First I want to say that I have some old credit card debt but I don't know the exact total so I can't give it. It's under $2000, though. I also have another $2000 or so in miscellaneous debt. None of those have been paid on in ages, though. I'm ashamed to admit it but I just stick my head in the ground and pretend it isn't there. My credit rating is horrendous. My husband's is better than mine, I think, but he has some debt too. I don't know the exact amounts for his, either.
Here are our regular monthly expenses:
Mortgage $270 (We bought this house in 1998 for about 1/2 its value. It was a REO property of a local bank and it was quite a deal! It's a 3 or 4 bedroom, 1 bath home on almost 2 acres. It needed work when we bought it and we left closing with $4000 to help with that and as we get time and money we continue to work on it)
Property Taxes 55 (paid annually but this is what it comes out to monthly)
Electricity $150-200
Water 45-55
Propane 15 (bought once a year but it averages at about $15 a month)
Food $200-250
Gasoline $100-150 (just one car but our business involves DH driving around quite a bit)
Phone 55
Cell Phone 50 (I'm going to see about changing the plan to a less expensive one tonight)
Satellite TV 50 (we get NO TV reception without it)
ISP 52 (needed for the business and the $52 is after the cost is split with my son)
That's about it for regular monthly expenses. I can't think of anything else right now. We do buy toner and paper and such but I don't know how much we spend on a monthly basis. We have a home printing/publishing business.
So, our regular expenses run about $1200 a month. That's with nothing to old debt or savings, just paying the necessities. Some months we make that much, some months we don't. Hence, we're almost always running behind.
Oops, I didn't include the $200 or so a month we spent on cigarettes! Since we're quitting that won't be a factor but it has been in the past.
Okay, here it is - our normal expenses
December 31st, 2006 at 02:04 am
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December 31st, 2006 at 09:36 am 1167557787
Babysitting, ebaying, part-time employment, transcription, etc?
I know for me for the longest time outside work was not an option so cutting back on spending was the only way to go.
Getting your numbers together and tracking what you are doing financially each month should help you get things turned around.
December 31st, 2006 at 01:56 pm 1167573381
I haven't done it recently but am going to do it again for January.
I read over my entry, looking for what I put in it that prompted you to say, "it seems like you have no idea were some of your money goes" but I don't see anything. Can you tell me why you think that? Thanks for your input.
Priceplus, thanks for the encouragement! I've read a lot of the stuff here but will continue to read.
LuxLiving, we've sold on ebay off and on for about 8 years now. The last two years, though, it just hasn't worked as well. There's an awful lot of competition and for the most part, it just isn't a good deal for us, anymore. We still sell on ebay now and then, though, so yep, we do that! We live out in the country with very few neighbors and no kids so babysitting isn't an option though I'd do it if I could! I like kids and would enjoy that. I worked part time in retail for quite awhile but getting there was a real problem since I have no car and most days DH is out in the truck making sales calls, deliveries, etc. Part time work isn't impossible, though, and I'm going to talk to him about that more today. I quit doing it before because he wanted me here to answer the phones, handle small jobs, and just do some of the work so it wasn't all on his shoulders. Cutting back on spending really is the best way to go and I'm tempted to get rid of the satellite tv which would help a little. Thanks for the suggestions.. I'm still praying and thinking on all this!
December 31st, 2006 at 02:43 pm 1167576223