I try really hard to keep our family on a budget. I allot money for necessities and unexpected expenses. But something seems to come up every pay check that throws me for a loop. This pay check it was having to get the carpet restretched. (I really shouldn't complain about that, what could have been a BIG expense was only $85 bucks...and they said we did a good job of drying it out. :) But that $85 really threw me off. Suddenly all of our spending money was gone. I could have dipped into savings (which we usually do for bigger unexpected expenses, like car repair) but I really hate doing that and was hoping we could just absorb the cost. Well we did, but after all was said and done for the last week we've only had $10. Nice huh! We cheated a bit and when we got our tax return left a bit of the surplus in our checking account to help us out instead of transferring it ALL to other accounts. But most of the time we just go without.
Why is it that something like this always happens? Am I the only one that experiences this. Last check it was the heater breaking. Before that, Ainsley's b-day. Before that Christmas. Before that car trouble. John and I always think we have a good plan going. We save money every month. And then our savings just seems to go out the door. (Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, we have a decent amount of savings(we've never had to carry a credit card balance)...I just have a goal set in my head that we can never seem to reach.)
Are we the only ones that live this way? Here is my question for you....how do you cover unexpected expenses? How do you budget for things like summer clothes and new school clothes? What do you do if you run out of money unexpectedly, live without or use up savings? Maybe that's too personal. Maybe I shouldn't be posting this question here. But I'm really curious, and I don't think there's anything wrong with talking about money, how else do we learn? Although things are WAY better than when we were in school, I guess I just had this false vision that when you were "established" things got easier. But I feel like I still focus on budgeting and saving all the time. So if it's not too much to ask...tell me what you do!
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4 months ago
8 comments:
Here are some encouraging words for you--it DOES get better, but not until your kids start leaving home!! For so many years (school, residency, starting a practice) I had a very modest budget too. The only problem was, we didn't make enough money to even cover the budget. Back then, they paid residents so little that we were actually below the poverty level. Anyway, I would pay my tithing first and all the bills that had to be paid--house, electricity, etc.--and then just use the leftover money throughout the month the best I could. We did without a lot of stuff, and when you think about it, alot of the stuff we want isn't that important (fabric and books, of course, being the exception). I considered it a successful month if I had $5 left at the end of it. And you had a very successful month--you had $10!!!!!
I have no advice, but I will say that I am quite nervous to be down to one income in a few months --we've always had two, so we've never had to worry. But I will finally have to learn to stick to a budget. Then you can pass along all the wisdom you've acquired!
The word "budget" scares me! I don't like it! I never have. But I too am learning how to budget. Remember when I called you last year and asked you these same questions...? LOL!!! I still haven't figured it out. But in times like what your talking about, I find us just going without. I don't leave my house because when I do, I spend money.
I wanted to start putting aside a certain amount of money for reasons like the getting the carpet stretched, or car repair....but because of unemployment amounts, I can't even put money in savings.
I guess the only advice I have would be to NOT WORRY ABOUT! That is the main thing I have learned from the trial Dwight and I are dealing with now. Put your trust in the Lord that he will show you a way to have the things you need at that time.
Just when I think we are going to have some extra money to do something fun, it's gets used on something that is unexpected.
AND, take comfort in knowing that most people live the way you and I do....truly from paycheck to paycheck!
I'm still living the high life as a poor student. Thanks to all of our older siblings the delusion that once you're done with school you have it made has been shattered. When we have unexpected stuff we dip into next semesters money, and when we are in limbo between loan checks we pull out the credit cards. Lovely isn't it? The fact that you are even budgeting puts you miles ahead of most people in this country.
I loved reading your post because it reminded me I'm not alone. I don't have any great wisdom, because I'm still trying to figure everything out too, but some advice a friend gave me is not seeing things as black or white. Instead of seeing things as "We weren't 100% perfect on the budget this month" maybe see it as "we got all our bills paid, have a savings account, and no credit card debt. We accomplished about 90% of what we wanted." And then totally celebrate.
I'm a perfectionist, so I tend to dwell on what I didn't get done, or how I failed in one area or another, so it's good to celebrate the little victories.
And I do think it gets easier (or at least I hope :)
You are way ahead of us. Commission sales is a roller coaster ride. We have had to live off of our savings so many times. I am just greatful that we were smart to save when times were good, so that when times were bad we could still pay our bills even if we depleted our savings yet again. That is all you can do, put away what you can and always pay your tithing. The rest will work itself out. Someday it will get better, but I you always have to be smart for sure :)
We are in the exact same boat as you guys. We have high hopes of saving lots of money, but it just seems like something comes up every month to take that money away. We also had a nice tax return this year and what do you think we did with it? Bought new furniture for the boys room. I really have a desire to save, but have trouble getting it to happen. We stick to a tight budget, but those unexpected expenses just keep coming! Glad to know that we are not the only ones with budget trouble!
Jess, PLEASE go down to the library and check out Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover." He will answer ALL of your questions. We've been on his program since last summer and have been able to save like crazy and have money for all of those unexpected things. You can also get on his website www.daveramsey.com
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