JANUARY 2010
Now, if any of you are true Dave Ramsey followers (Kelsalynn), I already know that you're picking my budget apart to try to help me find ways to slash spending and optimize my cashflow toward our debt snowball. Believe me, I've read many a forum on the TMMO website where people post their first budget only to have it ripped to shreads with each item criticized as to its importance.
Let me start by saying this: While I would have no problem slashing all of the unneccessary items, it took some give and take to get hubby on board. This is our compromise. So, before any questions are posed about whether we could reduce spending on this or cancel that, I've probably already considered it and gotten a firm "no" from said husband. It took a bit of persuading to get him on board, I have to tread lightly.
With that said, we have reduced our un-needed spending in a lot of areas. We don't go out to eat nearly as much as we used to and I no longer have the mentality that "we can just get a loan for it". Previously discussed stove issue an example - prior to DR I would have financed that shiny, new stove without even blinking an eye. So on that note, I'm going to address a few areas of "Dave Ramsey Concern". (It will be interesting to look back at this post in a few years...)
1. Culligan bill and Salt sinking fund (SF): We have horrible water. We have a complete chemistry lab in our basement that softens, chlorinates and iron-izes (is that a word?) our water making it better than any bottled water you could buy (at least we don't waste our money on bottled water...). As a result, we have to pay to rent the chemistry set and also pay for the salt that has to be added to our water softener. This is not able to be compromised.
2. TV/Internet/Phone: We live in the boonies. The only TV option we have is satellite. TV is NOT an option to eliminate per said husband. If we could reduce our bill and just get the sports channels, I would, since I really don't watch much TV anyway - he's always got sports on. Also due to living in the boonies we have very sketchy cell phone reception so we have to have a land line. We were recently able to bundle our TV/WWW/Phone for close to what we were previously paying for just TV & Phone. The question mark by this item for this month is because we have yet to get a "full" bill for this bundle as they were still working on getting everything up and running until recently. So I'm still not sure what this is going to be a month.
3. Cell phones: We have fancy phones. No lie. And unfortunately my husband has discovered the Blackberry. Our contract will be up later this year. At that point, I will be switching my smart phone to a text/pic phone, reducing our monthly bill. We chose to get the internet on our phones a few years back since we weren't able to get internet, other than dial-up, at our house until recently. Husband is keeping his Crackberry. Whatever - not worth arguing about.
4. Food Costs: The first three are pretty self explanitory. I cook enough each night so that we both have healthy leftovers to take for lunch the next day. However, Jason has class 2 nights a week and the guys he works with all order out for lunch on Fridays. So, that's $10/day three days a week and explains the $30/week allowance he gets on top of our grocery & restaurant money.
5. Transportation Costs: Again pretty self explanitory. Our fuel costs are pretty high since we both drive 60 miles round trip for work. We try to ride together as much as possible, since we work about 5 miles from each other, to save on gas but with my new AM workout schedule and his class schedule its going to be pretty tough. His classes are up near where he works so its stupid for him to drive home after work to just turn around and go back up there, so obviously on those days, we have to drive separate. Moving closer to work is not even an option. We'd rather have the high fuel costs and live where we do than move closer and use less gas. At some point, we'll probably get a little beater truck for him to drive for work that's a little better on gas but until then, we're fine with spending in that area.
6. Misc Items: These are also pretty self explanatory. We don't have dental or eye insurance so all the costs are out of pocket. We usually use our tax refund to get our yearly check-ups but I ran out of contacts back in August, I think, and didn't want to spend the money from elsewhere on an eye exam to get new ones. I learned my lesson on that one the hard way. I'm hoping to use our tax refund this year to still pay for those exams so that we can get that SF built up for an entire year before tapping into it.
7. Debt Payments: This is the sticky area. I know. The furniture debt is owed to my dad. The company we had the credit card loan (bad words, I know) through totally screwed up and wouldn't fix their mistake so I borrowed the muh-lah from dad and am now paying him back with interest instead of the dimwits at the credit card company. But, its a small amount and we should have it paid off no later than August of 2010 - hopefully sooner.
As for the vehicles. I know if I were a TRUE Dave Ramsey Gazelle, we'd be selling both of those for two beaters. Well folks, sorry - not going to happen. I'm fine paying these two vehicles off and just running them till they die. Besides, we're WAY upside down on both of them - particularly my car. Stupid me bought it brand new last year. (Don't worry, I'll never do that again. From here on out, we WILL be paying cash for any cars we purchase in the future.) I know that we could sell both of them, get a loan for what we're upside down and add two beaters to the mix and have probably half of our debt instantly paid off, but again, its not worth the argument with the husband. I've tried. In fact, before we got the two vehicles, we were driving beaters but never knew if we'd get to our destination in one piece. I'll pay for my piece of mind. I don't need more self-inflicted stress.
With all of that said... I do a little bit of free lance work so any extra income I bring in will obviously be applied to the debt snowball. Also, Jason gets a raise every year as part of his contract with his Union - again, that will be applied to debt snowball.
Well, I probably should stop typing now. I really need to work on these long posts. Here's to a financially fit year!
Until next time...
3 comments:
First, I'm so glady you posted your budget! That takes a lot of courage, I know. Second, if you've already cut a lot out, give yourself a pat on the back for that. It's tough!
Most of it looks really good and if you're already aware of where you could cut if you absolutely had to, that's part of the learning process.
Let this ride for a bit, then try again to talk with the hubby and try to cut just one more...give it a while, then try for another. It's not easy & you'd rather have him "kind of on board" then not at all!
We did not cut cable & had our car not been in an accident, we would have kept it too.
As for commuting together (since I ride w/ my hubby sometimes too)... on the nights he has class, is there something you can be doing- go read a book, do grocery shopping, etc. He could be in class and you could be keeping busy somehow so you can take one car. It is NOT the most convenient option, but I've come to enjoy it actually. What if you worked out during this time instead of in the AM?
Keep up the awesome job you're doing!
Thanks for the suggestions, I like your approach. In a couple of months the cell phone change will be one of those steps we can take.
His class is from 6:00-10:00 and he works from 7:00-3:30. He doesn't come home between there since its 30 minutes away. (its through his appreticeship with the union, so its not like he can transfer). So, that would mean our dog would be in his crate from 6am to almost 11pm. Not fair for him.
I could ask my parents to let him out on those days, since they're our neighbors, but I feel back since its not their responsibility. My gym is down here where we live, although I could potentially find one up there to go to.
Nevertheless, its a good suggestion that we could look at if we need another place to cut back. I hadn't thought of that! Thanks!
oops... that was supposed to say "feel bad"... proofreading is not my strong suit... haha
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