What to do next?

[AmbitiousSaver]

If you can't stand your apartment, you could always try renting a house instead while you're trying to get the rest of your affairs in order. I agree with the other posters... having a house isn't all its cracked up to be... trust me, I have two

[fosterj]

Thanks to all for the responses. We sat down last night and worked on our budget. We very quickly saw why we are in such a rut of paycheck to paycheck.

Monthly expenses vs. monthly income left us with $17.40 on top at the end of each month.

No way are we even thinking about the house for the near future. We need to get those monthly expenses down. By cutting back in a few key areas it looks like we could increase the amount left over each month to $480.

Then by applying the extra amount to the credit cards we could be well on our way to house in a year or more.. but feeling much better about doing it then before.

Even though we want a house badly it was stressing us out just thinking about it.

Again, thanks for all the replies, they really did help. Now we just have to make this budget work and stick to it.

[tabbycat31]

Is there any way that you could cut down a few more of the monthly expenses. Even not cutting them out completely, but lowering them. For example, do you really need a landline phone AND a cell phone? Perhaps you could downgrade or cut one of them out completely. Your grocery bill is another thing to take a look at because most people could definitely cut back there. If you eat out a lot, there's another thing that could be cut back on. And most people don't need any more clothes (with the exception of the growing toddler) and will be fine with what is in the closet. The kid's close could be found cheaply used from thrift stores or tag sales, even hand me downs from friends/family.

Also even though you have a pretty good income, any ways to increase it. Perhaps you have junk lying around the house that could be put on ebay, or taken to a local flea market.

[maat55]

Originally Posted by fosterj

Thanks to all for the responses. We sat down last night and worked on our budget. We very quickly saw why we are in such a rut of paycheck to paycheck.

Monthly expenses vs. monthly income left us with $17.40 on top at the end of each month.

No way are we even thinking about the house for the near future. We need to get those monthly expenses down. By cutting back in a few key areas it looks like we could increase the amount left over each month to $480.

Then by applying the extra amount to the credit cards we could be well on our way to house in a year or more.. but feeling much better about doing it then before.

Even though we want a house badly it was stressing us out just thinking about it.

Again, thanks for all the replies, they really did help. Now we just have to make this budget work and stick to it.

Once you start seeing results you will thrive on it and the pain of sacrifice will go away. In the stort term you may want to find a second job to speed the process up.

The harder you work out this the faster the debt will leave, then you will feel much more injoyment when you are saving and looking for a good deal on a home.

Once you have controll of your money you will begin to prosper.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by fosterj

We sat down last night and worked on our budget. We very quickly saw why we are in such a rut of paycheck to paycheck.

Monthly expenses vs. monthly income left us with $17.40 on top at the end of each month.

By cutting back in a few key areas it looks like we could increase the amount left over each month to $480.

That's great. Sounds like you are making real progress to move forward and get out of debt.

If you would like, there are some real budget-cutting wizards around here. If you post your numbers, you'll get some great tips and advice on how to trim things down and free up cash. Though if you've already found over $460/month in excessive spending, I'd say that's pretty darn good already.