Brand new here: Desperately need change!

[StudentRN]

Hello, all!

I just found this site while looking for ideas on saving money online. I am a college student (one more year to go!!!) and work part time at a dollar store. My husband works full time and pays most of the bills until I'm done in school. Finances have always been incredibly tight for us, but I'm desperately trying to turn that around. I want to be in the habit of spending wisely and saving well by the time I finish college. Not to mention that I would love to finish college without debt! I figured I would post some details here, both to possibly get some advice from some seasoned savers, and also to see a typed-out realistic view of just how crazy our spending habits are.

Here it is:

My husband (paid bi-weekly) makes roughly 450-480 per paycheck. I make (also biweekly-opposite weeks of hubby) roughly 150 per paycheck. So, to expand on that, we make about 1200 monthly, ~14,000 yearly after taxes. I have 3,000 in student loan debt that hasn't started accruing interest yet. We have less than 500 in savings at the moment.

Our monthly unchanging bills: 485 rent, 70 auto insurance, 18 renters insurance, 150 phone bill (this can't be lowered-my husband works in phone sales and has to have a certain plan)
Our monthly variable bills: electric bill can be anywhere between 40-130/mo, gas is around 100-140/mo, 20-30/mo for laundromat, then what's left over is split between groceries and misc spending.

Our goals: Pay down student loan debt, save up an emergency fund, save up to buy a new mattress and washer/dryer. There are more goals than that, but we will start with those. I would love to have some money budgeted to buy clothes. We both are still mostly wearing things we owned in high school...we're 23.

Our bad habits: My husband smokes. We roll his cigarettes at home to save money, but it still equals about 25/mo. He also loves soda and gets one everyday before work, which can be $1-2/day, which is almost 30-60/mo! We are both so busy between his work/my work/school that we tend to eat out ALOT due to not having free time to cook. The fast food is by far our worst habit of all. I've tried many times to fix it, but fail to do so. We rent a lot of movies. We have to skip having health insurance until I'm done in school because the only plan available to us is through hubby's work which is $300/mo.

Our good habits: We do not purchase monthly cable or internet. Hubby walks to work a lot, which is a big gas saver. With the exception of our phone bill, we have always paid our bills off on time. Neither of us has ever had a credit card. And with the exception of one student loan, I have paid all of my school expenses out of pocket. We share one car, which is paid off in full.


Basically, we have the good intentions...but we really need to break the bad spending habits. Any ideas on ways I can divide up my budget to allow for these goals?


I'm sure there's some info that's been left out, but I can add it later if needed.

[junkstuff1]

Hi there. I've been a lurker here for a while and this is my first post. Hope I can help a bit; sorry if this seems like common sense.

The reason I wanted to comment is your husband's phone bill. Wow. Why can't he have a different plan? If he needs it for work, can he get reimbursed for part or all of it? Since he works in phone sales, can't he get a discount somehow? I pay $25/mo for unlimited text and data and 300 minutes through Virgin Mobile. Really, this seems like the easiest thing to change and I think it's asinine that he would be "required" to pay for this plan without any sort of reimbursement. It's almost 1/6 of his take-home pay! Really, look into this. It is huge.

That said, I'm always really proud of anyone who has a tight money situation and still has at least some money in the bank. Really, good job on that $500. It's a good start.

Your rent is a large portion of your income, but I don't know how much that can be helped. Even $25/mo difference would be helpful if you can find a new place when your lease is up. You have to weigh that against any increase in driving you would have to do, though.

For the car - have you shopped around for a lower insurance rate? $70/mo seems high.

Your renter's insurance also seems high. It's about $11/mo for me, though I may have a higher deductible than you.

Given all of your expenses, I'd think that your "misc spending" entirely consists of cigarettes, soda, fast food, and movies.

Cigarettes, well, that's up to your husband quitting, which may not be realistic.

Soda - if you can't cut it out, couldn't you buy it at a store? It's frequently on sale near me for $.33/can or less in 12-packs. This would reduce the soda expense to $10 or less each month. But it would be healthier and cheaper to switch to water.

Movies - could you get them at a library for free? Smaller selection, but smaller price .

[LuckyRobin]

One of the quickest ways to cut out fast food is to get a crockpot and check out a crockpot cookbook from the library. You prepare your meals at night before you go to bed and then dump everything in to the crockpot in the morning and let it cook all day. When you get home exhausted, your food is done and ready to eat. Take the leftovers for lunch the next day.

On your least busy day of the week make up a batch of pancakes and a batch of muffins (Jiffy does a cheap blueberry muffin mix and cornbread muffin mix if you don't want to make them from scratch). Freeze half and keep the other half in the fridge ready to heat up in the microwave. Fast, easy, and takes less time and money than the drive-thru line at a fast food place.

As for cigarettes, can your husband cut his habit in half with an eye toward eventually quitting? Smoking only gets more and more expensive as the years go by, both in money and in health consequences.

The movie habit needs to be curtailed or at least cut way back. Something like Netflix would be much cheaper than renting from video stores. Definitely the library would be a good place to get them free. Even those dollar vending machines like Redbox or DVD Express would be better than a regular store.

Can you put your gas and electric onto budget pay plans (where they average the costs of the year and you pay that same amount all year long)? Having a predictable number each month to pay would help your budget.

[dczech09]

Yes, a company can require their employees to be part of a certain phone plan. However they cannot require that your husband continue to work there. Can your husband find a better job? Seriously that phone bill alone reduces the income so much that it is not even worth it. When I was in college, I delivered pizzas during the evenings and made more than that. I strongly suggest looking for a new job or at the very least finding away around reducing the phone cost.

[cschin4]

First, congrats on taking an honest look and making plans for your future. Some people never do. And, going to nursing school is an excellent start. So, you should move ahead with that, even if you have to take out some loans.
A couple of points, have you considered the Army Reverse or anything? They would love to recruit some nurses and would help pay your way, etc. but yes a big committment, just tossing that out there.
Your Habits: Hubby's soda stop. Simple. Buy cases of canned soda for home and he can take the soda with him in the morning. We NEVER buy pop anywhere because of the cost. My kids drink water if we go out. They can drink pop at home. And, we take our own pop when we go somewhere rather than just stop and grab one.
Fast food - A little discipline on both of your parts. Pack up a few lunches. You can make a few sandwhiches and they will last a few days. Pack up several sandwiches, make up some of your own hoagies (I just get some nice rolls at the deli and then use a couple different lunch meats and cheese and wrap in saran wrap and they are handy for the kids). Also, don't think all or nothing. It isn't that you have to only cook from scratch to save money. You can buy stuff for convenience at the grocery store like premade or frozen foods, etc and it is still cheaper than eating out.
Smoking - a very big No No. Sorry, he is risking not only his health but his career. People can smell smoke on others and it is no longer socially acceptable. Nor will it be looked upon favorably upon you as you will smell like second smoke as well. Many companies do not want to hire smokers and while he has a job now, he may seriously hurt any chances for promotion or do harm to his career, especially being in sales in front of people. He is going to meet people and try to do business with and they are going to be very averse to smelling smoke on him. I know lots of business people who view that with quite a bit of disdain and you cannot cover up the smell of that. Not to lecture, but just the way things are.
As for your goals of getting a new mattress and Washer /dryer. - No. Sorry. You cannot afford it and go to school. Go to an auction and get a mattress. Yeah, you won't die from a used mattress. I have used them and oh well. Look for something clean and many auctions are selling pretty decent hardly used mattresses from guest bedrooms, etc. You can get them for next to nothing.
And, for washer/dryer. Go buy a used scratch and dent and older model. look in the paper. Who cares what it looks like as long as it works and washes your clothes. The newer ones are plastic junk anyway and the older washer and dryers are metal work horses.

[ktmarvels]

I agree with most of the people here. While it is best to give up many of your "bad habits", there are things you can do now that will minimize the financial impact they are currently having. Buying cans of soda at the grocery store, using redbox or getting netflix, and buying semi-prepared food from the grocery store (frozen dinners, pizza, rotisserie chicken, etc).

You are getting on the right path, and the first step is realizing what you are doing and where you are spending your money. Now you can try and cut back the spending and work on an emergency fund. Most people here recommend $1,000 and you are already half way there!

[snshijuptr]

For the movie situation you should look for free movie codes for Blockbuster Express and Redbox. These two put out codes so often that you can basically live off of them. Free Stuff Times sometimes posts codes, but I'm sure there is a better website. If you can hook your computer up to your tv, you can also use Hulu (free), Netflix Instant ($8/month), Amazon Video (look for codes for free credit or use Earn Free Stuff by Getting Reward Points at Swagbucks.com to earn credit), Walmart Video, etc to stream movies onto your tv. Usually this requires the purchase of $25 worth of cords, but the movie and tv savings can be huge.

[Slug]

What do you expect your salary to be post-graduation?

[skydivingchic]

The others have given good advice. I wanted to chime in on the health insurance issue. I realize it is expensive, but you really can't afford to not have it. DBF and I are two young, healthy people, but a couple years ago he had an accident. He was life-flighted to a hospital with a trauma unit and was there for 5 days. Initial costs were over $100,000 and he will have ongoing, expensive costs for the rest of his life. We would likely be looking at bankruptcy if it weren't for the health insurance.

There is another regular poster on this board who is in her mid-thirties. Her and her husband both are young, healthy people but both have required surgery in the last ~1 year for tumors. You are not invincible and split seconds can change a life forever. Shop around on the private market for high deductible health plans - maybe you can beat the employer plan, though as a smoker, your husband may not get very good rates (one more good reason to quit).

[Scanner]

Yes, the health insurance question kinda caught my attention to. . .as this was a problem that Obamacare tried to tackle but the GOP resisted -

Should a person have a right, as part of a line item monthly expense, to not buy a certain product?

Right now, there are some high priced lawyers of the GOP challenging that on your behalf - that you have the right to go bare and Joe Taxpayor will pick up the tab if you become injured or ill, stating this part of Obamacare was unsconstitutional.

Right now, you do still have that right. . .I am not sure when Obamacare imposes a tax penalty/fine upon you for going bare.

[Hector]

I think your expenses are reasonable. Of course there is something that we can always cut, but we dont wanna be so frugal that makes living normal life very hard. If I were you, I would spend my energy towards getting higher paying job.

[cschin4]

Yes, the health insurance question kinda caught my attention to. . .as this was a problem that Obamacare tried to tackle but the GOP resisted -

Oh please. Are we going to start a political debate? Just throwing in any willy nilly form of healthcare doesn't mean everyone should support any plan that someone throws together, especially if it doesn't make sense, is going to cost more in the long run, and ultimately will deny people care. Nuff said.

[Scanner]

Well, that's the kind of funny thing. . .the ironic thing. . .and the reason I referenced the politics of it - it probably sticks in the craw of the forum but Obama and his cabinet has probably forgotten more about this issue than you'll ever remember yet the judgment from the feckless and great unwashed is that Obamacare is "willy-nilly", as if a 1 page law was going to solve this.

The reason I brought this up is this IS an issue, that fits right into a young couple struggling.

Her choice comes down to this:

1. They can go bare. If they get sick, more than likely, the taxpayor will end up footing the bill after bankruptcy.

2. They can get coverage. . .and probably slowly slip into bankruptcy as they can't seem to afford the coverage. There may be room to trim discretionary spending off of their budget but it doesn't seem to be a whole lot of wiggle room.

Finally, to help the original poster to decide what to do - I would follow Obamacare on the web and what's scheduled to go into effect. Yes, you can go bare, but right now, as it stands, you will suffer a tax penalty/fine at the end of the year because of the potential risk to the taxpayor you present by going bare. This was the idea behind the law anyway but it is being challenged on Constitutional grounds. I am not sure if that goes into effect by 2012 or when. . .you can decide. . .no judgement. . .maybe the tax fine is cheaper. You may have one year reprieve on that.

Yes, these political issues have a bottom line budget effect that's playing out right before us.

[cschin4]

Why is it always the govt's problem to solve our problems? They have money to eat out, pay for cell phones, and buy cigs but don't want to pay for their own health care? But, i am supposed to pay for mine and then turn around and subsidize others who don't want to put a dent in their monthly bills? Maybe I would like to keep the money I shell out every month for health insurance for cigs, fast food and cell phones too.

[Frugal]

You should consider developing a reasonable grocery budget, and planning out ways each week to use coupons and apply them to local store sales to double and sometimes triple your coupon value by combining coupons. I have figured out how to do this myself.

You can also develop a multi-faceted budget for entertainment, etc. Certain people I know - ahem- like to rent movies, but I prefer to save money by either viewing them for free on Netflix, or at the local library. $4 or $5 per movie night AT HOME, when a lot of people are making under $15 or $20 right now, is astoundingly high! You might reevaluate how large of a chunk of your budget entertainment costs are taking up, and find some alternatives and phase out the high-cost items like eating out. If you must eat out and rent movies, try to find some coupons and deals online...

Hope that helps. Good luck with saving!

[Scanner]

CSHIN:

Because if it weren't for the government, many young people would just go bare, get into health dire straights, go to the hospital, not pay the bill and the taxpayor pays for it.

That is EXACTLY, EXACTLY what happens now.

This law is set to change behavior just like you complain about - people will have to buy insurance and forego the cigarettes and soda

Anyway - it's 2014:

Happy Anniversary ObamaCare - tipnews.info

•Requires most U.S. citizens to have health insurance, subsidizing those between 133% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Level [$ 89,400 for a family of four by the Federal Register’s 1/20/11 calculation]. Imposes a tax penalty of $695-$2085 for households without insurance, with cost of living adjustments after 2016.

[StudentRN]

Sorry for taking so long to get back here. It's finals week. Thank you so much for all your replies.

To answer a few questions:
1. I am looking at (hopefully) making around $40k per year when I finish school. Nurses in this area start out around $20/hr. So it will really depend on how many hours/week I get hired for.
2. Our phone plan is so high because hubby has to have a smartphone for work, and my school requests (but doesnt necessarily require) that we have Android-capable devices for our NCLEX apps. This means a plan with data package. Now, why on earth hubby's work doesnt reimburse him for a portion, I don't know. I would be totally willing to shop around when our contract is up, but before then it will be a $325 fee to cancel our plan right now.
3. Same issue with the rent. I hate our apt, and am ready to move, but it is a $1250 lease-breaking fee. I tried to negotiate this, but they aren't flexible about it, even if you buy a house or move out of state. The manager said they are struggling in this economy and "can't afford to make exceptions".

I actually really appreciate the perspective offered above on health insurance. I guess we felt safe without it because we are young and in good health, but I don't want other taxpayers covering my butt if I'm ever in an accident. People have encouraged us to sign up for food stamps and Medicaid with our income being so low, but we both feel like we would rather work harder or go without some things than have others paying for our expenses.

Also, as to our car insurance, I think it is so high because we are under 25. That's actually the reduced rate since we got married! I signed up for renters insurance through them just because it was offered and I've used that company for so long. Probably time to start shopping around for better rates. Our apt requires a $50,000 policy listing them as the beneficiary.

My parents added us to their netflix account, so that will save us some money!

What a great website this is! I really appreciate all the input.

[cschin4]

You need to take a step back and really, really consider the advice. Why do you "need" such expensive phones? If you need that much "data' at your fingertips, you would be better off with a laptop computer, and he can use Skype which is free to call people, you could put apps on it for school, etc. Sorry, but i can't see how you really need that for nursing school. Yeah, they might recommend it, but i doubt that everyone will have one. And, you should wait and start and get going heavily into the program and then see if you need it.
As for $325 to cancel the phone, so what? Wouldnt' it be better to cancel the phone and pay a month or two fees than keep paying and paying and paying? For $25 a month, you can get a Virgin mobile prepaid phone with unlimited text, data, email, and 300 min. I think the idea that he "needs" his phone this badly in a supposedly low paying job where he isn't remimbursed in anyway may be more his own notion than reality. But, why not at least try? Decide, what he really , really needs to have for work and that's it. Cut off the cell phones and dedicate about 6 months to using a prepaid plan and at least give it a try and see what happens. That really is the only way to change. You can always go back later on to a contract phone, but maybe you can shop for a better deal. And, in reality, maybe he doesn't need the latest smart phone.

[Pansori]

Originally Posted by StudentRN

2. Our phone plan is so high because hubby has to have a smartphone for work, and my school requests (but doesnt necessarily require) that we have Android-capable devices for our NCLEX apps.

I am sorry, RN, but I am not buying this reason. You are going to take your NCLEX once, and you're taking it soon after graduation. There are many ways to study for the exam, but this sounds quite irresponsible of the school to request such a thing. It's almost like telling a physics grad student to get an app to study for his quals, or any grad student to get a droid to study with GRE apps. The idea of an app for the nclex is a great idea... if you can afford it. In your case it sounds wasteful, and if you are very strapped that, to me, would definitely be the thing to go. In the long run you do not need a droid app to study and pass your NCLEX. You want a droid app to study for your NCLEX. If your school is not requiring the app (only suggesting) then I would definitely drop the droid. Now if you don't want to give up your droid and are using the NCLEX app as a way of justifying to keep it... well, that is a whole different thing...

I am also a firm believer in swallowing your pride at the right times. You and your hubby are hard workers, but fact is you are having trouble making ends meet. You are already paying into the food stamp program with your tax money, and there is nothing wrong with utilizing it during lean times.

[couchrobt]

Besides the big phone bill, cutting off on dining out will save you more. The habit will have to stop. I did not say it will be easy, but it has to stop if you really wanted to make good change for you. Slow at first, it will go smoothly in the long run.