advice?

[JBL]

Hello everyone,

I am looking for general advice about my finances. I have gotten everything under control over the past year (quit smoking, sold expensive car, paid off most credit card debt and put the remainder on a no interest card with structured payment, built up some emergency fund, opened and maxed out Roth IRA for 2007) but I feel like things are not quite working as well as I would like them to. Here is the basic picture.

My partner and I both work in secure government jobs with defined benefit pensions. We both earn about $35K per year. Own a $150K condo with a mortgage balance of $96K at 5.6 percent. One car with $188 monthly payment ($8000 balance at 5.85% for 48 months). About $3500 in emergency fund. Condo fee is outrageous but includes all utilities, garage parking, 24 hour security, etc for $875 per month.

We have very different money management styles, so we divvied up the expenses between us. They come out to be equal over the year, except I pay for the car expenses myself.

I pay for:

Condo fee, per year is $10512
car tax, estimated per year $700
Car insurance per year $1250
Home insurance per year $437.

This totals out to $12899, or $496 per 2 week paycheck, so I put $500 per paycheck into a checking account for these fixed costs. Car payment is by payroll deduction to my credit union, $87 per paycheck. I also have $150 put automatically into my savings account at the credit union. This account pays 5%. After these disbursements, I have about $250 biweekly for food, gas, etc. I pay $100 towards a $2000 credit card balance each month, and will pay off the balance in September at the end of the 0% rate from savings. I have about $3200 in the credit union savings, and about $350 in a commercial bank savings account.

SO pays mortgage/property taxes ($760/month), telephone/internet ($70/month), and is working on paying down his own debt.

We have several things which we need or want to buy but have been putting off: Mattress and bedframe (ours is very saggy and uncomfortable, no idea of cost to replace both), heating unit in spare bedroom (started leaking so we turned it off and have no heat in that room, probably about $1500 to replace), and my whole wardrobe is getting really old and worn out, and I need to plan to buy new summer and winter work clothes in the near future. My mechanic told me that the car will need a new turbo soon at about $1300. Anyway, when I total up these things they would wipe out my savings account and SO cant really help with them right now because he is paying off debts. So we just continue to put off these expenses.

The car is so expensive because my old one unexpectedly died and needed to be replaced last month. I found a good used car for $8500 and got a loan from the credit union for $8000 at 5.85% to pay for it. My old car got rusty and my mechanic told me that the car was really not safe to drive anymore. I got a second opinion which concurred, so I sold it off.

Should I be trying to save more aggressively? Look for opportunities to make more money? I feel like every effort I make to straighten out my finances ends up with something else unexpectedly going wrong and I am back at square one.

Thanks for any advice or thoughts

[jIM_Ohio]

What is the mortgage payment on the condo?

[JBL]

The mortgage payment, including taxes, is $760/month

[jIM_Ohio]

I would look at the $760+$875 per month and see if $1600/month plus 54k in equity gets you a cheaper house which builds your equity quicker.

If the $875 includes utilities, might be a good deal. Maybe consider paying this with a credit card and trying to get 1% or 2% back as a reward.

[humandraydel]

Originally Posted by JBL

Should I be trying to save more aggressively? Look for opportunities to make more money? I feel like every effort I make to straighten out my finances ends up with something else unexpectedly going wrong and I am back at square one.

The first thing I notice is you never mention how much you save each month. Do you know? Do you have a very detailed budget? For example, you should have a budget for things like: house repairs, car repairs, etc. If you don't have a budget for these, and they have the potential to wipe out your savings, then you aren't saving enough. That may mean your expenses are too high.

[JBL]

I am aware that some of my expenses are high (housing comes to mind) but this is offset by low expenses in other areas (I walk to work so have no commuting costs and I always carry a lunch to work rather than buying something at work).

I do save $150 per paycheck in a 5% savings account. This is $3900 per year (26 paychecks). This functions for emergency and non-emergency savings (e.g. car repair, vacation). I do budget and track my spending so I know where things go. I would like to save more agressively, but I dont feel like I can. I do transfer funds when I can into savings.

J

[cptacek]

You did some great things last year. Congratulations! I would say that it is just going to take time. You have to just keep at it.

But, if you really want to give yourself a kick start, could you find a second job? Or a weekend job?

[CreditExpert]

I would start at taking a very critical look at your budget, is there anything you can cut back on?
if you feel that your budget is a lean as it can get and you still want to save more a 2nd job will be a great way to go. That way all the money you earn say in the evenings can be used to boost your savings.

[LuxLiving]

And make that PT job one at a decent clothier that will give you an employee discount!!

And/or you could start trying to rebuild your wardrobe a piece or two at a time by shopping the thrifts and consignment stores.