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The official payday breakdown

June 11th, 2008 at 03:34 pm

OK well here it is...another payday! Right around $3950 showed up in the checking account today (that's what the base salaries bring every other Weds) so here's how I've allocated it so far.

$700 - Card 1 min payment (It was a conso loan that got rolled into a cc with a fixed rate for the life of the balance.)

$300 - Cash. For anyone not familiar with how we try to do this we take $300 out and the wife goes and buys groceries first. Whatever is left is our entertainment/clothes budget for the two of us for the week (we have been trying to stretch this to our one w/d every other week and it is definately possible. She is a great frugal grocery shopper and we definately don't starve!)

$158 - Electric (could be lower...we have to cool a 3200 sq ft house with a 17 year old and a 14 year old crying about how hot or cold it is...much like the wife and I.)

$161 - Cable (Yeah...it's really overkill but whenever I try to cut cable down I get disgruntled household members so I live with it. Thankfully the company pays our internet and local/regional phone bills.)

$70 - Kids (My 17 year old daughter has a checking account and my 14 year old son has a savings account. We're teaching them how money works and they go to the ATM and balance their accounts and reconcile the numbers with Dad. They make a base pay of $25/wk paid bi-weekly but if they fail to do a chore or leave a mess and don't clean up after themselves they get fined (usually $10 after a fee free warning.) They also get rewards for not getting fined for a whole week, a whole month, and they will get a big reward if they can go all summer without getting fined. Just a fun way for us to motivate our kids to be more responsible!)
They would've gotten $100 but failed to return a couple of movies and ended up paying $15/ea for them.

$140 - Maids (They come twice a month though they only really need to come once a month IMO. Try telling my wife that and then dodge the flying object coming at you...another one I live with for peace and harmony.)

$120 - Wife's hair (another luxury but she goes every other month and usually pays less but needs conditioner and some other stuff I don't know anything about. I let her have this as well.)

So that's all that's really "due" this pay period. This means I have $2301 to throw at my debt. Here's a tough thing though. Part of that ridiculous amount of debt you saw in the MS Money post is an already paid for Hawaiian vacation we're taking in August. House, Auto and Flights are all paid for up front and are non-refundable (well the Auto is but that's not really a big deal compared to the flights and the condo we rented.) I'm thinking of putting a good chunk of that money in one of my savings accounts (the trip is in Mid-August) so we can pay for the expenses of this trip with cash. Though I also thought of allocating $1000 towards the vacation fund and the rest on debt. I'm really torn as to what to do so if you have any suggestions I'm all ears. I already have $1000 saved to this point. Smile

4 Responses to “The official payday breakdown”

  1. merch Says:
    1213196821

    My opinion would be to first stop the bleeding. I would save up for the vacation and any other big expenses you have. Then I would attack the debt.

    You don't want to start paying debt only to incurr more later.

  2. compulsive debtor Says:
    1213204015

    I'm with Merch. Pay cash for everything. Quit using the credit cards. It's the only way to get out of debt. It works for me and I think our debt is as ridiculous as yours.

  3. I-78 Commute Says:
    1213207164

    Thanks guys! I'm with both of you on the pay cash bandwagon. The cards are actually locked up and away (we don't carry cc's at all.) We now have about $3300 saved and should be able to reach at least $5000 before the trip. If we can do Hawaii on less than $500/day you would be talking to one very happy person.

  4. creditcardfree Says:
    1213239731

    Since your vacation is relatively soon, I would put at least $1000 towards the vacation. I might even put all of it towards the vacation. After that you can be focused on the debt. Great job!

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