Dear God In Heaven: my credit card bill

[Scanner]

First. . .some primers:

Acme = supermarket
Wawa = convenience store.

You have no idea what psychological grasp Wawa has on S. Jersey unless you have lived in S. Jersey. It's a combination of gas, convenience, and goodies. Everybody goes to Wawa here. I see half my patients there in the a.m.

It's like the local community center.

Oh.

My.

God.

I confess. . .I never look at my bill in whole other than for errors/weird charges.

Gas $33.59
Acme $129.07
Fire detectors (net order) $41.95
Homeowners Ins. $282.10
Wawa $5.10
McDonalds $5.67
Drug store $19.13
Gas $30.75
Wawa: $3.05
McDonalds $4.82
Wawa: $4.47
Pizza $20.76
IHOP: $20.07
Lowes $9.07
Deli/Produce Outlet $23.30
McDonalds $7.26
Supercuts $12.00
Motherhood: $17.75
Target $137.72
McDonalds $5.17
Florist $44.94
Wawa $4.20
Acme $121.93
Chuck E. Cheese $32.88
Acme $21.45
Lowes $124.05
Dollar Store $23.33
Internet game $5.00
McDonalds $5.31
Wawa $31.00
Baseball league $180.00
Wawa $5.33
Chuck E. Cheese $17.08
Bowling $19.50
BJ's Wholesale $63.91
Supercuts $125.00 (wife got hair colored)
Childrens Musuem Membership $65.00
Wawa $3.29
CVS $13.74
Utla (make-up) $22.06
Car Ins $488.00
McDonalds $9.51
McDonalds!!! $8.75
Wawa $7.21
BJ's Wholesale $64.82
Bowling + Pizza 31.03
Olive Garden 36.06
Wawa 3.68
Gas: 30.00
Walmart 12.82
Target 105.72
Subway 21.14
Acme 89.08
Wawa 3.19
Applebees 18.56
CVS 20.00

TOTAL: $2596.27

I can't beleive all the McDonalds charges. I am so embarrassed.

I don't know how to even approach the subject with DW - she's knows there's a problem but we play hand-off-the-kids with 2 schedules. . .oh. . .it's just an excuse, I know.

I guess I have been pretty good at the front end of managing money (income, bringing it in). . .my rear end needs some work (living a more reflective lifestyle of who we are).

Thanks for letting me go public.

[Scanner]

But hey. . .we got 27 Disney Reward Dollars.

[m3racer]

Ah yes...good old WAWA. You're bringing back nostalgic memories when I trained in Philadelphia. You're right.....the're everywhere.

[Seeker]

Sorted for subtotaling....

Acme $121.93
Acme $129.07
Acme $21.45
Acme 89.08
Applebees 18.56
Baseball league $180.00
BJ's Wholesale $63.91
BJ's Wholesale $64.82
Bowling $19.50
Bowling + Pizza 31.03
Car Ins $488.00
Childrens Musuem Membership $65.00
Chuck E. Cheese $17.08
Chuck E. Cheese $32.88
CVS $13.74
CVS 20.00
Deli/Produce Outlet $23.30
Dollar Store $23.33
Drug store $19.13
Fire detectors (net order) $41.95
Florist $44.94
Gas $30.75
Gas $33.59
Gas: 30.00
Homeowners Ins. $282.10
IHOP: $20.07
Internet game $5.00
Lowes $124.05
Lowes $9.07
McDonalds $4.82
McDonalds $5.17
McDonalds $5.31
McDonalds $5.67
McDonalds $7.26
McDonalds $9.51
McDonalds!!! $8.75
Motherhood: $17.75
Olive Garden 36.06
Pizza $20.76
Subway 21.14
Supercuts $12.00
Supercuts $125.00 (wife got hair colored)
Target $137.72
Target 105.72
Utla (make-up) $22.06
Walmart 12.82
Wawa $3.29
Wawa $31.00
Wawa $4.20
Wawa $5.10
Wawa $5.33
Wawa $7.21
Wawa 3.19
Wawa 3.68
Wawa: $3.05
Wawa: $4.47

[Snave]

You do realize that there are about 29 entries that are under $21. My eyes started to hurt so I may have miscounted. Do you have any cash? It is so easy to put down the plastic, but much more difficult to pay cash. We take out how much cash we will need at the beginning of the month and pay cash for almost everything but utility type bills. That way, we don't end up with $2600 cc at the end of the month. Plus, I see $350 at the supermarket and all of these other food charges for fast food. Hey, I know it is easy and fast - an easy and fast way to put yourself in debt.

[Seeker]

Couldn't edit my sorted list.... oh well.

Looks like your CC is used mostly for entertainment, food, and travel. There's some necessities (auto insurance and homeowners) mixed in --- but is that auto insurance for 1 month? Seems sorta high to me for one month. But I've never lived in New Jersey either.

You have children thrown into the mix... but it looks similar to our credit card bills.... except me & DH probably pay a good chunk more on gasoline -- with California's "special mix." Insurance we pay every 6 months... and usually by check. But we pay our CC in full each month and the total varies from month-to-month (depending on car repair or whatever), but it's not usually as high as yours is.

[myrdale]

A little more sub totaling:

One note I rounded in my head. Tried to read into the list aswell, but I really am just guessing at it!

Food $700-$800
Insurance $770 *every 6 months I assume
Gas $100 (Thats cheap)
Walmart/Target $250
Wholesale $120 (Food/clothes or Stuff?)
Romantic dinner for two at Olive Garden w/ flowers $90
Family Time - Bowling/Restraunts $170 (Lots of family time it seemed, good)
CVS/Drug Store $50
7 Trips to McDonals $45 good breakfast twice a week I assume
Home stuff (Lowes, smokedetectors) $170
Kids memberships $245 *Yearly I assume
Wife's expenses (hair cut/ makeup/ Motherhood) $170

All in all, it's just not all that bad. You got hit with car and house insurance in one month. Surprized these went on credit card, but other than that it all looks reasonable. I dont eat Mcdonals myself but with kids it is part of life or its your breakfast on the way to work in morning or quick lunch. Like I said I sort of had to guess at things.

[Scanner]

yeah, the McDonalds is part my wife getting the kids food on the go - she's pretty good about it. . .not a saint - gets the kids apples/caramel, cheeseburgers and nuggets - tries to cut out the fries. I think the wife is getting coffee and a breakfast sandwich too in the a.m.

CVS was a couple of drug copays and maybe a magazine or two.

The flowers was a congratulations from me to DW for getting an award at work.

2x/week sounds right on McDonalds. . .not proud of that for many reasons.

Yeah, we try to charge everything, or most things to get Disney dollars. Very little I pay cash for anymore - occasional buffalo wings as they don't take credit there. Also some food in the cafeteria at the hospital. I probably take out $25/week. I bet some of that goes into Wawa for a protein bar or a cup of chicken salad from the deli

We were on a bowling kick last month too.

Yes, BJ's is stuff like dish detergent, night-time diapers, razors, that sort of things, - trashbags.

Car ins. is $1850/year - split into 4 payments. I put them on c/c.

I guess this tells me I should have, I don't know. . .40-50 grand for a cash reserve, LOL.

I don't float any consumer debt. . .I don't know. . .a household is so expensive to run. I feel like we need to slow down.

[maat55]

I was about to say, you must be fat.

[markusk]

Ahh... WaWa, I know thee well...

You pay extra for convenience.

I remember several occasions last summer buying 3 ice cream cones and paying almost $9. If you buy in bulk at BJ's, you can get 12 cones for $10. But buying 12 cones means you'll eat 12 cones in one week!

Couple good thing about WaWa off the top of my head:
1) They have good coffee with free International Delights creamers.
2) The ATMs in the stores are free -- no service charge even though your card may not be with PNC Bank

As a side note to Snave: If you only use cash, you most likely are getting overcharged for every purchase (I know it's messed up). I think it was on this website someone mentioned that the fees charged to the merchants by VISA, MasterCard, Amex etc are factored into the cost of everything in all stores, so folks who pay cash vs credit cards (with cash back) may each pay $100 for groceries, but cash users are actully paying more for the groceries because they don't get any cash back at the end of the day.

As long as one has a budget, sticks to it, and pays off cc's at the end of the month, you should be fine.

[Seeker]

I was about to say, you must be fat.

LOL -- not neccessarily. The OP doesn't say how many kids.... but one of the expenses is "Baseball league" and another is "diapers."

Babies food costs quite a bit, especially if on special formula, and so does a food costs for a growing youngster.... and there may be more than the two children.

With all the on-the-go costs (eating out especially) the food costs will be high. Maybe that can be an area to look into, but it really depends on the quantity of members in this household.

To be honest, it doesn't sound like this family "stops" --- I'm imagining very thin active people here!

----

Your 2500 expenses * 6 months = approx 15K for an Emergency Fund. But that probably can be reduced somewhat because the your auto insurance (included in this bill) will only be paid 4 times a year (not monthly). Depends on other factors too.

House insurance also monthly? Mortgage? Rent?

You've listed the CC bill, but there's quite a bit missing in order to really determine what would be adequate for an emergency.

[Snowgirl]

I think that while a bit high on eating out, it's not that bad if you can sustain this lifestyle on your income. We routinely have 2000$ CC bills for 2 adults, between gas, food, necessities, it adds up quick. And put restaurants/take-out, clothing, fun stuff, hair stylist over that, it gets higher. I think the most important is not to go over what you can afford and what you want to spend. I've put all our transactions into Quicken for 6 years, so I can see where I spend, and I've decided to cut back lately, mostly on take-out & groceries, to save up for more vacations! We could afford the 850$/month, but now budget is 750$, and I usually manage around 650$ by planning menus, preparing beforehand, so take-out is more limited. As a bonus, it's much healthier!

[Scanner]

I am, um. . .meaty. . .not fat, LOL. Just the way my real woman wants me.

Like on a football team. . .I'd be a linebacker. . .not a kicker, LOL.

I imagine you kind of like Carson on Queer Eye/How to Look Good Naked, Maat? Is that your build?

[lgslgs]

Looks like you've got a hole in your pocket, Scanner.


One thing that was always helpful for me was to go back and translate dollars spent into the equivalent number of hours I needed to work to earn those $$$.


If I were you, I'd be very curious about how many hours I worked the past month for McDonalds, Wawa, and Target instead of for my own bank account.


Those little hole in the pocket things really do add up. It's good to take a close look at them.

Lynda

[disneysteve]

Scanner, the total really doesn't seem bad to me, probably because mine is no better. I had a blog entry in December about our CC charges for the year. Our total for 2007 was $40,451.45. That averages out to $3,370/month.

$38,454.92 of that total was on our two Chase cards which provide year-end summaries of our charges. Here is how that broke down.

$3,170.49 Travel and Entertainment
$4,155.82 Restaurants
$6,097.19 Automotive
$9,817.46 Merchandise
$7,405.19 Services
$7,808.77 Miscellaneous

Automotive includes both gas and auto service. Merchandise includes groceries. Services includes things like cable, phone, auto insurance, plumber, some charitable donations, etc. Miscellaneous has things like the car registration, medical and dental bills, eye glasses, some other donations and post office charges.