How to make ends meet

[Madgrace]

I'm looking for some advice and I thought this would be the best forum for that. My husband and I just started our credit repair journey. We are both 33 and have 3 kids. He works and I stay home with the kids. We had hoped to own our own home by now, but being a young family with not much money, you have to make choices, even if they bite you in the long run. So, my question is, how does everyone else keep the household up, pay bills on time, and maintain your sanity? My husband has a decent income, but we still have a hard time making ends meets. I will give a run down of our monthly stuff.

 

Salary $73,000 yr. Take home about $4000 month.

Rent $850 mo

Car pmt $420

Food $600+

Gas $ 400+

Electric $200

TV/Net $150

Water $85

Insurance $80

Credit repair co $100

 

We have 2 secured CC that we always pay on time. One we hardly use, and the other we PIF, $200, every month. When you put it all on paper, it looks like it my husbands salary should be enough. I always feel like I'm not paying this because I had to skip this last month to pay that. It's very stressful trying to juggle all of this. We really just want to own our own home, but until we come up with a better plan, it isn't going to happen. We live in a tiny 2 bedroom house and we are busting at the seams. Our kids are getting big and we need more space. We have been working to repair our credit, and have made some progress, but just when things seem to be looking up, we get knocked back down.

 

So, with all of that said, what are your suggestions? I'm open to anything. Your thoughts and ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

[gogogophers]

You list about $3000 worth of expenses against a monthly take-home income of $4000... what's happening with that $1000 in between? There might be some room there for squeaking out some savings.

[Glacier]

Maybe start a spreadsheet showing exactly where all the money goes? It is one thing to sit down and say, these are the bills, but until you see where the money is actually going, it is usually a mystery. I do notice you are paying a credit repair company about $100 per month. Have you considered with all the knowledge that is available on this board, that you can accomplish the same as they do, and perhaps more, if you do it yourself? Now, true, some of the $100 will now goes towards postage, but perhaps not all of it.

[lakpr]

I read an article a few years ago on MSN Money Central: "if you feel like you can never make ends meet, the reason could be sitting in your driveway" ...

 

$420 a month car payment? What for? How long is the note for, and how many payments still left to make? Can selling the car(s) and getting used vehicle(s) be an option?

 

$150 per month for TV + internet? Sounds to me too high ... unless you live in the boonies, Verizon/Comcast etc. have bundles around 100 bucks a month for phone + internet + tv. Granted they are not top-of-the-line, blazing-fast internet speeds, but for me (also a family of 5) that bundle is more than adequate to satisfy the data needs of 3 computers and at least 3 smart phones in my household.

[Bitbit]

Dave Ramsey dot com

[sb83]

This is a spreadsheet I created for myself that has served me well. You can import it into Google Drive and access it from anywhere or just save it locally if you have Excel.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bzd-b4KJ4hzyWGZpMDRZM2R5eEE/edit?usp=sharing

[capitalkid]

We were in the same boat for alot of years, and it gets old. For alot of years renting here renting there, we rented mostly between 750-850 mo in either duplexes or single family homes, and as the years went by they got more and more ...unkempt shall we say. No heat, there was always some heat problem, a fridge doesnt work, the bathroom floods, the driveway floods, had a gas leak at one rental and we could not figure out why we were always going to the emergency room for some reason or another, utilities through the roof, the list goes on.

 

Essentially for us, it came down to the realization that if we didnt get out of the matrix of housing then we would be caught in the circle forever. Our last rental, was our very best rental we ever had, and we thought it was the one, but just when we got comfy the landlord was forclosed on by the state for back taxes. At that point, we decided we werent going back into another rental and we werent going to even consider buying a home. ( I read terms and conditions , under the FHA loans(who are writing most of the loans right now) their rules for buying are worst than being a renter. )

 

We phoned family and arranged rent for 200 mo. We took our would be move in $ for an average rental (1st,last,deposit) and bought a used 5th wheel. Now that we had money to work with under our new unconventional residential life, I made a budget(for the 1st time in my adult life I had money leftover that I could organize). it has been over a year now and Nov 2013 is payoff month for our debt.

 

We decided shortly after moving into out 5Vr that we were not going back to Conventional housing-ever. So we decided to save a down and finance a full timers rig after the payoff instead. This will run us 65K -/+ for a high end unit with 2br and 2 ba. They have D/W,W/D,full heated tanks,high R-Value,built with aluminum frames so there wont be rot, and most important no one to answer to except the bank for our payments.

15 years

@ 6% =530 month

@ 7% =563 month

@ 8% =599 month

Insurance =50-100 month(higher end units run on the $100 month side Ie lux MH in the 150 - 250K range) but we will call it 100$ just to be safe.

House payment = $700 month total for a high end 5th wheel unit

 

Space rent -Anywhere from 200-500 month depending on where you are and what season it is, lets call it 350.00 for an average.

1050.00, covers house, insurance,water,garbage,sewer,electric,cable(alot of places have cable and phone hookups at the sites) and internet. We will need to buy LP, most parks have fill stations, so that is easy enough and LP is cost effective as long as your rig has good insulation. An average amount in the winter might be 200 month for the coldest months, in between that cooking is nothing, you might go 6 months between filling your tanks for 10 gallons of LP and cooking every day.

 

Effectively we will have alot more disposable income. 3000-1050=1950 month that would have otherwise gone to the landlord or the rental upkeep will now be re-allocated to things we would not have been able to buy.

 

I know alot of people would not agree, but they might be better equipt to deal with the rising costs than we were. We were Just tired of it really, and now we see the light on the other side. Its not for everyone, but it is what is working for us.

[Bitbit]

Track EVERY PENNY you spend. Gave your kiddo a quarter for the bubblegum machine? Write it down! You and your spouse, and sen the kiddo's if they are old enough to spend any of your money for you (like getting sent to the store).

 

Do this for at least 2 months - you'll see exactly where your money is going and why you can't get ahead.

 

Restaurants are a typical drain on a budget, but everyone is different. Clothes? Shoes? How fast are the kiddos growing? Huns take his lunch to work, or eat out daily?

 

I second the referral to Dave Ramsey - and his books are generally available for free through your public library. While you're there, check out the Tightwad Gazette - written by a woman (whose name escapes me now) who was a full-time parent/homemaker and whose husband earns less than yours. They manage to live well anyway.

 

And if it's not against the rules (I have read them, but am forgetful), let me point you to Fool.com. They has a discussion board called Living Below Your Means - recently, it's a waste, but go back to the beginning posts. There's some REALLY good advice on reducing your expenses.