I CANNOT Save Money!?

[xxjr89xx]

Hello everyone,

New to the forum, ams it seems like you all have a great community here! I'm in a bit of confusion. I cannot save money, period. I was graciously given me and my wife's first house December of last year, paid for clean and clear, but it seems I had more money when I was renting and making less money. So here is the breakdown of what I make vs expenses, maybe one of you can see where I'm going wrong?

INCOME:

~ 800 Bi-weekly

EXPENSES:

57 Car Insurance Monthly.
220 Cell Phones Monthly (I know this is high, but 2 yr contract ).
285 Monthly for property taxes.
75 Monthly cable and Internet.
~200 Monthly electric.
~120 Weekly food.
~28 Weekly fuel.

Now we also have a baby on the way, so monthly doctor visits. I have insurance for my wife through work but it's still going to be ~4,000 out of pocket. Thanks for any help or ideas some may have.

[greenskeeper]

Do you both work and combined bring in only $800 bi-weekly? You need more income. Even so I figured $170 left over each month according to what you listed. Where is this money going? Is it spent without even knowing it? You could set up a direct deposit from your paycheck to begin building your savings.

[disneysteve]

800 Bi-weekly

This is pretty much your problem right here. You are only making $20,000/year. And is that gross or take home?

Get rid of the cell phones. Contracts can be broken for a fee. It is most likely cheaper for you to pay the fee than to keep paying that monthly cost. Then get some cheap prepaid phones for emergencies only.

Not a huge amount but make sure you have the absolute cheapest cable plan they offer. Most places there is an unadvertised plan that just has local channels and usually runs $10-15/month. Some will tell you to drop cable but the problem is that the price of internet usually spikes when you do that so you don't end up saving any money.

Ultimately, you really need to get a better job, your wife needs a job, you need a second job, whatever is necessary to get yourself up to a living wage.

[xxjr89xx]

800 is after taxes, health, vision, dental, and 401k

[snafu]

Welcome to Saving Advice. Ownership isn't always best, taxes, heat, repair and maintenance are expenses. Adding to suggestions already offered... You list car insurance but how much are you paying for oil changes, repairs [maintenance], personal expenses, laundry, clothes, entertainment, baby supplies? Do you plan routes and errands to reduce driving costs? If you combine house insurance and auto insurance with the same company, you should get a discount.

I suggest you keep a small notebook and write down every dollar spent. You need to know exactly where the money goes. Your income means every dollar must be given a 'job.' Tiny savings or cost avoidances really add up over the months. It can be a fun challenge with a good attitude. With baby expenses coming, DW needs to understand how much you need to stretch the money. Help her create a weekly meal plan using food store's on-line advertisements. Each week use 'loss leader,' like chicken or pork + seasonal vegetables. Home made soup and casseroles [potato or pasta or rice + meat + vegetable + home made sauce] make several meals for example. If you are one day late in paying cable or internet, you will be charged late fees, losing even more money. Worse yet, if you pay late, you'll get charged higher interest rates. It's all connected together.

Money is a two sided monster. 1st what can be done to squeeze as much value as possible from every dollar spent and 2nd... What can you do to bring in more money? What skills have potential for extra earnings? Dog walker, summer yard work, office cleaning for example? Does the house have a room you can rent? You'll give up some privacy for cash.
Are you eligible for any assistance? Food bank? Any amount, however small helps get you past this bad patch.

[Singuy]

Step 1. Terminate your two year contract asap! Get your money back by reselling the phone on ebay(I am assuming you have a nice phone due to such a high 2 year contract.)

Step 2, you get one of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/LG-Optimus-D...#ht_2493wt_986

Renew your tracphone card whenever you need it.

Step 3. Save your tax returns and those 2 extra paychecks/year.

At the end, you should end up with about 5k/year saved.

Another option is to sell the house, keep the money and invest while living in an apt that's cheap. Based on your property taxes, your house is probably worth around 250-300k

[xxjr89xx]

We just got the house in December as a wedding gift, so I would rather not show any disrespect By selling it. As for the phones, yes they are expensive, unfortunately my provider is the only one who offers service in my area. As far as skills, I am a welder, and I plan on starting side work as soon as I can find money to run 220v power to my barn.Always a catch 22

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Have the two of you thought about working on getting your food expenses down? Over a year that $120 per week works out to $520 per month, which sounds high for two people. You might be able to put away and extra $150 a month from food savings.

[Singuy]

We just got the house in December as a wedding gift, so I would rather not show any disrespect By selling it. As for the phones, yes they are expensive, unfortunately my provider is the only one who offers service in my area. As far as skills, I am a welder, and I plan on starting side work as soon as I can find money to run 220v power to my barn.Always a catch 22

Really? Tracphone works on the verizon network CDMA which is widely accepted everywhere, even in the boonies.

[tripods68]

Hello everyone,

New to the forum, ams it seems like you all have a great community here! I'm in a bit of confusion. I cannot save money, period. I was graciously given me and my wife's first house December of last year, paid for clean and clear, but it seems I had more money when I was renting and making less money. So here is the breakdown of what I make vs expenses, maybe one of you can see where I'm going wrong?

INCOME:

~ 800 Bi-weekly

EXPENSES:

57 Car Insurance Monthly.
220 Cell Phones Monthly (I know this is high, but 2 yr contract ).
285 Monthly for property taxes.
75 Monthly cable and Internet.
~200 Monthly electric.
~120 Weekly food.
~28 Weekly fuel.

Now we also have a baby on the way, so monthly doctor visits. I have insurance for my wife through work but it's still going to be ~4,000 out of pocket. Thanks for any help or ideas some may have.

What you got is an INCOME problem. Your budget is already bone dry EXCEPT the phone which you can get rid off to opt instead a lot cheaper phone w/o the 2-year contract. Way too Expensive for your situation. Keep the house with no rent to pay--- that's the good news!!!

ULTImately you have to set a goal to make Twice more than you are making. Either get more hours OT from work or get a 2nd job (pizza delivery at night). With a baby on a way you will struggling more. That's should be your mind set going forward.

[Fishindude77]

I agree you need a better job or a second job.

Another idea to consider would be taking on a renter or room mate if you can live with that situation and have the space. They could get cheap rent and the monthly income to you would be a big help. Could also lead to a lot of hassle and problems which I won't get into, but many young folks do this. needs to be someone you can get along with.

[frugalredhead]

I echo what has already been said about the cell phone (we just paid a $290 termination fee to drop my husband because he has a phone for work, and then I turned around and sold his phone for $305 on Ebay.)

You can definitely do better on the grocery bill. My budget is $100 a week for a family of 4 (4 and 8 year old boys and a husband with a BIG appetite). We only buy what is on sale, haven't eaten a steak in ages, and buy whatever produce is in season. yes my kids got tired of apples and bananas all fall and winter, but I wasn't buying a canteloupe for $4 like I used to. Coupon, coupon, coupon!! Find out when your store marks down their meat and stock up, and don't buy processed foods, cook from scratch instead. Cheaper AND healthier!

[Petunia 100]

I don't see $170 left per month. There are more than 28 days per month, so more than $480 per month for food and more than $112 per month for gas. Plus, there is nothing at all budgeted for home maintenance, home insurance, car maintenance, car registration, medical co-pays, life insurance, clothing, gifts, personal care items (haircuts, etc.), entertainment, or vacation. All of these are very real expenses.

How much are you contributing to your 401k? If more than 10%, I suggest cutting back. You need to get your budget in balance, or you are going to wind up in debt. This will be a vicious circle, as you have no room in your budget for debt payments. You will make your debt payments, then not have money for food or gas, and that will go on credit too.

I also suggest cancelling cable, a cheaper cell phone plan, and a second job.

You've successfully avoided debt so far, which is great. But your budget is simply not sustainable long-term. Do yourself a favor and fix it now.

[AlexM1359]

Try working a second job on the side. Do some freelance work, become a content write and sell your services on websites like odesk. At least you can do this on your own time and not have to go work a evening shift part time job. Who ever wants to do that