View Full Version : So very close!
Okay I am keeping track of my expenses, saw a job coach, and I am within a couple hundred dollars of making it totally on what I earn. Whew, Here are the budget comments
* put $100 earmarked for some take out, coffee shops and emergency fast food. I am at $88 for January which means I can have one more coffee shop visit and be in my budget, and not fee deprived (but possible to cut if necessary)
* one car bill was $184 and I may need to take that from emergency to get through January, that is a concern
* paid my bills, but still nervous about it so not all on time, planning on paying all bills the first week of the month and only be left with somewhat flexible things like groceries and the coffee shop budget ( I get paid once a month)
* student loans, not gonna be able to make that, still trying to figure it out
* I am accepting my parents offer to give me $100-200 a month for that gap, and looking for income increases or side work
* I can cut the job coach, was planning on having her help until child support was gone and then cutting that out.
* adding AAA, older car seems important
* waiting on some refund money from last year which will bring emergency fund to $3K
* my son is looking into his own cell phone account to build credit, savings of $85 a month
Really nervous and encouraged.
iris lilies
1-18-16, 2:22pm
I am glad your parents offered, and you are accepting, their help.
It's great to see you looking at every line on your budget, I've been doing the same thing and it's never easy.
$100 is a LOT for takeout, coffee shops & emergency fast food!! Considering you are having difficulty paying for necessary bills, this is a big ouch!
And what is your son doing with a phone that costs you $85/month? There are cheap smart phones and prepay plans available for much, much, much less expensive. He wants something fancier then he can work for it.
You've made a lot of good changes already in the last year or so, keep going and you'll get it worked out. Every little bit helps.
iris lilies
1-18-16, 3:05pm
OP, are you paying anything on your student loans?
The take out budget is pretty consistent. I am away from home many days 10-12 hours so that really affects cooking. A couple times a month I need to pick up food on the run, it has gotten to $7 each time unless I can find a Taco Bell. 2 times a month I order thai food for dinner, which is an important ritual for us since my son cooks for himself and often I don't eat with him and girlfriend. My grocery budget is about $300 but includes cat food, laundry quarters, and household since I decided it wasn't worth the extra time to separate all that out. One thing I refuse to do is eat crappy unhealthy food. So my morning oatmeal is more than the powdery instant oatmeal, and although veggies are cheaper I buy the higher quality veggie substitutes. Basically I know that would be my deprivation point, where spending almost nothing on clothes and entertainment doesn't feel bad at all.
The phone is just that we don't do the pay as you go deals, also one of those things I have as a priority. I hate struggling with the phone., We did look at other plans last night it could be $10 cheaper with AT&T, some of the prepay ones seem to have other ways of increasing the price if you are not careful. I am so proud that my son was able to really read fine print and think about what he needed. I just like Verizon service and coverage much better than anything else.
What are veggie substitutes?
LOL! I think IL and I have the same question: What are veggie substitutes?
It's great that your son is cooking for himself...now can he make a bit more and cook some for both of you?
I don't expect anyone to eat crappy non-foods, but $100 on real food goes much farther than $100 on takeout, etc. Maybe cut Thai down to once/month. Or learn to cook Thai together.
I love Indian curries. Found some recipes online and now I make them all the time instead of going to the Indian Restaurant.
Oh yeah, it means vegetarian burgers and stuff like that. So I am not getting any McDonalds burgers, a Burger King veggie burger in a real emergency is more than a lot of other options!
My son loves bacon, meat, all that. I love vegetarian. Eating together 2 times a month is a big deal to coordinate. He would gladly cook for me and I notice he will still eat roasted vegetables and quinoa, but not all the time.
I see that my spending habits are really more in line with Millennials, I will spend on electronics, food and the social aspect of going to coffee shops and spend nothing in categories that my mother my mother would cringe at! Without my coffee shop budget I am pretty close to being that stay home cat lady :)
ApatheticNoMore
1-18-16, 3:41pm
I don't expect anyone to eat crappy non-foods, but $100 on real food goes much farther than $100 on takeout, etc. Maybe cut Thai down to once/month. Or learn to cook Thai together.
I love Indian curries. Found some recipes online and now I make them all the time instead of going to the Indian Restaurant.
this doesn't sound very practical for working 10-12 hour days every day. Maybe you do it. But eventually something has to give. So you cook a lot but the place is a pig stye .... or at any rate a bit of a mess :). Or you cook a lot but don't maintain your friendships etc.. There really truly are only so many hours in a day. So budgeting $100 for something that is going to happen anyway even if an ideal world (prefect organization or else reasonable work hours!) it wouldn't, like last minute take out once a week or something if that's what happens despite best efforts to avoid it, is wise.
Yes the phone could be cheaper (Verizon no data plan prepaid plan is $35 a month). Verizon coverage often is better than AT&T.
my curries really improved with changing to red lentils, the brown lentils can taste like dirt. So 2/3 red lentils, 1/3 brown lentils. Also fresh ginger!
...something that is going to happen anyway...
This takes on new meaning when one has bills they aren't able to pay :(
She's been improving so much in the time I've seen her post, I want to see her keep going.
Those student loans will never go away unless laws regarding them change.
my curries really improved with changing to red lentils, the brown lentils can taste like dirt. So 2/3 red lentils, 1/3 brown lentils. Also fresh ginger!
+1
iris lilies
1-18-16, 4:38pm
I thought she was in a payback/forgiveness program.
rodeosweetheart
1-18-16, 4:49pm
I thought she was in a payback/forgiveness program.
How do those programs work? I looked it up and it looks like you have to make 120 payments (10 years) and then rest is forgiven? Is that right?
Is the payment doable?
BTW, I admire your control on your spending, Zoe, I'm ashamed to say I have not reined mine in yet, and I have to now that I have gone to part time and not full time.
Sigh.
This takes on new meaning when one has bills they aren't able to pay :(
She's been improving so much in the time I've seen her post, I want to see her keep going.
Those student loans will never go away unless laws regarding them change.
Just as a note I do not have bills I cannot pay, my only debt is student loans. I have been on a forgiveness program that had my payments down to nothing and have had major problems getting it renewed. It only wants my tax returns a certain way and it is not working, so I sent in my paystubs but it doesn't seem like they are getting to the right place either. So it is in process, not that I am doing my very best, I am going to be paying something on them until I retire probably. The loan forgiveness program goes back to day one if there are any missing or late payments and in the process of trying to submit paperwork I am bumped back to the beginning. But I will re-register since I will be paying something and have that chance of getting to 10 years (if the program holds).
How do those programs work? I looked it up and it looks like you have to make 120 payments (10 years) and then rest is forgiven? Is that right?
Is the payment doable?
BTW, I admire your control on your spending, Zoe, I'm ashamed to say I have not reined mine in yet, and I have to now that I have gone to part time and not full time.
Sigh.
Thank you, just realizing until I got my raise in May I was planning on moving to Iowa about this time and live in my parents basement. Even a 2nd job would not quite have cut it. So going from a really bad place to feeling great!
Just as a note I do not have bills I cannot pay,
Huh? In your op re your student loans you said you didn't know how you were going to make that one leaving the reader with the impression you weren't able to pay that bill this month.
And you are accepting funds from your family?
This thread is too confusing for me to follow anymore. :confused:
Teacher Terry
1-18-16, 6:02pm
ZG: glad you have made such great progress. I agree with those long days that 100/month is reasonable for food, etc.
iris lilies
1-18-16, 6:06pm
Just as a note I do not have bills I cannot pay, my only debt is student loans. I have been on a forgiveness program that had my payments down to nothing and have had major problems getting it renewed. It only wants my tax returns a certain way and it is not working, so I sent in my paystubs but it doesn't seem like they are getting to the right place either. So it is in process, not that I am doing my very best, I am going to be paying something on them until I retire probably. The loan forgiveness program goes back to day one if there are any missing or late payments and in the process of trying to submit paperwork I am bumped back to the beginning. But I will re-register since I will be paying something and have that chance of getting to 10 years (if the program holds).
Well, Ive heard that those regulations for students loan programs are tricky to navigate, glad its not me.
Isnt it true that you are very recently free of banktrupcy payments? If so, after a little breathing space and time away from that, you may well find a way to attack the student loans. One step at a time and you are heading in the right direction.
Huh? In your op re your student loans you said you didn't know how you were going to make that one leaving the reader with the impression you weren't able to pay that bill this month.
And you are accepting funds from your family?
This thread is too confusing for me to follow anymore. :confused:
I can see how that is confusing, I am struggling with all the paperwork and stuff with student loans. If they want $400 a month then going for coffee once a week and eating out once a month isn't going to make much of a difference but I will try. The funds from my family are going into an emergency fund, and with my son paying his phone bill starting in March that gives me a little cushion and almost balances out. This month I paid all my basic bills already,
Basically I am celebrating slow recovery from foreclosure, low income, and even a bankruptcy which I am paying on time.
I know this differs from what IL said, but I'd rethink having your parents support your monthly living expenses. Seems odd to take 100-200 from them and then spend 100 for eating out, coffee, etc. I wonder if their support is simply enabling you to live beyond your means? If your mother and father would cringe at some of your spending (as indicated above) I wonder if they realize their money is supporting those expenses?
I am very open and honest with my parents and what I spend, they are not obligated to give any support but I am grateful for it. I am not exactly getting all the tattoos I want or going on a 30 day retreat. If I didn't have that support I would honestly get a second job and still meet friends at a coffee shop. I struggle enough with getting through 10-12 hour days and packing my lunch all the time.
I understand that many people have a problem with this but geez, there are whole categories of what other people consider essential that I don't even touch!
I can put in a good word for the Republic Wireless phones. The upfront cost for the phone seems like a lot to me, but it is hard to beat the $10 a month plan. All four of us in our family have Republic Wireless phones. I have to admit that I've been leaving my smart phone in a drawer most of the time and have been carrying my old Kroger iWireless flip phone. That's also $10 a month, but I can use points earned on the rewards card. In spite of my best intenetions, I am easily distracted by smart phones.
Good job on your budget.
rodeosweetheart
1-19-16, 12:01pm
I have another take on the 100 dollars a month spent on the activities of occasionally going out with friends or even just to a coffee house to be among people, I think it is mental health issue. I have three sons and occasionally I help where I can--new tires, a thousand dollars for medical payments for gs, and down payments on houses being the last things I helped with. They did not ask for any money, I volunteered it. Maybe I'm enabling, I don't know. I hope not.
I would be very concerned if my kids were doing nothing but working 10-12 hours a day and could not feel they could spend the equivalent of 3 dollars a day on getting a cup of coffee or going to the movies. I think they would go nuts if they were just chained to a job and student loan debt of 400 dollars. I know I would.
A hundred dollars is equivalent to one session with a therapist. If they wanted to spend that a month, I would commend them.
I don't know, as a parent, I might see this differently; I'd be worried if they were not getting out of the house for a non-related to work activity. I know I myself spend to excess on getting out of the house, but it really helps with my ongoing depression.
Does that help, a different viewpoint on the spending issues and how a parent might see them?
I have another take on the 100 dollars a month spent on the activities of occasionally going out with friends or even just to a coffee house to be among people, I think it is mental health issue. I have three sons and occasionally I help where I can--new tires, a thousand dollars for medical payments for gs, and down payments on houses being the last things I helped with. They did not ask for any money, I volunteered it. Maybe I'm enabling, I don't know. I hope not.
I would be very concerned if my kids were doing nothing but working 10-12 hours a day and could not feel they could spend the equivalent of 3 dollars a day on getting a cup of coffee or going to the movies. I think they would go nuts if they were just chained to a job and student loan debt of 400 dollars. I know I would.
A hundred dollars is equivalent to one session with a therapist. If they wanted to spend that a month, I would commend them.
I don't know, as a parent, I might see this differently; I'd be worried if they were not getting out of the house for a non-related to work activity. I know I myself spend to excess on getting out of the house, but it really helps with my ongoing depression.
Does that help, a different viewpoint on the spending issues and how a parent might see them?
I agree with your viewpoint completely as a mother.
Teacher Terry
1-19-16, 1:36pm
I agree too as a Mom that you have to take care of your mental health. I am sure your parents can afford to help or you would not take it. I also have 3 sons and have helped them from time to time. Not huge amounts but I know they appreciate it. My parents and my inlaws helped us when we were young too and we were so grateful.
freshstart
1-19-16, 1:52pm
I have another take on the 100 dollars a month spent on the activities of occasionally going out with friends or even just to a coffee house to be among people, I think it is mental health issue. I have three sons and occasionally I help where I can--new tires, a thousand dollars for medical payments for gs, and down payments on houses being the last things I helped with. They did not ask for any money, I volunteered it. Maybe I'm enabling, I don't know. I hope not.
I would be very concerned if my kids were doing nothing but working 10-12 hours a day and could not feel they could spend the equivalent of 3 dollars a day on getting a cup of coffee or going to the movies. I think they would go nuts if they were just chained to a job and student loan debt of 400 dollars. I know I would.
A hundred dollars is equivalent to one session with a therapist. If they wanted to spend that a month, I would commend them.
I don't know, as a parent, I might see this differently; I'd be worried if they were not getting out of the house for a non-related to work activity. I know I myself spend to excess on getting out of the house, but it really helps with my ongoing depression.
Does that help, a different viewpoint on the spending issues and how a parent might see them?
I think $100 a month is not unreasonable as she has cut out other entertainment expenses. If I offered my children money, I would be fine with the $100 a month. But if I offer it, am not asked for it, then really it's not my business how my child spends every penny. If they were grossly out of control, yeah, I'd be displeased and would maybe stop the offering. But I wouldn't over something so small that gives a social boost as well. If a budget is to strict, allowing zero pleasures, will it really be followed?
Thank you all, I deeply appreciate it. I had a very difficult yesterday with depression, the isolation left over from years of single parenting is a factor, so I got a hot tea, left the house and read a book at the coffee shop. It made a huge difference in my mood, which I do a lot of work on to stay out of the black hole. If my parents want to offer this and I know it will be part of keeping me functional I am not too proud to take it.
Just hearing this from you is truly part of my mental health support system.
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