why is it that the more money we make, the worse we are with it? Jake Henry and I were so much better with our money when we were living on $35,000/year with tons of (student loan only) debt and a car payment, than we are now - with no car payments, fewer student loans, and a new credit card debt because somehow the increase in income wasn't enough for us?? that's frustrating. anyway, I'll just summarize last month's re-foray into the world of using cash only...well, it got worse before it got better. like, maybe the better is coming next month? but it was definitely good for us. we did cut way back on our spending, but we also used the debit card some, even though we had taken most of the money out of our account in cash. so I'm hoping that we will just get better every month.
we dipped into savings in April to cover some purchases we made with the debit card, so the first order of business for our May budget is to repay that. which stinks, because otherwise, we could've put a huge chunk of money toward debt. so maybe we've taught ourselves a lesson. also, remember last month I mentioned the medical bills would begin rolling in? well, they have. I also had an MRI - with no health insurance - eek! thankfully Christian Healthcare Ministries (the cost-sharing ministry of which I am a member) will probably cover the whole cost of that; so I'm responsible only for the office visits. I go to my ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doctor about once a week.
Jake Henry somehow got a big expense check this month...the only reason we can think of is that maybe he underestimated his per diem when he went to Atlanta a few months ago, and he is finally getting reimbursed for that? it was a welcome surprise. ok, ok, to the numbers already...
tithe 10%
savings $401.93 (I know it's specific - I used every bit of extra I could find so we can repay ourselves)
World Vision (we sponsor two kids in Guatemala. I really love that country, and it's important to us that regardless of our personal financial situation, we give to others as much as we can)
Edward Jones $300 (we contribute the max suggested by our financial advisor - Jake Henry doesn't have a 401k through work, but he works for the state so he will get a pension - and we also put a little into some mutual funds, which we consider to be our "new car fund"; we don't put much back at all for this, so it will take a long time before we could actually purchase a new car, but we know that day will come!)
mortgage $468
water/trash $90 (last month the bill was only $78! so maybe all our talks with the munchkins about water conservation are paying off!)
electricity $108 (we are on Duke Energy's equal payment plan - if you're not, do it immediately. it's so much easier to plan)
cable/internet $54 (any suggestions for cheaper Internet? we get NO channels - as in, the screen is gray and fuzzy when we turn on the tv - so we only pay for Internet)
groceries $350 (I go to Costco at the beginning of every month, then fill in with trip to Trader Joe's weekly. we get our household supplies - trash bags, toilet paper, toothpaste - from grove.co)
gas + oil changes $200
life insurance $64 (we have enough to pay off our debt, including the house, provide a nice funeral, and Jake Henry has enough for me to get about a year's worth of his pay...I really don't see the need for any more than that.)
health "insurance" $150 (I use Christian Healthcare Ministries...my first time actually asking for them to cover anything will be when I get my MRI bill, so I'll let you know how it goes!)
home repairs $10 (this is new. just so Jake Henry can get gas for the lawn mower and whatever other stuff guys need to fix around the house. I know it's not much but it's better than nothing)
family activities/eat out $40 (we usually end up using this for a couple of drive thru meals throughout the month, but I'd love to do something fun with the boys before they leave)
dates $50 (maybe we will actually get to go on a real date after they leave, though!)
travel $10 (tiny, I know. I just started this one with the intention that it will help us have some weekend getaways occasionally. we would definitely need to add to it, so we would probably dip into savings a little bit too. since I know money will be tight over the next little bit, I think it's important to have little escapes)
gifts $10 (not including Christmas. for random things that come up that we'd need a gift for)
Jake personal $50
Taylor personal $40
Mighty Nest $10 (just heard about this...they send you one product valued at over $10 every month, to help you slowly create a more eco friendly home. if we get something we can't/won't use, it will go in my gift closet I have to help cut down on costs there. one thing I remember from when we were really "poor" - I use that word relatively - is that it's important to have tiny luxuries built in. otherwise you'll go crazy from being so frugal all the time)
Netflix $9
WDAV $15 (classical radio station near Charlotte)
medical bills $50
credit card $50
Taylor's pay:
tithe 10%
savings 10%
cell phones $80
foster parenting pay:
(not really sure how much we will get paid this month, because we've utilized respite - where the kids go somewhere else for a night - a couple of times, and you don't get paid when the kids aren't there)
tithe 10%
savings $205 (will finish repaying ourselves and then some)
car insurance $895 (we pay annually - our big expense this month, obviously)
student loan 1 $35
student loan 2 $51
student loan 3 $100 (we are on an income based repayment plan for this one, and technically our bill right now is $0, but it's still earning interest)
essential oil order $150 (I've used essential oils for a while, but I've been running kind of low, and if I spent a certain amount I got other things for free...honestly not sure how I feel about any of the MLM companies, but it was time to re stock and helped a friend at church :) normally I buy the basic oils from Native American Naturals. no offense to any oily friends, I'm just trying to balance health, budget, and friendships)
medical $50 (I can't afford to pay much on the bills this month, but I mentioned earlier I'm going about once a week...so I wanted to be able to pay something a couple of different times - we get paid for foster parenting in the middle of the month - instead of feeling like I'm always saying "add it to my bill, I'll pay you next month")
as I've been typing this, I've found myself thinking "they're gonna think we are dumb for spending money in certain areas when we've got debt"...and you know what? maybe we are. but that's the great thing about personal finance - it's personal. the last time we were living on a really tight budget, it was just two adults who didn't need to "get away", because our whole life was a date and enjoyable. now that kids and medical problems are in the picture, I'm much more ok with letting go a little. ultimately God is our Provider; I know He will ensure we have everything we need. we are to be good stewards of our resources, the environment, and our relationships. I think our budget presents a good mix of that :) I share this because I know it has helped me immensely when others have done the same. our budget has gotten to where it is today because of seeing categories that other people do and don't have, and adjusting it to meet our needs. I'm honestly looking forward to a tighter budget when the boys leave, because as I said at the beginning, we always do so much better. at the beginning of our marriage when we lived on much less, we are good food, drank good wine, and enjoyed time with friends and family. I can't wait to get back to that. hasta luego!
Friday, April 29, 2016
Thursday, March 31, 2016
our updated budget (for April 2016)
It's been quite awhile since I did the series on budgeting - and life has changed for us since then - so I figured it was high time I updated you. I follow several budgeting blogs and I love when they post real numbers, so I'll do that here. No judging allowed :) And some background info: where we live, I believe the median income is around $35,000/year, so we are definitely well off comparatively (and of course we live in the U.S. so we are filthy rich by world standards - let's all keep a right perspective here). We are foster parents, so we get paid from that, and I'll address that here too. Also, I work one Saturday a month at the jewelry store I worked at before we got married; it's a way to ensure we spend some time with my parents (we stay the whole weekend with them when I work), and also helps our budget. Also, since our income has increased, we've way loosened our belts - we have GOT to get that in check, so hopefully this will keep me accountable. So with all that in mind, here's our one-ish income budget for a family of four:
Tithe 10%
Savings 10%
^these come right off the top, from all our income sources
World Vision $70 (we sponsor two kids in Guatemala)
Building fund $20 (our church has started a campaign to be able to build a bigger building, and this seems so measly compared to what is needed, but it's what we can do)
Investments $300 (we use an Edward Jones man because we are just not good with investing, and we've been very happy. He has used a formula to tell us how much we should be investing for retirement, and we do a little more into a money market? Mutual fund? something, to use as a future car fund. When we don't see it we can forget about it)
Mortgage $468 (I know, it's awesome. It's also a two-bedroom, 1200 sq ft house on half an acre)
Water/trash $90 (kids + baths = a greatly increased water bill)
Electricity $108 (we do a thing where they bill is for our average monthly usage from the previous year)
Groceries (including household items) $350
Dates $50
Family activities/eat out $50
Gas (and oil changes) $200
Life insurance $64 (we don't have a ton, just enough to pay off our bills and provide a funeral)
Health insurance $150 (I actually use Christian Healthcare Ministries, a cost-sharing, faith-based ministry, instead of health insurance...that's probably deserving of another post by itself)
Jake personal $50 (mainly for lunches out)
Taylor personal $50 (includes the whopping $20/6-8 weeks for a hair trim and eyebrow wax)
Cable/internet $54 (we have no channels, only internet. This seems crazy high)
Netflix $9
WDAV $15 (we support a semi-local classical music radio station)
^all of the above comes from Jake's pay. These are most of the necessities (only lacking our cell phone bill, which I'll address next), and there's obviously wiggle room for tightening our belts, which I'll also address)
Cell phones $80 (this comes from my pay, just because after tithe and savings my pay is $80 and that's what our bill is, so it works out easily)
Foster care income:
It's public record what foster parents get paid, so I'll just tell you that we get $1652/month. Our boys are 7 & 8, so there's a base pay of $581/each, plus we get a "difficulty of care" add-on because the boys have so many needs and appointments and medications that really they should be leveled therapeutic foster care (where we'd get more like $2000/child), but we aren't licensed for that. And in case anyone needs me to spell this out: we aren't doing it for the money. But here's how we spend that money:
Student loans
Credit card (we've gotten way lax here - the goal is to pay it off monthly, but we haven't been recently, so now we are in the same boat as everyone else; we are trying to pay it off as quickly as possible)
Massage (this seems so unnecessary, BUT I've had tons of health problems recently due to stress, so while we can afford it I'm trying to get regular massages to help with that)
^so here's the thing about the foster care income. Some of you know, but for most of you this will be news: the boys will be leaving after the end of the school year (their last day is May 13). This is our choice, and SO MANY factors went into it...I'm writing an article for a foster care blog so I'll share that when it's been posted. However, court is coming up and their bio mom is certain she will get them back. If that's the case, it's possible they will leave sooner. The emotional part of all of that is not for here and now, so here's the money part: we won't have this income soon. We will tighten up some of the categories that come from Jake's pay, pay only the minimum payments on student loans, and focus on paying off my medical bills (forgot to mention those - they haven't started coming in yet, but they will soon). In the future, we likely won't get nearly as much, because we aren't going to take kids with special needs - or if we do, only one at a time. It's kind of sickening to think that we've basically squandered this period of much higher income...we always tend to do better the less we make. Again, I can't even begin to address the emotional fallout from our foster care situation, so please don't think I'm heartless.
I think that's about it. Maybe I'll update monthly? Who knows. But here it is!
Tithe 10%
Savings 10%
^these come right off the top, from all our income sources
World Vision $70 (we sponsor two kids in Guatemala)
Building fund $20 (our church has started a campaign to be able to build a bigger building, and this seems so measly compared to what is needed, but it's what we can do)
Investments $300 (we use an Edward Jones man because we are just not good with investing, and we've been very happy. He has used a formula to tell us how much we should be investing for retirement, and we do a little more into a money market? Mutual fund? something, to use as a future car fund. When we don't see it we can forget about it)
Mortgage $468 (I know, it's awesome. It's also a two-bedroom, 1200 sq ft house on half an acre)
Water/trash $90 (kids + baths = a greatly increased water bill)
Electricity $108 (we do a thing where they bill is for our average monthly usage from the previous year)
Groceries (including household items) $350
Dates $50
Family activities/eat out $50
Gas (and oil changes) $200
Life insurance $64 (we don't have a ton, just enough to pay off our bills and provide a funeral)
Health insurance $150 (I actually use Christian Healthcare Ministries, a cost-sharing, faith-based ministry, instead of health insurance...that's probably deserving of another post by itself)
Jake personal $50 (mainly for lunches out)
Taylor personal $50 (includes the whopping $20/6-8 weeks for a hair trim and eyebrow wax)
Cable/internet $54 (we have no channels, only internet. This seems crazy high)
Netflix $9
WDAV $15 (we support a semi-local classical music radio station)
^all of the above comes from Jake's pay. These are most of the necessities (only lacking our cell phone bill, which I'll address next), and there's obviously wiggle room for tightening our belts, which I'll also address)
Cell phones $80 (this comes from my pay, just because after tithe and savings my pay is $80 and that's what our bill is, so it works out easily)
Foster care income:
It's public record what foster parents get paid, so I'll just tell you that we get $1652/month. Our boys are 7 & 8, so there's a base pay of $581/each, plus we get a "difficulty of care" add-on because the boys have so many needs and appointments and medications that really they should be leveled therapeutic foster care (where we'd get more like $2000/child), but we aren't licensed for that. And in case anyone needs me to spell this out: we aren't doing it for the money. But here's how we spend that money:
Student loans
Credit card (we've gotten way lax here - the goal is to pay it off monthly, but we haven't been recently, so now we are in the same boat as everyone else; we are trying to pay it off as quickly as possible)
Massage (this seems so unnecessary, BUT I've had tons of health problems recently due to stress, so while we can afford it I'm trying to get regular massages to help with that)
^so here's the thing about the foster care income. Some of you know, but for most of you this will be news: the boys will be leaving after the end of the school year (their last day is May 13). This is our choice, and SO MANY factors went into it...I'm writing an article for a foster care blog so I'll share that when it's been posted. However, court is coming up and their bio mom is certain she will get them back. If that's the case, it's possible they will leave sooner. The emotional part of all of that is not for here and now, so here's the money part: we won't have this income soon. We will tighten up some of the categories that come from Jake's pay, pay only the minimum payments on student loans, and focus on paying off my medical bills (forgot to mention those - they haven't started coming in yet, but they will soon). In the future, we likely won't get nearly as much, because we aren't going to take kids with special needs - or if we do, only one at a time. It's kind of sickening to think that we've basically squandered this period of much higher income...we always tend to do better the less we make. Again, I can't even begin to address the emotional fallout from our foster care situation, so please don't think I'm heartless.
I think that's about it. Maybe I'll update monthly? Who knows. But here it is!
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