Please look at my budget.

[DaveInPgh]

I didn't mention the tithing because it is her belief that she should do so, and who am I to question that? I think the response to her tithing has been a bit harsh.

On a regular basis here I see comments as to how much people donate to charity, and I refrain from going down that path as well.

What people choose to give away is a personal decision and I would rather focus on the areas of their finances that they are going to be willing to change.

Full disclosure: I do not go to church (or tithe) and I do not make regular contributions to any charity. Nor do I plan to change either. I donate to causes that I feel are worthwhile on a situational basis. Often from fundraisers via friends or families. Those events are a significant enough of an annual expense that I do not feel the need to set up an automatic donation. Not to mention I am a taxpayer and plenty of our tax dollars are redistributed to causes where I have no choice in the matter.

[disneysteve]

I didn't mention the tithing because it is her belief that she should do so, and who am I to question that? I think the response to her tithing has been a bit harsh.

I agree and I hope OP hasn't been scared off by that.

[Petunia 100]

Well, even without tithing, you are spending $200 more than you earn every 2 weeks. That is going nowhere but deeper into debt.

To make this budget break even, you need to increase your take home pay by $382 every 2 weeks. More if a larger income means a larger tithe.

Are you able to work another 24 hours per week? That will get you to breaking even with your current budget.

Your budget seems to be missing things, though. No medical expenses, no clothing expenses, no entertainment, no car maintenance, no home maintenance, no vacations, no gifts (birthday, wedding, graduation, holidays), no clothing. It's not realistic that you will never have these expenses.

So, where can you cut? Only you can say. Don't be discouraged. We all have to start from where we are, and that is exactly what you are doing.

Best of luck to you with your financial goals.

[disneysteve]

Well, even without tithing, you are spending $200 more than you earn every 2 weeks.

Yep, which is why I asked how they currently make ends meet since there is no other debt (like credit cards) listed. They are in deficit spending so the money has to be coming from somewhere, and that's just with what was listed. As you point out, there are plenty of other expenses that aren't listed.

Hopefully, OP will be back and fill in the gaps for us.

[GoodSteward]

I'm going to jump in here and comment on the OP, but I would like to say something in the mean time. On behalf of the forum, I apologize for the harshness against the tithing. Religious obligations are different from others, and they are deeply personal. We need to use tact to state the obvious without attacking.

I am a Christian pastor. I do not bring this up often other than referencing a profession for income. I respect others beliefs and understand this is not a place for policial or religious debating. I have debated the tithes thing on here once, but no longer do and wish others wouldn't as well. This is not the place for that. I appreciate the concern for her on this subject seeing how this is a place for financial advice, but it doesn't help anybody to feel beat down for doing what they feel is right. PM each other if you wish to discuss this. I understand the OP's situation and it does appear that tithes are a "waste" to others. However, it is not when it is being obedient to what you believe. Unless they bring it up to discuss it, we need to leave it alone please.

[james.hendrickson]

I'm going to jump in here and comment on the OP, but I would like to say something in the mean time. On behalf of the forum, I apologize for the harshness against the tithing. Religious obligations are different from others, and they are deeply personal. We need to use tact to state the obvious without attacking.

I am a Christian pastor. I do not bring this up often other than referencing a profession for income. I respect others beliefs and understand this is not a place for policial or religious debating. I have debated the tithes thing on here once, but no longer do and wish others wouldn't as well. This is not the place for that. It doesn't help anybody to feel beat down for doing what they feel is right. PM each other if you wish to discuss this. I understand the OP's situation and it does appear that tithes is a "waste" to others. However, it is not when it is being obedient to what you believe. Leave it alone please.

Well said Goodsteward. There is absolutely nothing wrong with tithing - giving to charity is a good thing that improves human well being.

[GoodSteward]

We are just starting out (dave ramsey). This is what our budget HAS been like. ( i know it needs some attention, that's where you come in) Help me to get a new perspective or what I could do different.

We are a family of 4. His income is $1200.00 bi weeky. My income varies on how much i need to work. I work at home. The LEAST i can make is $220.00 bi weekly (not inlcuding tithes being taken out)

Bi-weeky Budget:

Tithes: $180.00 (again tithes on my money depends on how much I work)
Mortgage: $307.83 (50k balance)
GMI : $152 (car payment 10.2K balance) really upside down values at 4k
State auto $71
Utilities: $127
Internet $ 20
Cell $ 44 (no home phone service)
Child Supp $130
Abeka $43.33 (we homeschool) public school is not an option in the area we live
Lowes CC $40 (balance is $1324)
Groceries $350 this also includes cleaning or personal hygiene items as well.
Gasoline $90
Haircuts $7
Savings $20


I make $11 hr. I usually work 2 hours a day making $110 week/$220 bi-weekly. How much do you think I would need to work to be able to help bring down some debt as fast as we can?

Welcome, and awesome Job taking the step in the right direction for your finances with budgeting and even asking for advice.

Tithes: I do have a question about the tithes. You are paying 180$ as a base line, but your income gross per two weeks, as a baseline that you've listed, would only 142$ in tithes(10%) on that amount (not sure if this is net or gross). Either way, that seems off.

Auto Ins: 140$ a month on one car is high. I pay 126$ on two. Are you able to adjust the coverage? Maybe rates are higher there, or you have something on your driving record?

Abeka: This is an area you may need to adjust. Abeka is good, but high. We use Paces. I only budget 55$ a month and that includes some small trips and supplies here and there. You can also look into Switched on School house used on ebay. It's also pricey up front, but each CD is a years worth of material. We are using Paces because we don't want the kids in front of a computer all day. They need real books and real math/writing skills, IMO.

Groceries: This one will keep coming back like teenage acne. No matter how much you budget, you can't control life. I budget 330 every two weeks with a household of 5, but it is pushing it. We meal plan and shop smart, but if you cut yourself too thin you will end up buying food that isn't healthy and you will find yourself with more health problems(more $$) later. I would just leave it alone, personally.

Based on my figures you are short 163$ every 2 weeks. I assume what this means is that your budget is wishful thinking, and not really what you make happen. I also would assume things like savings, haircuts, and groceries don't get their parts often. Those are things we put off first, and we cut back groceries often to make it work.

Your option here is to increase your hours. From what it looks like you need to work 3 times as much as you currently do to make this work on paper. From there, you can start paying off debt. First, though, I would only pay minimums on everything you have, and make sure you can get this budget to actually work for a couple months, otherwise you will keep tripping up over it and feel you can't do it.

[scfr]

Abeka: This is an area you may need to adjust. Abeka is good, but high. We use Paces. I only budget 55$ a month and that includes some small trips and supplies here and there. You can also look into Switched on School house used on ebay. It's also pricey up front, but each CD is a years worth of material. We are using Paces because we don't want the kids in front of a computer all day. They need real books and real math/writing skills, IMO.

I'm really glad that GoodSteward weighed in on this because I'm not qualified to comment on faith-based homeschool curriculum. Is it possible that you could go with something less expensive and supplement with free resources from your local library (books, clubs, on-line databases, on-line languages courses, etc.)?

[ModestMama]

Okay im back. Its been a busy week!

In response to the tihing: I feel I have wisdom enough to not debate my stance on it and the love of God in me to not get offended either
But I will say that his GROSS income is 180.00 (hence the 180 tithes)
his net is about 1200.00 after taxes and medical coverage.

On the homeschool option. We have tried many things in the past, Paces and others as well as me doing my own thing. And so far Abeka seems to be doing really well for my daughter. We do the dvd program where she watches the teacher teach the class. And we sit down one on one and do math and cursive writing together. Also, I can save the books/manuals to use when my son comes up in grade and that will save money as well. OH! The 86.66 a month is only for 6 months.

You are right in saying there are a lot of expenses not listed. And we havent been adding money to that budget. So far I haven't had to really buy any clothes for my son. Because there are a few kids in our church that are a little older than him and they pass their clothes down to us and its a huge blessing. As far as my daughter, we occasionally have to buy her clothes but mostly if we do have to buy clothes its always from Goodwill or other thrift stores. What usually happens with car maintenance is we just do an oil change when needed and that usually comes out of grocery money.

Oh , He just turned his taxes on, he had them turned off for most of the year to get more on his paycheck. But had to turn them back on so we don't end up owing at the end of the year.

Ah yes, groceries money is usually the first to cut. We have done that many times. Also to note is that he gets bonuses from time to time and also side jobs come up as well occasionally (he does electrical work on the side) and he can work on sat's delivering where I work and make about $100.00.

So between those somehow we seemed to make it lol.
So when he turned his taxes back on i had to re-look at our budget and see how much more we needed to determine how much i needed to work. ( i just started back working 2 weeks ago) At the most I can only do 4 hrs a day.

We have been married 10 years and have only been on vacation 1 time and its was a very unexpensive vacation. We havent been doing birthday parties and if we have extra money we will buy a gift. We actually purchase most of their toys from goodwill as well. Me and my husband don;t really celebrate any special days for each other either. (anniversary or birthdays) Not that *I* wouldn't want too lol but i dont *have* to.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

You really shouldn't be paying any taxes being married and two kids and making as little as you do. I mean other than SS and Medicare you shouldn't be paying much on federal with child tax credit and maybe even earned income credit?

I think the grocery bill is high at $350/biweekly. I pay that much for a family of four maybe $400/biweekly without an aldis and we eat a lot of meat. We also eat a lot of luxury items like cheese, fresh fruits and veggies. It might be worth looking into cutting the budget more. I know I could do a lot less but I prefer not to.

[ModestMama]

You really shouldn't be paying any taxes being married and two kids and making as little as you do. I mean other than SS and Medicare you shouldn't be paying much on federal with child tax credit and maybe even earned income credit?

I think the grocery bill is high at $350/biweekly. I pay that much for a family of four maybe $400/biweekly without an aldis and we eat a lot of meat. We also eat a lot of luxury items like cheese, fresh fruits and veggies. It might be worth looking into cutting the budget more. I know I could do a lot less but I prefer not to.

We eat alot of meat also. We are a low carb family. But not all of this amount is food. It's cleaning supplies bath/kitchens supplies as well. But I am going to try to reduce that number.

Would you know how much taxes he should withold on his check?

[Jluke]

It's cleaning supplies bath/kitchens supplies as well. But I am going to try to reduce that number.

For general purpose cleaners (sinks, toilets, counters) you could try a spray bottle containing water and vinegar. that can save some $

[ModestMama]

For general purpose cleaners (sinks, toilets, counters) you could try a spray bottle containing water and vinegar. that can save some $

Ah thanks for reminding me of this!

[disneysteve]

So between those somehow we seemed to make it lol.

"somehow we seemed to make it" is not a great budgeting plan.

You posted an incomplete list of expenses and even with that, you have a deficit. If you've been managing to make ends meet each month, then your posted income numbers are incorrect. You've got to be earning several hundred dollars per month more than you stated assuming the expense numbers are right.

In order to really get a handle on your situation, you need an accurate accounting of what is coming in and what is going out. I'd suggest you start October 1 and keep a detailed log of every penny that comes in and every penny that goes out. If you can do that for 3 months, that should give you a pretty good idea of what you are dealing with. Be sure to also count in irregular expenses like insurance premiums, registration fees, tax payments, subscriptions, memberships, etc. that might only get paid annually. Once you have that, it will be much easier to sit down and come up with a solid plan going forward.

[GoodSteward]

"somehow we seemed to make it" is not a great budgeting plan.

DisneySteve is right. You need to track everything. “Somehow we seem to make it” is how I lived for several years until I finally hit a bankruptcy when I lost only a “little” income (10-15 hrs a week at 10$ an hour). I could only sustain having that loss for a few months and it was over. You are so close on everything that one small real emergency could wipe you out. You don’t even have room for a payment if you wanted to borrow money for such an emergency. This is the biggest concern in my mind for you. You need to try everything you can to build up a wall of protection for your livelihood, also known as an emergency fund.
We have offered thoughts on this, but based on your response there isn’t really anywhere to adjust for you as far as cutting things (other than food which I still doubt can happen much). I understand you came here looking for feedback, but it sounds like your mind is pretty well set on things for now. It seems to me like your only real option is more income. You have to find a way to get more income, even if you just work part time for 3 or 4 months on a second job (something like delivering pizza when your husband is off to watch your daughter) to build up a savings and maybe get rid of that Lowes card.