New to This

[auntieem]

Ok, been distracted on how to get my finances in good working order here.My goal is to pay off my debts. Question is how do i go about it . A little help would be so nice or just someone to see me through this. I get paid every week so do i take all my bills and total then for the month? Then divide by 4? Have a few questions but this will be a start. Thanks

[Snoopy2645]

Re: Knew to This

well I wood try to pay each bill as it comes like rent water heat stuff like that & for debt I would transfer it all to as low as possible rates & pay any extra straight to that & tell its paid off cut everything to the bare bones!

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Knew to This

I would write down when each bill gets paid, then have each check pay for that bill, withthe leftover needed for big ones well written down as leftover for.....

That way you know how much money you have each week.

OK now that I think about it I would rather just ignore the checks and pay bills once a month, with all the checks from last month, but that would require some spare loot to make sure it was all there at the right time. I do this, I ignore checks no matter when they come in bills go out automatically, and I 'balance' the thing when my statement from the bank comes in and that is when I pay the CC and tell DH if we have spare loot for food and stuff. but I then I have no discrecionary spending form the checks, only from gift money.

[jmjj215]

Re: Knew to This

I would get on a written budget.

[auntieem]

Re: New to This

ok to start i do have everything written down. I know what we make and what comes out. Most of our bills come out the first of the month. except two of them. We have our mortgage that we pay weekly we did this because we get paid weekly.He gets paid one week i get paid the next,and so on..Then we have a loan payment due the second week of the first of the month and thats what hurts so when u have the loan coming out plus that week the mortage well u know we r broke. So thats why i was wonder how do i break these down per pays? I did try to move the payment but it doesn't matter where u move the payment its the same..Loan then mortgage or something else

[terry1156]

Re: New to This

Can you share your entire budget with us? It's kind of hard to make suggestions when we don't know where the money is currently going and how much is coming in. If you're willing to share, I'm sure the members can give a lot of suggestions of where you might be able to save more so that the payments don't leave you broke.

[auntieem]

Re: New to This

I'll start with our pays. i get paid every two weeks 700.bring home
Hubby's paid every two weeks 600-700 bring home but could var. lower or higher. Our bills are as follows..monthly mortage 865.00 loan 466.00
cable/internet 116.00 car ins 107. house ins 60.00 cell phones 70.00.house phone 56.00 oil heated about 200/mth . Lights 100. master card 10.00 balance of 600. Bills oweing now would be an over draft of 1000. Nothing is late or behind but seem to live in the over draft.
Thats about the break down except two children 13,15. not counting gas , groceries thats about it. Does this help i sure hope. Anything i might have forgotten just ask.

[Snoopy2645]

Re: New to This

Could you get rid of the cell phone or house phone say one or the other & $300 a month for heat & lights seems high I would try to figure out why. I myself 2 times in 2 months have gotten our electric down by at least $100 just by calling & getting different plans. Also could the kids get jobs or babysit things like that just so they can buy things they need & want maybe they already do that I dont know. The other is try to start cooking by scratch at the beginning its an investment with staples but it goes along ways!!! I have started doing that & its so much better the food is way better tasting & the kids love it & we are saving alot on the grocery bill. Also could you see if the kids qualify for free or reduced meals at school maybe worth a shot to ya never know!!

[auntieem]

Re: New to This

Well about the cell phone we do have two because he works all over the place and very hard to track him down and me well i leave for work before he gets home and work evenings he works days
The lights well they work out to be about 170 every 2 months .Yes heat and lights seem high but with the price of oil,which we are hot water oil heated no oil no hot water. We only have the one power company here.Was going to switch the house phone over to eastlink cable but when the power goes off sometimes they have a problem with the phones so rather just stay with what company we have now have never had that problem of no phone. The kids my oldest girl has gotten a job every summer babysitting and made good money and is very good with her money has spent on things she wanted and even bought her brother things this summer. As to working now they r both in school he's in gr 8 and she's in gr 10 so i don't want anything to get in the way of there schooling. Not to shoot your ideas down i really apprectiate any feed back but just wanted to show u that there has been consideration to your thoughts thank you.

[terry1156]

Re: New to This

If you really want to save, there is going to be some inconvenience involved. It may not be as convenient as your set up right now, but you don't need a landline and cell phones in my opinion. One of them can go. cell phones would be my choice with a prepaid card to conserve minutes and only use it when you really need to.

Cable/Internet seems high at $116.00 - you don't need cable at all which can cut out a good portion of that or go down to basic cable at least. Call the cable company to get a better rate. <a href="http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4124">This article shows how</a>. You should also decide if you really need high speed Interenet depending on how much you use the computer and for what purposes.

[auntieem]

Re: New to This

Very true on the cells phone i hardly ever use mine at all. Not able to get rid of them right now becasue we signed on a 3 yr plan have another 2 yrs left.Would have to pay anyway not as much but.
As for the internet well we had dial up that was so hard and costly also missed calls,got booted, so it was costing us more to add the caller id on the computer we just recently switched to hi speed. Well the kids use the computer for projects and stuff and printing things off. They r not able to stay after school were the bus ride is about an hour to get to school now. Well as for the cable welll i have internet hubby has cable . Its like the saying when momma is happy the whole house is happy well same goes for his cable lol. I did how ever start to clip coupons just to get that extra few cents off and yes it saves alot. I also look for coupons on line which i have gotten in the mail but i find mostly of them are for the states so i did find a canada one its save.ca

[terry1156]

Re: New to This

I don't want to be harsh, but you can justify having anything if you want. If you want to reduce your expenses, you're going to have to take a seriously look at some of the suggestions made which it doesn't look like you're ready to do. If you don't want to reduce anything that you have now, then you need to make more money. You have to choose between the two.

[auntieem]

Re: New to This

Yes justifing i always do don't know why always seem that i have an answer but its not always the right one or right way. My question was when i started this post was how do i break these bills down. Do i take all oweing for the month then divide by 4 weeks of pays coming in. I do relize there can be cut backs and yes i'm welling to take them and i have taken some in the past. I guess i was looking for a budget of how to break the bills down so not everything is total one pay or the other. Harsh? u say no not at all your being honest at what your reading from me. But like i said i'm not in a trouble with any of the bills at times we r into a over draft for them two times the first of the month then the second week of the month.

[jmjj215]

Re: New to This

Auntieem,
To your original question: this is how I handle it.

Terry is shooting for fundamentals here - because the implementation is only as good as the fundamentals upon which it is founded.