Quote:
Originally Posted by poohstixx
I need some advice on what to do! We have a ton of money going out which leaves us with little for food, gas, etc. and we're quckly falling behind! Not to mention we often get slapped with overdraft fees in our account, because we struggle to keep track of what's going out, timing with bills, etc.  |
I'm responding to just the one paragraph because it sounds as if the other issues are on the way to being explored and organised.... but I'm curious about the above.
How are you and your SO handing the paying of bills? Do you keep them in one place until ready to pay? Do you keep a list of all amounts spent? Maybe even at the top of the list the amount you have budgeted for all the bills and then keep subtracting out the amount as the bills come in?
For day-to-day expenses, it sounds like you're not operating from credit cards, but gone to debit cards instead? Is there a problem with both of you using cash temporarily at least, until your get a handle on the above?
It's (unfortunately) the little day-to-day amounts that are spent that quickly eat into the available $'s (after bills) left over each month. Reducing the monthly bills (storage, phone, etc. as has been suggested previously) should help somewhat, but you still need to protect yourself from overdraft fees, if you're both not on the same page financially and you don't know who is doign what as far as spending/paying the bills.