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!
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