Yes it's true...after figuring out what our mandatory expenses were (mortgage, insurance, utilities) we came up with a number of $375/week for groceries and all other non-essential expenses. My wife seems to think we can beat that but we'll see when it all adds up. I went to the ATM today and pulled $300 (fee-free of course) from the checking accounts and handed it to her in exchange for all of her credit cards. That was fun...I told her I would "buy" all her cards for cold, hard cash. She is much more of a cash fan than I am so I am including her as the cash holder. This way I'll go to her when I need cash (as will the kids) and since she does 99 percent of the grocery shopping (and really shopping period) she'll know where she can save and where she can spend. She's more budget conscious than I really thought she was (which is great...because I'm not...hence I don't carry the dough!) I asked her if she could make it to next payday (8 days) on the $300 and she said "no problem!" She's going grocery shopping tonight so I'll let you know how we do!
TUESDAY SPENDING LOG****
None! Whoo hoo!
Sat-Tues total: $76.04
Our daughter has a playoff bball game tonight against a very good team so we'll be going to that. The good thing about being parents is you get in free to the games (so we save $20!)
Another cost cutting measure...I cut $25/month recurring fee for a subscription I had online. $25 I figure is way too much for any kind of online subscription (especially if I'm not getting reimbursed for it!)
Oh AND I listed an old laptop on ebay. Hopefully that will sell and give us a little extra $ (I have a bunch of old computer stuff that I'll be listing so I can't wait to hopefully see that stuff leave my house!)
We went cash today!
February 27th, 2007 at 07:20 pm
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BTW they won the game
February 28th, 2007 at 05:38 pm 1172684310
I cannot tell you the thousands I spent on YD's soccer (Class 1 team, going to state, high school playoffs, etc, etc, etc).
With both DH and I working full-time, raising three daughters, I know what you are going through. Somehow you let finances run away with themselves...
Now the challenge is enjoying life while improving your financial situation. One word, well okay, one sentence.... Get organized and pitch in with the household!
Maybe you already do, but I think you should be able to ditch the household help. Put a load of laundry in each morning before work, throw in dryer when you get home. Another one before you go to bed. Repeat!
DH did all the grocery shopping and cooking (and pretty much still does now that we are empty nesters...3 months now). There were many years we didn't get home some nights until 9:00 p.m. So there was the eating out costs.
You need to think organized and cutting costs. When daughter has game night during the week, plan sandwiches or crockpot meal. If daughter has to purchase food because she is so busy, that doesn't mean you all have to purchase food.
Have one night a week for each room in the house to clean. You can run the vacuum while the wife cooks, or fold that batch of laundry. Help clean up afterwards and sweep the kitchen while you are at it.
You could at least cut back on the housekeeping until the refi is done.
By the way, our YD never had any chores because not only did she play sports year around, sometimes two at once, but she attended a private high school 25 minutes from home. She did pretty much no chores while in high school. What a mistake. She is married now to a Marine and is basically having to learn and get into the groove now. They are actually buying their first home. She is 19 and he is 20!
Anyway you are on the right track, keep up the good work!
February 28th, 2007 at 06:49 pm 1172688586
As for laundry we actually do our own (the cleaning service comes twice a month and does the house top to bottom...the one thing they do laundry wise is change our bed linens and throw the other ones in the washer.) I think the wife would have me committed if I tried to take away the cleaning service so I don't. I told her if we're going to get serious about this we'd have to do much better with our budget and we agreed we would each keep one non-mandatory expense and make it mandatory (her it's the cleaning service, me it's the lawn/snow service.) If it means losing an extra $350/mo for those services that could go towards paying down debt that's (unfortunately!) the consequence. The good thing is she's part owner of the company she works for (which has been around 53 years...it was started by her father in 1954) so we do get additional income from her being an s-corp shareholder (at least when the company does well..and it currently is thankfully!) Our tax refund should be sizable (we have to file with the company so we have to wait for the accountants to finish everything..doh!) and we are ahead on the mortgage so I think we're in good enough shape to start climbing out of the cavern we put ourselves in by racking up cc debt!
Hopefully our daughter can be as ready as your daughter when she turns 19! I'm really hoping she gets a scholarship for basketball but she's got to do some things better. She's been scouted regularly (all of the starters from last year's team have gotten scholarships to schools like Iona, American, Army, Lehigh, Kent State, etc.) but she's only a soph and even though she's the "6th woman" this year she can really do better with her skill set. We'll see...hopefully they do win districts on Friday!
Thanks for the post...much appreciated!