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Hi there,
I am looking for some advice.
We are on a VERY limited Income right now, DH is in school getting his Masters Degree (last year..thankfully!) I am a SAHM, w/o the option to work until summer. And dd is almost 5.
Here's our situation.
BILLS
Car loan $175
Phone $90 (2 cell phones we don't have home phone)
Internet/Cable $50
Savings $160 (directly to joint savings account, currently at $4000.)
Savings DD $50
Insurance $100
Groceries $400
Electric $125
Laundry (don't have hookups in our apartment, so we have to use coin operated laundry) $40
Gas for cars $160
Right now we are making $1420 a month.
We have paid our rent in advance until June. So we are set there.
How would you handle these bills and this money?
I need to try and make the most out of what leftover money we have. Until summer, when I can go back to work.
HELP!!
The net is a nessecity since DH uses it for school, The cell phones, also b/c dh travels far to work and school and we have bad weather. It was cheaper for us to get 2 and have IN calling than to have home phone.
I see my groceries are REALLY high, and I want to do something about that.
ANY advice would be great!
Thanks
Answer:
WEll first I would see where you could cut. Can you cut down laundry? How about gas, is it possible to conseve gas so you only spend $100 a month? For your electric, work on conserving and bring that bill down. Shop with a grocery list, stock pile what you can and cut your grocery bill down by at least $100. We can help you with that! WE are very good at grocery shopping here. Can you not deposit so much into savings until you figure out your budget?? And finally, the phones, can you see if you can get a cheaper plan or a cheaper phone? Could 1 of you possible live without a phone for a few months?
Those are just some of the suggestions I would look into, and check back often because I now some other here will have some really good advice for you.
Answer:
Why is laundry 40 a month?
Do you mean gas for your cars?
50 in saveing is wonderful for your dd, but if its makeing a challeng for you cut it to 25. You can make it up later.
I think you could probably cut your grocery down as well . 400 for 3 people is a lot. I do 400 for 4 people and 3 cats and that 400 includes all health and beauty,even gas for my car.
Other wise it looks good to me so I cant really help you
Answer:
Gas is for the cars. DH goes through $20 a week on his own..gas is at $2.67 here. And he conserves. I just drive DD to preschool and back and then run errands. I could cut that down to trying to get everything at once, instead of making 5 trips a week. (but then what would I do ???) =)
We live in an apartment and we have machines here, right across the hall from us. We pay $1.50 per load. (usually only do 2 loads a week.) BUT the dryers stink, so we are drying twcie. So I can get that down to $6.
I see there are ALOT of threads here on grocery cut downs..which one do you reccomend?
Answer:
Originally Posted by DisneyMommy
Gas is for the cars. DH goes through $20 a week on his own..gas is at $2.67 here. And he conserves. I just drive DD to preschool and back and then run errands. I could cut that down to trying to get everything at once, instead of making 5 trips a week. (but then what would I do ???) =)
We live in an apartment and we have machines here, right across the hall from us. We pay $1.50 per load. (usually only do 2 loads a week.) BUT the dryers stink, so we are drying twcie. So I can get that down to $6.
I see there are ALOT of threads here on grocery cut downs..which one do you reccomend?
haha! Gas is 2.60 here, and I ONLY put $20-$25 a week. I try not to go anywhere if I don't have too, just so I don't have to use my gas! I'm horrible like that. but I live very close to town, and I'll walk downtown to pay bills, visit teh PO, or whatever. If I have errands to run, I'll try to do them all at 1 time. My kids are in school most of the day, so I can just sit here and relax and not have to entertain them all day long. So thats nice too! I can just sit on the puter, or watch tv, clean up, and stuff like that. When the weather warms up, I'll be doing more out in my yard to pretty it up.
As far as the grcery threads, just start a new one, and ask for advice! You'll get TONS of helpful hints. Also make sure you read the "saving money daily" thread, its a good one!
Answer:
I agree on the savings. Unless there is a very important reason to do this, I would cut way back on this. If you aren't able to make ends meet but still have savings, then the savings don't do you much good.
Have you analysed your grocery budget? Many of us have tracked our spending for a month, even several months (many do it all the time) so that we can see where our money went. I could tell you how much money we have spent on canned mushrooms since Jan. 1, and also where I bought them! Anyhow, this will help you understand where you can cut back.
What about home cooking? Are you preparing ALL your meals (or at least 90%) from scratch? I save a ton of money this way, and we are eating much better than we used to.
Good luck! Keep us posted!
Answer:
I agree with PP who said you could easily cut your grocery bill in half, if not more.
See if you have a discount grocery in your area, or a place like ALDI. Cut coupons and use them with items on sale...and also try switching to store brand items....you'd be amazed at the savings.
Answer:
cutting down on grocery can take a lot of time at first but well worth it once you get in the swing. Start with menue planning. Look at what you are spending the most on . Is it snack foods? Make your own. Start a price book that way you know what to get at the cheapest price. Milk is always cheaper at a gas station or pharmacy.I save 50 cents a gallon every week by not buying my milk at the grocery store. I coudl give you a hundred tips but I will let some of the other girls share, they might even have a few I havent heard of. IF I see any good one that dont get posted I will try to add them.
Answer:
I would:
-See if you can get a cheaper cell phone plan
-Try and consolidate alll your errand running to cut down on gas.
-Is your internet teh cheapest it can be?
-Air dry what you can. . .sure, its a pain to tote wet laubdry home, but it really doesn't take that long for clothes to air dry. At least cut out the 2nd dry cycle
- What are you buying to make your grocery bill $400. That seems high to me. Cut out packaged foods/snacks where you can, don't eat out. Check out frugal foods section. If you don't run errands every day it will free up time to make your own- breads, pizzas, sauces, etc. Plan your meals before you shop.
HTH!!
Answer:
From what I can see, and if this is just temporary until summer, I would cut out DD savings, it can be made up for later, cut back on the laundry, and if you need to do 1 cycle in the dryer and hang it up to dry the rest of the way (the dryer, even if it's bad, should get it most of the way dry). I agree with cutting back on food shopping, I spend less than $300 a month on a family of 4.
I don't like the idea of cutting back on savings (your main savings acct), but if you're in that much a bind and it has to be done, then it has to be done...just see where else you can cut.
Also, vut back on the errands...pick one day a week to do errrands and stick to it. You'll save gas $$ and unnecessary spending atthe stores! I drive DD to and from school every dasy and Thurs is my errand /food shopping day. It does save on the gas and the mileage on the car!