Help me lower my budget by 2.8k

[Klesko]

I need to lower my budget from its current 9.8k a month to 7k a month within 60 days.

 

Income Me (5.6k) (2nd Job $600) Wife (2k), so $8.2k a month this is NET. Let me note my wife is a teacher and she wont be paid for two months during the summer. We have enough saved to cover this negative. So just ignore that but be aware of it.

 

Keep in mind the debt below is from 3 major things. We remodeled our house when we bought it using credit cards like salamanders. I agree it was a bad mistake. I also had one really bad investment which cost me 30k. I also had my business partner leave my business in bad shape and I fixed it all with personal credit which was a HUGE mistake I agree. All Credit cards listed below are being paid right at their minimums.

 

Any input is welcome I am open to hearing any options. I know below there are many things I can cut but I want see what people think.

 

1st Mortgage $1,466.00

2nd Mortgage $450.00

Cable/Phone/Internet $175.00 (I require high speed internet for work. Breaks down to 35 internet, 35 phone, 105 cable)

Water $90.00

Power $150.00

Pest Control $45.00 (This expires in 3 months, I wont renew it)

Cell Phones $90.00 (required for work, 2 phones)

1st Car $470.00 (New car upside down 5-6k)

1st Fuel $230.00

2nd Car $460.00 (New lease, 34 months left)

2nd Fuel $180.00

Insurance $150.00

Personal Loan $175.00 (This loan is paid off in 3 payments)

LOC $250.00

Student Loan 1 $100.00

Student Loan 2 $90.00

Student Loan 3 $50.00 (Paid off in 8 payments)

Court $300.00 I had a personal suite against me 3 years ago, 2 years are left on this, cant get out of it.

CC 1 $80.00 (12%)

CC 2 $150.00 (12.9%)

CC 3 $150.00 (12.9%)

CC 4 $0.00

CC 5 $50.00 (14.9%)

CC 6 $0.00

CC 7 $100.00 (0%)

CC 8 $230.00 (10.9%)

CC 9 $230.00 (10.9%)

CC 10 $100.00 (0%)

CC 11 $425.00 (9.9%)

CC 12 $175.00 (8.9%)

CC 13 $400.00 (11.9%)

CC 14 $80.00 (12.9%)

CC 15 $125.00 (14.9%)

CC 16 $50.00 (0%)

CC 17 $150.00 (29.99%, note this has 1k balance left on it. )

CC 18 $100.00 (21.99%, was 0% for 6 months)

CC 19 $105.00 (14.9%)

CC 20 $0.00

Health Insurance $420.00

Storage $71.00 (we plan to get rid of this)

Old CO $107.00 (4 payments left)

Day Care $700.00

Groceries $400.00

Eating Out $200.00

Misc $300.00

 

Total about $9,859.00

 

I need to reduce this to about 7k a month.

[whoneedscredit]

Do you have your balances on each cc? That could help with a debt snowball plan? How much cash do you have on hand?

[HereKittyKitty]

Cable/Phone/Internet $175.00 (I require high speed internet for work. Breaks down to 35 internet, 35 phone, 105 cable)

Can you get rid of the phone and just use your cellphones? Also, is $105 the rate for basic cable? I have a triple-package like what you're describing and my total for all three is only $99/mo.

 

 

Eating Out $200.00

That needs to go. Since you're so strapped for cash, save restaurants for special occasions only.

[Operation_Home_Ownership]

I need to lower my budget from its current 9.8k a month to 7k a month within 60 days.

 

Income Me (5.6k) (2nd Job $600) Wife (2k), so $8.2k a month this is NET. Let me note my wife is a teacher and she wont be paid for two months during the summer. We have enough saved to cover this negative. So just ignore that but be aware of it.

 

Keep in mind the debt below is from 3 major things. We remodeled our house when we bought it using credit cards like salamanders. I agree it was a bad mistake. I also had one really bad investment which cost me 30k. I also had my business partner leave my business in bad shape and I fixed it all with personal credit which was a HUGE mistake I agree. All Credit cards listed below are being paid right at their minimums.

 

Any input is welcome I am open to hearing any options. I know below there are many things I can cut but I want see what people think.

 

1st Mortgage $1,466.00

2nd Mortgage $450.00

Cable/Phone/Internet $175.00 cut the cable portion down to basic

Water $90.00

Power $150.00

Pest Control $45.00 (This expires in 3 months, I wont renew it)

Cell Phones $90.00 cut 1 line, since ur partner is gone OR if u decide to keep this downgrade the house phone--dont keep both

1st Car $470.00 (New car upside down 5-6k)

1st Fuel $230.00 pool errands & structure trips to cut this down

2nd Car $460.00 not familiar with leases, can you return?

2nd Fuel $180.00 connected to above, dont drive it if you cant return it

Insurance $150.00

Personal Loan $175.00 (This loan is paid off in 3 payments)

LOC $250.00

Student Loan 1 $100.00 put in 6 mth derferment

Student Loan 2 $90.00 put in 6 mth derferment

Student Loan 3 $50.00 put in 6 mth derferment

Court $300.00 I had a personal suite against me 3 years ago, 2 years are left on this, cant get out of it.

CC 1 $80.00 (12%)

CC 2 $150.00 (12.9%)

CC 3 $150.00 (12.9%)

CC 4 $0.00

CC 5 $50.00 (14.9%)

CC 6 $0.00

CC 7 $100.00 (0%)

CC 8 $230.00 (10.9%)

CC 9 $230.00 (10.9%)

CC 10 $100.00 (0%)

CC 11 $425.00 (9.9%)

CC 12 $175.00 (8.9%)

CC 13 $400.00 (11.9%)

CC 14 $80.00 (12.9%)

CC 15 $125.00 (14.9%)

CC 16 $50.00 (0%)

CC 17 $150.00 (29.99%, note this has 1k balance left on it. )

CC 18 $100.00 (21.99%, was 0% for 6 months)

CC 19 $105.00 (14.9%)

CC 20 $0.00

In general, cut up or dont carry anymore then snowball these CCs down--either eliminate small balances quickly or start with highest int & digg out slowly

Health Insurance $420.00

Storage $71.00 cut, time for a yard sale

Old CO $107.00 (4 payments left)

Day Care $700.00 family/friend can temp watch lil one in turn for less than this fee or barter service? each 1 help 1 kinda arrangement

Groceries $400.00 coupon time

Eating Out $200.00 cut

Misc $300.00 cut, time to BB lunch & keep receipts to further trim misc spending

 

Total about $9,859.00

 

I need to reduce this to about 7k a month.

[whoneedscredit]

What hkk said.

 

You are strapped for cash, no eating out. Cut back on cable. No $300 worth of "other" expenses. Get rid of the cells or landline, cut back the cable. Watch power/water consumption.

 

I have some experience trimming a budget to the bone, but given what you are facing, I don't see a whole heck of a lot else to trim.

 

Depending on how much ready cash you have you could get rid of the following pretty quickly:

$135 - pest control (3mo @$45 each), pay out contract and be done with it - suggest paying out so that you don't get hit with fees

$525 - personal loan (4mo@$175 each)

$425 - old CO (4mo@$107 each)

$1000 - CC 17 (saves $150/month)

$2085 pay out now, saves you $477 month

 

Have you checked into putting your student loans into a hardship deferment? That would save you $240/month.

 

With wife not working through the summer take baby out of daycare and save $1400. Do you have any family that would be willing to babysit? Does your wife's school system offer any kind of childcare option for the teachers?

 

Still, from the look of your budget, bk 7 or bk 13 may be your best option.

[nhansard]

I don't know what your scores are, but have you looked into getting a debt consolidation loan, you may be able to get some of the higher interest rate CC debt onto a lower rater loan.

 

You said you are upside down in Auto1, what APR and how long is left? I know you are in with navy, you may be able to refi it at a lower rate or longer terms to reduce your monthly payment.

 

The deferment of the SL's is a great idea. If they are fed loans that shouldn't be an issue at all. I don't know how private lenders are on those sort of things.

 

I don't know where you live, but ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX are all free via antenna. Ditch the $100 cable bill.

 

I know you are planning a refi on the house, is there a reason you can't do that NOW rather than in 4 months?

[Klesko]

Few things

 

I have 9k cash on hand. I will get a little extra this and next month. (Aprox 1800 + 1500), I will add this to the reserve fund.

 

You said you are upside down in Auto1, what APR and how long is left? I know you are in with navy, you may be able to refi it at a lower rate or longer terms to reduce your monthly payment.

 

1st Auto is 6.9% through NFCU

2nd Auto is 1.9% lease

 

I traded our existing autos in to lower our payments from $1300 a month to the current $940 a month. Also with the new cars our auto insurance went from 200 a month to 150. Having one car is not an option since I drive 70 mile a day in the opposite direction of my wife.

 

I know you are planning a refi on the house, is there a reason you can't do that NOW rather than in 4 months?

 

I am going to try and do either a refi or refi with cash out as soon as I can. I have 3 collections on my report which are old and unpaid and I am trying to get them off. I had one pop up on me the other day which I KNOW is not mine so I am confident I can get it removed but how long that takes is unknown. The letters have already went out.

 

I don't know what your scores are, but have you looked into getting a debt consolidation loan, you may be able to get some of the higher interest rate CC debt onto a lower rater loan.

 

I thought about doing a personal loan but my payments will stay the same so no real point.

 

With wife not working through the summer take baby out of daycare and save $1400. Do you have any family that would be willing to babysit? Does your wife's school system offer any kind of childcare option for the teachers?

 

We will not be using daycare for the 2 months during the summer she is not working so that will help but I need the budget to be 7k including that. They dont offer anything for teachers in our area.

 

cut 1 line, since ur partner is gone OR if u decide to keep this downgrade the house phone--dont keep both

 

The 2 cell phones are mine and my wifes.

 

Still, from the look of your budget, bk 7 or bk 13 may be your best option.

BK7 isnt an option with our income. BK13 will protect us from creditors but it wont lower our payments.

 

Other

 

To get the stupid digital phone our cable company requires we have the digital pack or whatever which is a min of 69.99 a month. I am looking at voip . com which offers something for 16.99 a month if you pay in advance.

 

I am going to look into deffering those student loan payments.

[whoneedscredit]

9K cash reserves are great. That sounds like what you will need to cover your necessities, food, shelter, power.

 

Can you take some of that and payoff your lower balance items, so that you can get rid of those pmts?

 

Have you tried upping your deductibles on your auto insurance? That should lower your monthly premiums. What about health insurance? Who carries that? You or DW? Can either of you get health insurance through work? I would think the teacher's union has a pretty decent plan.

 

Downgrade your cell plan to bare minimum. Most companies will allow for a rate plan change within contract.

 

Why do you need digital phone if you both have cell phones? You should be able to cut your house phone as well as cable.

 

Can you take some of your reserve and payoff the old collections and hit your bank up for a refi?

 

For the future, do you have family in the area that could help with childcare?

[Operation_Home_Ownership]

I have the same service going with my cable/internet/phone...but believe me you dont have to do a dayum thing you dont want to!

 

When I called to downgrade my service to cut back my expenses, they hard-balled me on keeping the package blah blah blah, I said NO DICE! then all of a sudden the CSR was able to reduce the individual cost of each piece of the service saving me a little over the exact amount I would for ridding myself on the portions I didnt need which is the relief I was looking for!

 

Its worth a shot to not be led by these folks, they DO NOT know your crisis so stick to your guns if you are not ready to break out the gameboards & books to replace TV as entertainment.

 

In the very least, basic cable, keeping house phone OR the cell phones (revisit reducing plans also) would be beneficial to you--not both.

[Jen23514]

are you getting any 0% BT offers in the mail?

 

you have $9k in the bank? I would snowball some of those debts FAST, starting with the personal loan to free up that $175 to pay off other things.

 

 

defer your loans if possible. when you wife gets out of the school for the summer, try NOT to use the car (market 1x a week, etc). Might make her a little stir crazy, but you have to save on fuel.

 

have you considered how much you'd save if you got down to one car and maybe had your wife stay home for a year?

[Jen23514]

I don't know what your scores are, but have you looked into getting a debt consolidation loan, you may be able to get some of the higher interest rate CC debt onto a lower rater loan.

 

I thought about doing a personal loan but my payments will stay the same so no real point.

 

 

I'd have to see your math to agree with that statement.

[54regcab]

Won't the $700 daycare bill go away for DW won't be teaching for those 2 months?

$265 for a communications bill is nuts, get this cut back to under $100 total.

$90 seems steep for water.

$420 is high for health insurance, is a "gold plated" package or just expensive as heck health care for the self employed/small business employee?

 

Even with an awesome income (good job !!) you're still running in the red. Lifestyle cuts needed if you are to "get out of the hole".

[Klesko]

are you getting any 0% BT offers in the mail?

 

you have $9k in the bank? I would snowball some of those debts FAST, starting with the personal loan to free up that $175 to pay off other things.

 

 

defer your loans if possible. when you wife gets out of the school for the summer, try NOT to use the car (market 1x a week, etc). Might make her a little stir crazy, but you have to save on fuel.

 

have you considered how much you'd save if you got down to one car and maybe had your wife stay home for a year?

 

My utilization is hurting bad right now. Wife is at 90% and I am at 75% and I have some dings on my report still so no real 0% offers which are greater then 1-2k.

 

The 9k in the bank is there to cover the negative I know we will have during the summer. I do Agree with paying the small things off though and planned to do so.

 

I work pretty far away and my wife needs access to a car during the day. So one car isnt much of an option, I looked pretty deep into that before trading the old car in. Plus doing this would eat at least 5k in reserve to save 470 a month. Her not working saves us 700 for daycare, 150 in fuel but we lose her health insurance so add in 175 a month for health insurance so we actually lose about 1300 a month. Even if we got rid of the 2nd car we still lose 830 a month without her working.

[whoneedscredit]

<<we lose her health insurance so add in 175 a month for health insurance >>

 

So your wife carries health insurance? Why are you accounting an extra $420 in your budget for health insurance?

[Klesko]

I don't know what your scores are, but have you looked into getting a debt consolidation loan, you may be able to get some of the higher interest rate CC debt onto a lower rater loan.

 

I thought about doing a personal loan but my payments will stay the same so no real point.

 

 

I'd have to see your math to agree with that statement.

 

 

A personal loan for 50k which is the max I could find. NFCU qualified me for 12.9%, 60 months when I asked them about it. The payment would be $1135.10 a month on that loan. Doing simple math, most cards require a 2% payment per month so 50k = 1k a month payment. So my payments actually go up doing the personal loan.

[Jen23514]

I need to lower my budget from its current 9.8k a month to 7k a month within 60 days.

 

Income Me (5.6k) (2nd Job $600) Wife (2k), so $8.2k a month this is NET. Let me note my wife is a teacher and she wont be paid for two months during the summer. We have enough saved to cover this negative. So just ignore that but be aware of it.

 

Keep in mind the debt below is from 3 major things. We remodeled our house when we bought it using credit cards like salamanders. I agree it was a bad mistake. I also had one really bad investment which cost me 30k. I also had my business partner leave my business in bad shape and I fixed it all with personal credit which was a HUGE mistake I agree. All Credit cards listed below are being paid right at their minimums.

 

Any input is welcome I am open to hearing any options. I know below there are many things I can cut but I want see what people think.

 

1st Mortgage $1,466.00

2nd Mortgage $450.00

Cable/Phone/Internet $175.00 (I require high speed internet for work. Breaks down to 35 internet, 35 phone, 105 cable)

Water $90.00 - - - is this accurate? does that include trash and sewer? that is almost 3 mos of usage for us

Power $150.00

Pest Control $45.00 (This expires in 3 months, I wont renew it)

Cell Phones $90.00 (required for work, 2 phones)

1st Car $470.00 (New car upside down 5-6k)

1st Fuel $230.00

2nd Car $460.00 (New lease, 34 months left)

2nd Fuel $180.00

Insurance $150.00

Personal Loan $175.00 (This loan is paid off in 3 payments)

LOC $250.00

Student Loan 1 $100.00

Student Loan 2 $90.00

Student Loan 3 $50.00 (Paid off in 8 payments)

Court $300.00 I had a personal suite against me 3 years ago, 2 years are left on this, cant get out of it.

CC 1 $80.00 (12%)

CC 2 $150.00 (12.9%)

CC 3 $150.00 (12.9%)

CC 4 $0.00

CC 5 $50.00 (14.9%)

CC 6 $0.00

CC 7 $100.00 (0%)

CC 8 $230.00 (10.9%)

CC 9 $230.00 (10.9%)

CC 10 $100.00 (0%)

CC 11 $425.00 (9.9%)

CC 12 $175.00 (8.9%)

CC 13 $400.00 (11.9%)

CC 14 $80.00 (12.9%)

CC 15 $125.00 (14.9%)

CC 16 $50.00 (0%)

CC 17 $150.00 (29.99%, note this has 1k balance left on it. )

CC 18 $100.00 (21.99%, was 0% for 6 months)

CC 19 $105.00 (14.9%)

CC 20 $0.00

Health Insurance $420.00

Storage $71.00 (we plan to get rid of this)

Old CO $107.00 (4 payments left)

Day Care $700.00

Groceries $400.00

Eating Out $200.00

Misc $300.00

 

Total about $9,859.00

 

easily you can cut out $500 with the misc and eating out. BUCKLE DOWN.

 

you said above if your wife wasn't working, you'd have to pay $175/mo in insurance., but here it is $450......????? so insurance would be cheaper if your wife didn't work?

[larson0818]

I don't know what your scores are, but have you looked into getting a debt consolidation loan, you may be able to get some of the higher interest rate CC debt onto a lower rater loan.

 

I thought about doing a personal loan but my payments will stay the same so no real point.

 

 

I'd have to see your math to agree with that statement.

 

 

A personal loan for 50k which is the max I could find. NFCU qualified me for 12.9%, 60 months when I asked them about it. The payment would be $1135.10 a month on that loan. Doing simple math, most cards require a 2% payment per month so 50k = 1k a month payment. So my payments actually go up doing the personal loan.

Your minimum payments on CC (from 1st post) total $2700, will all the CC fit into the 50k loan? (it sounds as if they won't...) What are your balances?

 

ETA: I noticed your $1,000 CC 17 has a minimum of $150... so your 2% "simple math" is bunk.

Edited April 21, 2008 by larson0818

[Operation_Home_Ownership]

Klesko I am vibing that you are an intelligent fellow, but in general your math is reading as wack-a-doo!

 

I want to assist, but the figures are moving targets response to response.

[Klesko]

you said above if your wife wasn't working, you'd have to pay $175/mo in insurance., but here it is $450......????? so insurance would be cheaper if your wife didn't work?

 

Sorry that number is wrong. I copied it from the wrong section of my budget. Its supposed to be $275 a month, if we add my wife if she werre to stop working then add 175 to that so 450 a month without her working.

[Klesko]

Your minimum payments on CC (from 1st post) total $2700, will all the CC fit into the 50k loan? (it sounds as if they won't...) What are your balances?

 

ETA: I noticed your $1,000 CC 17 has a minimum of $150... so your 2% "simple math" is bunk.

 

Total CC debt is APROX 120k, I will update the list above.

 

Sorry there are 2 of the smaller ccs I am paying more then the min on to try and get them paid off. For example CC 17 is a dell account in which 1k is owed and I am paying 150 a month to get it paid off because of the interest rate.

[Klesko]

I guess I cant exit the first post so here is the CC list with amount owed

 

CC 1 $80.00 (12%) 3400

CC 2 $150.00 (12.9%) 9800

CC 3 $150.00 (12.9%) 14900

CC 4 $0.00

CC 5 $50.00 (14.9%) 3750

CC 6 $0.00

CC 7 $100.00 (0%) 2300

CC 8 $230.00 (10.9%) 11900

CC 9 $230.00 (10.9%) 11900

CC 10 $100.00 (0%) 2700

CC 11 $425.00 (9.9%) 22400

CC 12 $175.00 (8.9%) 9700

CC 13 $400.00 (11.9%) 16000

CC 14 $80.00 (12.9%) 1900

CC 15 $125.00 (14.9%) 4900

CC 16 $50.00 (0%) 1500

CC 17 $150.00 (29.99%, note this has 1k balance left on it. ) 1000

CC 18 $100.00 (21.99%, was 0% for 6 months) 4600

CC 19 $105.00 (14.9%) 4100

CC 20 $0.00

[JayTwo]

I'd recommend first getting your spending down to the 8.2k figure (then worry about getting it down to 7k in the future), since this is where your income is after the summer (and you've got the shortfall covered with savings). First things first.

So roughly 1700 comes from:

 

100 from your cable/phone/internet (and maybe a bit from changing your cell plans)

45 pest control --gone after 3 more months

50 car insurance --raise deductibles, shop other companies for better rates

175 personal loan --gone after 3 more payments

70 storage

150 cc17 --either will be paid off within a year or needs to be paid off sooner if you have enough savings left for emergencies

500 eating out/groceries/misc

 

So the above is about 1100.

Ok, just saw the 175 from the health insurance.

That makes almost 1300 above.

 

I think something more needs to be done about the cars/gas. Rid of the lease and get a cheaper car for you?

Could anything creative be done about at least part of the daycare? (like having a friend watch your child half time in exchange for watching their child half time when it'd work for you/your wife -eg. evenings/weekends)

Could you save 50/month from you utilities by being super-efficient with usage?

 

Would you qualify for an auto re-fi with Penfed? Their rate is currently 4.5%.ETA: actually it's currently 4.25%

 

Looking ahead: you are spending over 1200/month in interest charges on these credit cards. This is an area to tackle with a lot of planning (and I don't like the passive b/k idea from your other thread). BK13? Hardship plans with the credit card companies (them knowing it's that or bk)?

Edited April 21, 2008 by JayTwo

[Jen23514]

can you wife get a summer job? something in the evenings so you can avoid daycare? target? costco?

[melikey]

Klesko I am vibing that you are an intelligent fellow, but in general your math is reading as wack-a-doo!

 

I want to assist, but the figures are moving targets response to response.

I am a little lost as well. Is this right. Your net monthly income is going to be $7000 mo. while DW is off work for two months. Your bills will be $9800 mo. minus $700 due to no child care expense. You will have more than 10k in savings. That should get you through the two months easily. Did I get it wrong? Are you just trying to survive while she's out?

[Klesko]

I'd recommend first getting your spending down to the 8.2k figure (then worry about getting it down to 7k in the future), since this is where your income is after the summer (and you've got the shortfall covered with savings). First things first.

So roughly 1700 comes from:

 

100 from your cable/phone/internet (and maybe a bit from changing your cell plans)

45 pest control --gone after 3 more months

50 car insurance --raise deductibles, shop other companies for better rates

175 personal loan --gone after 3 more payments

70 storage

150 cc17 --either will be paid off within a year or needs to be paid off sooner if you have enough savings left for emergencies

500 eating out/groceries/misc

 

So the above is about 1100.

Ok, just saw the 175 from the health insurance.

That makes almost 1300 above.

 

I think something more needs to be done about the cars/gas. Rid of the lease and get a cheaper car for you?

Could anything creative be done about at least part of the daycare? (like having a friend watch your child half time in exchange for watching their child half time when it'd work for you/your wife -eg. evenings/weekends)

Could you save 50/month from you utilities by being super-efficient with usage?

 

Would you qualify for an auto re-fi with Penfed? Their rate is currently 4.5%.

 

The cars are new, like 2 months old so cant really do much with them. I traded in both of our expensive cars 2 months ago, our payments went from 1300 to 940 and insurance went from 200 to 150. About 45 days ago ago I took a 30k investment loss and 25k more from my partner leaving the business so while I thought we were ok with just lowering the car payments I didnt know.

 

I can maybe do something with the day care when my wife goes back to work I will start looking into that.