Survival budget

[ceejay74]

Coincidentally, I did create a bare-bones budget recently, to see what I'd need in an EF to cover one, three, six months' expenses. (Currently my EF has $33 in it, but it's one of my '09 goals to build it up.)

I was able to cut out $1696 and got it down to $4956. At first it was much lower, but then I realized in an emergency situation we would be well-advised to purchase private health insurance and get our own bus passes (currently funded or discounted by employers) so that we could still get around to look for jobs, etc.

I cut all spending money and savings, over half the grocery/household budget, cable/Internet, Netflix and a couple of the student loans (figure we could defer them for a bit) from our current budget.

I did keep cellphones for reasons mentioned above; we would want to look for jobs, and we would not want to pay hefty cancellation fees (which would come to about 6 months' worth of service, I reckon).

I assumed we would want to keep our condo if at all possible, and stay current on all debt repayment that couldn't be deferred. If we abandoned condo and started renting somewhere, stopped paying CC bills, and didn't get health insurance, we could go to less than $2000, but that would be some major off-the-grid meltdown scenario that I'd do just about anything to avoid.

[jIM_Ohio]

Cell phones might be cheaper than a landline. My wife travels for work and is often 90 minutes away from home in middle of day. On your bare bones budget we could not call to communicate doctors appts or changes in daily schedule (or to pick up diapers on the way home) thus costing more in gas (one of us will have to go back out when she comes home).

The reason I mention "20% of gross" to debt or savings is because that is a decent baseline for living on less than you earn (LBYM).

Take the post (which we have both responded to) on the person with 60k in debt... 20% will mean different things for different people... but 20% will surely get anyone out of 60k in debt. Tougher for the person making 10k, but doable, easier maybe for the person making 90 or 100k... for the person making 100k they could be debt free in 3 years or less... so the 20% gets them somewhere fast.

OTOH having an existing budget and then trying to trim 5%-10%-20% off something which exists becomes an excercise in futility. Some things are east to drop (cable, phone extras, groceries), other things less easy but doable (cars, refinance house, cells) and other things impossible (cars, house) or close to it.

[maat55]

[QUOTE]

No Ding Dongs?! But but but... Ding Dongs man!

I'll admit, adding this one was difficult. But seriously, they are off my menu due to my new years diet.

[MonkeyMama]

[QUOTE=maat55;200341]

It is mentioned at a reduced expense. I didn't list it as a sellable item which is certainly doable in an survival situation.

House payment
Electric (conserving as possible)
Gas (Same)
Food ( Normal budget-50% due to cheap alternatives)
Auto expenses as needed for work or necessity trips only(Liability ins.)
No credit card use at all

YEs, you mentioned auto expenses. Not getting rid of automobiles. Which was my point.

[maat55]

[QUOTE=MonkeyMama;200401]

YEs, you mentioned auto expenses. Not getting rid of automobiles. Which was my point.

That would be a survival tactic in our situation, my business is 17 miles away, in a different city, and she works across town with no public transportation here. Even if she lost her job, finding one would require replacing the car.

Of course, there is selling one and buying cheaper to raise funds for expenses to avoid going into debt. Great option MonkeyMama.

[Daylily]

For example, I would happily put the thermostat down to 67 or less, put on a sweater and put up with being a little chilly. My wife can't tolerate anything less than 70-71. Even at that temp, she is wearing thermal underwear, sweatpants, fleece top and two pairs of insulated socks and sitting under a blanket, still complaining that she's cold.

Hey! You're talking about me there. On the other end, I'd be happy to live without air conditioning in the summer, but my husband has to have it on.

[kork13]

I actually developed my budget a while ago based on levels of necessity (Critical, Necessary, Important, Optional). All of my expenses fit into one of those categories, and if I need to cut down on my spending, the 'optional' stuff goes away, 'important' sees significant cuts, and necessary is reduced where possible. So in a way, I guess I sort of do have a bare-bones budget. I tend to over-think things sometimes, but in this case, it may be to my benefit if something ever happens to my income.

To clarify, 'Critical' includes taxes, rent, and loan payments. 'Necessary' is Auto, Food, and Utilities. 'Important' is Insurance, Charity, and savings. 'Optional' is entertainment and my "mad money". It's general, but makes sense to me...

[Daylily]

I think men are better at the "bare bones" thing(I'll apologize in advance ladies) but everyone can live with a lot less than they may think.

This is NOT true in my house.

[pearlieq]

The only thing missing for us would be medical expenses. We would still have to set aside about $150/month for prescriptions and co-pays.

Oh, and the $1200/month for COBRA. It would be suicide for us to go without that. I would only drop it if things became so horribly dire that we qualified for Medicaid. Before that, I would give up food before I gave up the health insurance.

[Alex_Adviser]

The best suggestion for a survival budget could be to concentrate on the needs and forget the wants. Fulfill all the necessities at the most priority and then only switch to the luxuries or your wants, and that to if your budget allows and after making a sufficient amount of savings for every month.

All the best.................

[tulsa_sr5]

I actually developed my budget a while ago based on levels of necessity (Critical, Necessary, Important, Optional). All of my expenses fit into one of those categories, and if I need to cut down on my spending, the 'optional' stuff goes away, 'important' sees significant cuts, and necessary is reduced where possible. So in a way, I guess I sort of do have a bare-bones budget. I tend to over-think things sometimes, but in this case, it may be to my benefit if something ever happens to my income.

To clarify, 'Critical' includes taxes, rent, and loan payments. 'Necessary' is Auto, Food, and Utilities. 'Important' is Insurance, Charity, and savings. 'Optional' is entertainment and my "mad money". It's general, but makes sense to me...

I like that a lot, it fits with my mindset. I guess I also look at is it just bad for me or is it everyone. ie just me out of a job vs me out of a job + depression level unemployment - I'd handle each differently.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I wouldn't get rid of my cell phone and internet. Cell phones because no home phone, and you want an employer to be able to call you.

Internet to look for jobs and run my blog. It brings in some money, not a ton but enough to pay for internet. And I wouldn't be able to find a job.

[snafu]

When DH was in grad school we rented our house so that the mortgage, utilities and taxes would be covered. In the university town with two tots we rented a basement flat that was one nearly finished space with a bathroom. The kitchen area had a stove & fridge, no cupboards and the owner's washer/dryer was in the midst of our space. Having a toaster was a luxury! It was dirt cheap & easy to walk to class.

Like many university towns, you could walk everywhere. Most of our entertainment was visiting/pot luck dinners with other married couples in our homes. The library was a wonderful source of entertainment . We could swim, bike, take mom and tot classes at school.

If I had to do it today, I would keep a pre paid cell but use the library for internet. I was able to work PT because the landlady liked to babysit our kids...she chose to be their pseudo granny.

[fruitbowlk]

I'm living basily bare boned now. I have a cell phone, the internet and netflix but that's it. If I ever lost my job I would get rid of netflix and the internet but I would need my cell phone.

When I found out I was pregnant with my dd I paid my car off earlier than the pay off date and got my home phone price reduce. I put direct tv on hold for a couple of months and even had them turn off my utilites. (I had a huge bill and I didn't want it to keep compounding). It didn't effect anything. It was to effect my hot water but didn't. After I got my finances under some control I started to turn back on things on gradually. But once we moved into a more pricer apt I start to cut back again.

To me Food,Shelter, transportation, and clothing is a must and everthing is luxury.

[ScrimpAndSave]

I always felt like I survived on a survival budget...but I guess not. I have a gym membership and a cell phone...