I've learned how to pretty much get rid of CA's and have recently gotten DH some new credit. Now, I need someone to help me figure out the best way to manage money on a bi-weekly paycheck, please.

DH's money is always gone before he even gets it, literally. When I'm paying bills, there are times that some just have to wait until the next pay day, which is 2 weeks away. Then, with the next pay check, I'm paying the portions I couldn't pay with the last paycheck AND the current ones piling up.

UGH!!!! It's a never ending cycle. It seems every year with tax refund it's gone because we're catching up on everything.

I've really got to learn the best way to manage the money so that we don't screw up this new credit. It would be way to tempting to charge something we need and couldn't pay back with the next pay day.

I've tried different budgets before and what turned out on paper and what actually happened to the money were two different things.

I've tried taking all the bills we have and estimating what they are (being very generous for those months where they may be higher) and figuring out how much we'd have to pay each pay check, etc. It never works out. We end up getting behind again.

No matter what....I WILL keep CCs and anything that reports paid on time every time, but I've got to use this same mind-set on things like utilities and such that don't report.

Right now, it's a little hard because DH isn't making the money he used to. He's in with a GREAT company that will be a life-long career, great insurance, etc. but he is still at entry-level right now at the job even though he's been there for 15 months. He will hopefully move up soon, which will be about an $8/hr raise, but right now we're struggling. The advancements are all by seniority and as soon as the next level job becomes available, I believe he's next in line. So, hopefully within 6 months or so.

But, for right now we do have to figure out a way to budget our money instead of living paycheck to paycheck, especially when the paychecks are every 2 weeks.

Thanks for any that can point me in the right direction.

If you are living paycheck to paycheck, your expenditures are larger than your income will comfortably support.
I'm not saying that you are overspending, just that you may have to chop some expenses at least until you get rightside-up again. (Or find a way to come up with some extra cash to get back ahead of the game)
There isn't any headroom.

Anything you can reduce or eliminate for a while, long enough to allow you to catch up again?

Any recurring expenses you can cut, insurance shopping? Cheaper phone service? Unplug a freezer?

You might consider stashing away a couple bucks every paycheck, then when you have a lump-sum, using that to get back ahead of the bills. It may take a few months depending on what you can squirrel away, but you'll get there-

Have you kept a log of spending, so that you can see where every penny goes? Try it for a month- it was an eye-opener for me.

There are a few things that *could* be eliminated for a while...not that I would want them to, but if it would help....YES.

For instance, I have unlimited long distance, all the options such as Caller ID, etc. on my phone AND high-speed internet as well. SOME of these could be eliminated, but they give you a discount for having ALL of them. Also, now they're somehow connected w/ DirecTV as well and because of the options I have through my phone company, I also get a $10 credit each month on the DirecTV bill.

I really need (WANT) Caller ID so that I can know when/if the person calling is a CA...LOL. So, getting rid of everything but Caller ID would still put the Caller ID at an expense but also mean that we wouldn't get the discount for having everything and would also eliminate the DirecTV discount.

For right now, getting rid of the DirecTV isn't an option because it's a contract and we don't want to be stuck with the termination fee either.

So far I have the cheapest insurance rates I've been able to find. I might try to get a few more quotes to see if there's any other cheaper rates.

As far as unplugging a freezer....UGH! I don't even want to talk about our power bill. I totally don't understand it! We've replaced a water heater, I make sure lights are turned off, trying to cut out unnecessary use of electricity and it doesn't matter....our power bill has got to be one of the most expensive in our town for a residential (probably exaggerating, but at least everyone we know). We could do a little better insulating, etc. but DH never has time for some of that. I'll have to see where we can cut energy costs more. I'm also very cold-natured, so that doesn't help matters any.

I will start putting away some money here and there out of his paycheck to save up to get ahead...and have tried that many times and it ends up taking everything, but need to work on that more.

No, I haven't made a log of where every penny goes. It's too hard to keep up with DH on that. It kills me how he can leave the house with a certain amount and come home with way less. When I ask him where the money went...he tells me gas, lunch, etc...and can't figure out where the rest of it went. It's all those $3 here, $5 there that makes you wonder where it went.

I've got to start keeping track of everything better. The way it is now, we can't even save anything...we're waiting on his next paycheck 2 weeks away to be able to finish paying the bills....UGH!

Hopefully with taxes this year everything can get paid ahead and we can really start saving some of his paychecks and before we know it he'll have the promotion and we won't be hurting so badly. But, the only way to make that happen is to manage money better.

He gets paid this coming Friday. I will log everything that is spent to see where the money goes the best I can. We'll be getting tax refund shortly thereafter and can pay off some of this mess and hopefully we'll be able to manage it better.

Here's one of the things I did around here;

I used to have cable tv ($55.00)
Unlimited local and LD phone ($70.00)
2-Cell Phones unlimited usage (105.00)
Dial-up internet ($5.95)

Grand total $235.95


I downgraded my cable to the "basic" package ($12.95)
Kept the same unlimited cell phone plan ($105.00)
Dumped my landline and ported my number to a third "partner" phone on my existing cell plan ($9.95)
Added high-speed (cable) internet) ($40.00)

New total: $167.90


$68.05 savings, all I lost was a couple cable TV channels that I didn't watch anyway, and gained broadband internet access.

And for 6 months, I get a $20 credit for signing up for the broadband online instead of over the phone.
So, that's another $120 of "free" money.

Those "packages" aren't the cheapest way to do things, lol. You typically pay for things you rarely use.
Anything you can rearrange to save a few bucks?

I hear you about the power bill.
After a lightning strike took out several older appliances, DW and I bought new, energy efficient washer, dryer, water heater, refrigerator, stove.

Our electric usage went up! Go figure.

Installing compact fluorescent light bulbs, turning the water heater down from 130 deg to 120, lowered our bill again to where it was before.

There are more radical things you can do, if they are workable.
We put our wood furnace back into service. Enough wood to get through the winter cost about $300.00
Fuel oil would have run 1,500-2000 at 2.50/gallon (100+ year old house)
Plus it's hot in here burning wood, DW freezes easily, lol. . Some days we have to open windows to dump the heat.

I shop my car insurance every year or two. Last time I saved over $50/month on the same coverage. Just because they were the cheapest a year ago doesn't mean they are now.

DW and I switched to paying bills first, saving second, and taking our "pocket money" last on paydays. No exceptions. When it's gone, it's gone. Really cut down on the money that just was MIA, lol.
$3 here and there every day is $90/month. It adds up fast.

Tell DH to use the ATM/debit card for gas in the car.

PACK LUNCH, that's a great way to cut expenses....

If he has cash in his pocket, he'll spend it.....

Adjust your W4 so you get the money throughout the year, you can't afford to give the IRS an interest free loan.

from what you've said, it seems like cutting expenses may not be an option ..ie the discount your getting versus having to drop and pay termination fees.

Have had a yard sale or ebayed stuff? You maybe able to make a few hundred dollars and use that as a buffer between paydays.

I'd use it as a buffer to pay for bills, then when the next pay check comes fill up the buffer. That way, you should save on late fees. (late fees do add up if you are talking about credit)

Downgrade vehicles if your payment is too high. This only works if you are not upside down on the loan.

A weekend job maybe? Or maybe babysit some kids for an evening. Even something as simple as 30 a week can make a difference.

You may want to purchase some tax software (turbo tax) to see if you are maximizing your deductions. You may be able to find some that you hadn't thought of.

when my wife got fired, I had to pay an extra 500 bucks a month for health insurance. My company didn't have any, and we could only get her insured through COBRA. I just asked my boss for a raise because of the situation. They obliged. The squeeky wheel gets the oil.

anyone a smoker?

there is always something that can be cut out.

yeah if you really feel he's going to get a raise, you can adjust your w4 now to get more money now.. then re adjust it later to make up for any differences.

my wife lost her job in jan of 2005 and only got hired in april.
so I changed my w4 to get some additional money until she got a job again. Then around july I changed it again. We ended up paying only 172 in income tax on 75k of income.

It really makes a huge difference.

If you're thinking that he may get a sizeable raise this year, i wouldn't do anything with the tax wittholdings....it's possible he gets bumped up a bracket or two, and the money that wasn't witheld end up being owed at the end of the year.....you definitely wouldn't want that...

but that is why you'd keep adjusting every few months to make sure you don't pay taxes.. there is a w4 withholding calculator on the website..

If done correctly, you could withold less now so that there isn't as much of a pinch, then when the raise occurs you could adjust your w4 to account for the additional salary.

That is exactly what I did.

For the phone bill, if you have broadband now, rather than adding your usual phone service..have you checked into Vonage? Its like 24.99 a month unlimited calling, long distance, free caller id as well as ton of other free options..

I get my internet service through my utility company right now, and havent had a land line in almost 2 years, I thought about getting Vonage, but dont really need it. We just use our cell phones

We also adjust our paycheck withholding so we get *most* of our money in our paychecks and not at the end of the year

Ok, I don't subscribe to his philosophy 100%, but go to the library and read a book by Dave Ramsey. I learned a lot from him in the last 6 months on managing expenses (mostly from a modified envelope system, ie. cash only). I too get paid on the 1st and 15th and there are many times I have $60 to last 15 days (after bills are paid) and with a 3yo to car for, it gets hard.

the thing is..... managing cash in the pocket. only put in your pocket that day what you can afford to spend, if your husband needs cash during the week, give him a $20 at the beginning of the week and tell him, that's $4/day. It's hard I know because there's so many times my DD wants to do something like a movie or go to jeepers, but those little $12 excursions add up. And it's a good lesson for her I think, because now she'll ask, "mama, can we afford to go to Jeepers today?" and sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes no.

Good luck.

if it works out on paper, but not in "real life" there's some type of problem--do you guys eat out a bit? Use more in gas than you thought? Pay more in groceries? get "little" things at the store that are unplanned (clothes/toys for the kids, gadgets for your or DH?) ETC. You have to find out WHERE that money is going that screws up your budget.

It's hard I know, and it was even harder for me trying to explain to fi, that $5 a day at McD's added up REALLY quickly. It eventually sunk in and we're working on remedying that situation.

The other thing--how old is your son? I assume he's not school age yet. Is there any way you could enroll him in a half-day/part time preschool program and work during those hours? I know it may not be financially possible (preschool costing more than you may make) so if it's not, then don't do it. The other thing--I know you said you'd gone to school before--did you finish your degree? How much do you have left if not? You *may* want to see about going back to school (maybe online classes) to finish it up, so that you have a better chance of getting a "nice" job when he DOES get to be school age.

Thanks everyone! Boy, this really gave me something to think about (and some work to do ).

Well, we do have cell phones and they really are more convenient for us (use them more) than the home phone.

I'll have to check into Vonage...but doesn't it use high-speed internet which is possibly one of the things I was going to try to cut out if possible. If not, I may stay with the internet and get the cheaper phone service through them. I don't have the option of cable internet because it's not available in my area and I can't get cable where I live anyway (out in the boonies).

I will have to think about the DirecTV thing and see if we could possibly cut it out or at the least lower our package. I'll have to find out exactly where we are in our contract on that.

Yes, we change a/c filters very regularly (my son has allergies and all). The problem in the wintertime is we have one of those old in the house furnace things that goes through our vents..so we don't have a heat pump. Boy, our wintertime power bill is always outrageous. I did close off some of the vents to make it blow more in other rooms and have turned the thermostat down about 5 degrees and it's been staying comfortable now, so maybe that will show a savings.

And yes, we do eat out too much..well not really, but more than we can afford. Sometimes if we're having to run here and there..MIL's house or whatever, you know and it's getting kind of late and all...for convenience we'll get fast food or something...or if I've been busy cleaning all day (or on CB's...LMAO) and time has gotten away from me, we might order a pizza or something. There's some places spending can definitely be cut.

Also, it never fails...every single time we go to Wal-mart or whatever, my son just HAS to have a toy of some kind....LOL. But lately, he's been earning a small allowance and has to buy his own toy, so that's been working out better because he decides to save the money instead.

I'm going to sit down Friday night after he gets paid and when I have more time to concentrate and I'm going to really figure out a budget. I'm going to ask DH to take his lunch (and I'll make it for him) and to leave the debit card at home. I'm going to ask him to be reasonable about the amount he needs for gas, etc. for the week and give it to him and let him know that's it...when it's gone it's gone. LOL

I know we can do this, it's just a matter of sticking to it. I mean...we've struggled before and are totally used to it, but we're just going to have to figure out a way to stretch the dollars even more.

Saving money on things like cable, cell phones, etc., is always good when possible.

However, I have found that often it's the big ticket items that are the real killers, especially car payments.

How much are your car payments a month? Also, what percentage of your take home is your mortgage/heloc/PMI/and or escrow?

Years ago I had problems with DH and managing his free money and were always in the same position as you.
Sounds like he is a source of the problem- Not trying to be mean, but thinking I was in the same position once. I took the debit card and checkbook and gave him an allowance. I felt like his mother, but it worked! He learned to live without the extras and now he is more like scrooge than scroooge! He holds on to his money like no tommorow!

actually from what I'm reading now, that may not be a good thing. If they don't get the spending under control now, it'll just disappear before bills get paid and then there won't be any refund to "bail" them out.

Personally I think they need to work on stickig to the budget FIRST. Then decide whether or not they want to do that or not.

Just my opinion though

That's fine as long as you have the self-control to not increase spending, but too many people are willing to spend more because they have more.

I don't know if the OP said she has any current credit card debt or not... if so, paying that down with whatever they can scrape together would be of great benefit.

I don't think she said she has a job, just her husband. Why not get a part-time job at night when the husband is home to watch the kids?

I was never able to stick with a budget until I handled it this way:

I wrote out the categories of a budget and went back through and filled in two months worth with ACTUAL spending. Turns out there was about $200/mo I couldn't account for, which was just cash leaving my pocket here and there.

Then once you figure out what you're actually spending on, try tweaking those numbers and coming up with a budget, otherwise a budget is a wish list.

For example, if you spend $85 / mo on Starbucks, see if there is a cheaper alternative, but make sure you budget for coffee or you'll end up blowing the budget and risk getting into a "why bother" mind frame. Turns out, I REALLY like QT coffee and it's $1.19 for the large one

SPEAKING OF STARBUCKS...

We have FREE coffee in the breakroom 24/7

(ASSUMING somebody knows how to make it)

But there are people that get STARBUCKS almost every day

well????

NO

MILITANT NON-SMOKER

Since nobody else wanted to answer...

Thanks GEORGE...I meant the OP. LOL.

Think Jeff Foxworthy,
"You might be a redneck if... You smoke cigarettes"

I was more along the lines of "you can save money by not smoking" (and perhaps improve your health)

Sorry hegemony....haven't gotten to this section in a while...LOL

Yes, DH is a smoker. He's tried numerous times to quit, but just can't seem to break the habit. He's cut WAY down though. He used to smoke about 2 packs a day and now 1 pack lasts about 2 days.

But, yes...that would save money and improve his health.



Thanks everyone. We've really been budgeting our money more and not buying unnecessary things (as much). And yes...when you document the amounts you spend, it's a real eye opener how much can get away from you...just by the little $2 here and $3 there.

DH's check is direct deposit and I now have the checkbook and debit card...LOL He gets spending money and it has to lasts until his next pay day.

And no, he doesn't get Starbucks coffee...just whatever they have at convenience stores usually, but he's been taking his Stanley thermos with him full of coffee now along with his lunch and snacks.

The best way I have found to save $$$ is by cutting my food bill. I cut our food bill from $100 a week to $50.00 for a family of 4, just by cooking and not buying convience foods and when I do buy covenience foods I usually get them for pennies on the dollar by using coupons at stores that double and triple coupons. Come up with creative ways to save with food.
Casseroles use less meat and serve more people than making a piece of meat for each person and the cost is way less.
I bake homemade cookies, granola bars and fruit leather and these are for my kids snacks.
For breakfast make homemade muffins or granola bars for on the go or make pancakes for a sit down breakfast.
Make tea, lemonade or Koolaid instead of buying expensive sodas and juices.
When browning ground beef- instead of browning 1 pound as usual, brown 2 to 3 pounds and freeze. The next time you need ground beef thaw in the microwave. This saves time and also saves a little on your electric or gas bill.

Ditch the debit card.

Get a cash back credit card. Put all possible expenses on it. You will earn an extra 1-5% depending.

Quitting smoking would save a TON of money, even with your hubby's lighter habit. Has he done the math? I realize though, if he doesn't really *want* to quit, he won't... no one can quit until they truly want to and it's not worth the discussion if he doesn't want to or just isn't ready. It's a tough thing to break.

I want to add my encouragement for Vonage. I got rid of my landline two years ago and got Vonage -- yes, it runs on your internet connection, but you get ALL the extras for $24.99 a month, including unlimited LD, voice mail, caller ID (with name), call forwarding -- you can even set it up to ring another number (such as your cell) simultaneously so if someone calls your home phone, your cell phone rings and can take the call! And for an extra $4.95, you can have a 2nd number in any area code you want where your relatives there can call you LOCALLY. My folks are in Tampa, I'm in Ohio -- so I have my Ohio number, and I also have a Tampa local number and they can call me anytime locally. You can get as many of those "virtual" numbers that you want for $4.95 a month. Oh, and your main number doesn't have to be in the own area code where you live... you can choose a number from any area code you want.

It's really an amazing deal for under $25. The sound quality is just as good, if not better, than a landline. And the unlimited LD really is unlimited. No certain hours, no minutes.

It's saved me a lot of money, and it's sure saved my folks some money. Really, it saves everyone a lot of money... if a friend calls me long distance, I just call them right back and save them the toll!

Vonage requires a high speed connection....another hidden expense.


My past experience has taught me that CAR LOANS and EATING OUT are my two biggest budget busters.

(I haven't had a car loan since 2003.)

The OP already has high-speed internet.

Vonage has never hidden the fact that it requires a broadband connection. Since the OP currently has this expense, there could be money saved from current expenses.

You are correct....Vonage has never hidden the cost of needing high speed internet.


I always question the "NEED" of high speed internet personally unless it is used for business purposes. If one needs to cut expenses, I rank it as a want , if one has ample resources, then I would say it is a pleasure. EVERYONE by now should know I'm not typical, and believe in a written bare bones , basic essentials type budget.-----until I get married this fall...lol

A person could dress in a burlap sack, eat rice and beans for every meal, ride the bus to work and sell the tv and radio; but some things you are going to consider worth the cost and you are gonna keep them.

The thing is you have to find something to cut.
You can argue away anything you try to cut, like the reasons for direct tv or cable or cell phone.
One way is to list the possible cost cutting items and then rank them as to how important are they to you family's convenience and happiness.

Always, you want to compare them to your peace of mind.
EG. cable tv vs. peace of mind if I can cut expenses.

As always easier said than done and more power to you for working at it.

IT IS ACTUALLY FASTER FOR ME TO WALK TO WORK!!!

(2 busses with lay-over time...in addition to the 1+ mile walk to the closest bus stop)

What? Have you priced burlap lately?

I vote for a hefty garbage bag. Comes with built in tie-strings, so no need to spend $$ on a belt.

Eating out is not only expensive but is hard on the waistline. I used to eat out 3 meals a day and spent close to $35.00 a day. NO MORE!