good stock pile, so I am able to manage with that!
Well there you have it. Fell free to ask questions, pick my budget apart, offer suggestions!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day! I'm paying bills tomorrow, so I will let you all know how that goes!!
The budget
November 23rd, 2012 at 03:29 pm
November 23rd, 2012 at 04:00 pm 1353686437
November 23rd, 2012 at 04:31 pm 1353688277
Last June, I switched my cell provider from AT & T to Ting. Ting uses the Sprint network. I am very pleased with the service. Just today I received an e-mail that my automatic payment had been made. My bill this month was $35.27, for the second month in a row. I have 3 lines! We do not have smart phones, but we get 1000 shared minutes and 1000 shared texts for that. (Really, the bill is $9 more, but we get a credit sometimes for not using all of the minutes.) You do have to buy a phone through Ting, but the non-smart phones run about $70 each.
I think your decision to not include your part-time income in your regular budget is a very smart one. Since you are not depending on it to make ends meet, you can use it exclusively towards your financial goals.
Will you share some of your grocery strategies?
Are you contributing to a retirement plan at work?
November 23rd, 2012 at 04:59 pm 1353689989
November 23rd, 2012 at 05:04 pm 1353690294
I have looked into getting my cell phone bill lower, but I have a smart phone and Sprint has told me I have to have a certain type of plan....I know stupid right! I did get them to give me a 80 credit that took it from 88 to 78, but its still not enough. I will look into Ting, I have never heard of it until you posted it Petunia 100! $35 bucks a month is wonderful and I can live without a smartphone for a while until I get my money in a good place! My job adds a certain amount per month, but I don't add anything extra and I really need to. I said once I made 5 years with my company I would add to it and as of last week I did, so I am going to at least match what they add to start with.
Grocery strategies-- Coupons, coupons, coupons...I could not make it work without them!! And let me point out, its not just food, personal items, household items are in this as well! I only buy what is on sale and add a coupon to it and I stock up when prices are low. It’s just me and my son, so everything really goes far. Like Sunday I am making a whole roast chicken and that main dish will last us all week. I try to only go shopping once a week and have some idea of what we are going to eat for the week so I know what to get. I am going to post my weekly shopping trips for December so everyone can see the numbers. I didn’t think it would work, but with some planning it does work itself out.
As far as the car insurance, my driving record SUCKS!! It is the cheapest I could find. I talked to my agent and tons of stuff is falling off my record, so it will go down by at least 100 bucks when I'm up for a renewal middle of next year! Excited about that!
November 23rd, 2012 at 06:19 pm 1353694776
November 23rd, 2012 at 09:36 pm 1353706585
November 23rd, 2012 at 10:45 pm 1353710725
November 23rd, 2012 at 11:06 pm 1353711976
November 23rd, 2012 at 11:23 pm 1353713014
November 24th, 2012 at 12:03 am 1353715434
November 24th, 2012 at 02:43 am 1353724987
You may be able to bring your current phone with you to Ting. I think the bring your own device plan is in beta right now, but it wouldn't hurt to check. That way you might not even have to buy a different phone.
November 24th, 2012 at 04:02 am 1353729773
November 24th, 2012 at 07:02 am 1353740561
i understand about the cell. i did that for about 2years. now i can actually afford a smartphone which now is only $30/mo more.
good job so far!
November 24th, 2012 at 11:44 am 1353757469
I would drop the cable-if you son has a wii get hulu plus for $8.00 a month. They just added all the Nick shows.
As mentioned the cell phone bill is high-can you get out of the contract and pick up a cheaper tracfone
The student loan is your biggest expenses-are you putting that education to use? How much longer for it.
How much are your total credit card debt? Is it worth it to transfer balances around to get a lower rate.
November 24th, 2012 at 01:35 pm 1353764104
November 24th, 2012 at 03:00 pm 1353769246
I don't know that the people at the Sprint store would know anything about Ting. Ting is an MVNO - in other words, it is an independent company which works off of Sprint's network.
November 24th, 2012 at 04:27 pm 1353774454
November 24th, 2012 at 10:13 pm 1353795215
A good option to cable tv would be to look at Netflix instant viewing. They have all kinds of documentaries, movies, kid's programs, etc. If you already have a bluray player or PS3, you should be able to play Netflix instant viewing through it. It's only $7.99 a month.
A super cheap entertainment option would be to visit your public library and borrow books, dvds, etc. for free.
A good way to supplement your food budget would be to grow some of your own, like herbs in a window box or various other plants in large pots or your yard.
You have a great plan. Good luck.