What can I do?

[sweetlady2k]

I have very recently decided to improve my finances for 2013. I signed up for mint last year at the urging of my SO and used it sparatically at best. But this year I have been on it frequently tweaking budgets ect. Here is my situation. I have 2 kids live with bf. Our finances are not combined.
Income=
paycheck - at least 600 a week, I am in a sales commission job so it varies between 600-800 usually.
Child support-900 a month consisting of every other week direct deposits of 150 and a cash payment of 600 on the 1st of the mo.
Rental income-400 long story but I am managing a property for a relative that is in prison lol its a mobile home with owned land in a park that has a maintanence fee of 118 per month. I pay that and keep the rest. I also have the electric in my name and get reimbursed from the tenant who is also a relative.
Roommate income from bf- 250 on the 1st and 15th.
My bills are crazy. No cc. Got into a mess with my ex and don't have them now.
Rent 1050
Car 166
Electric 250 highest so I count that in budget
Electric for rental 150
Cable/internet 200
Cell 380
Gas/vehicle maint. 300
Student loan 170
Groceries 800
Child care 120 mo.
Water 90

I have 401k that matches 3% I contribute 3%. I also have pension. I have only been contributing for 2 years. I am 37 so I know that needs to get rectified. Bf is 38 also has minimal retirement saved.
We are moving from FL to AZ in a year and a half so most of my savings in the near future will be for the move including tax returns and he gets bonuses quarterly from his employer. I also started a second checking account for the move and I have a savings account for christmas. My bank has a keep then change that goes into the savings account plus I am adding 20 per paycheck.
I known I really need to do a emergency fund but can't really figure out how. I can pay bills OK but don't have much left over.
Any help would be welcome.

[disneysteve]

Rent 1050
Electric 250 highest
Cable/internet 200
Cell 380
Water 90
Groceries 800

You said you live with your bf. Does he pay any of the expenses? You seem to be paying for rent, electric, water, cable, and internet. What is he responsible for?

I would cut cable to the bare minimum if you don't cut it out entirely. Limited basic cable is generally under $20/month. If your bf wants more than that, let him pay for it.

What's the deal with the cell? $380/month is insane. I pay about $180/month for 5 people, 3 with iPhones.

You are spending too much on groceries also. It shouldn't cost $800 to feed 1 adult and 2 kids. Work on getting that down. I'd say start with a $600 budget, which is still a lot, and see where you can go from there.

I'm not surprised you can't build an EF with these numbers. Slash the fat from the budget and you'll have that EF funded in no time.

[bjl584]

In addition to what Steve already suggested, I would also look into getting rid of the rental. Especially since you are moving. You don't need the hassel of being a long distance landlord while you are trying to get your finances in order.

[scfr]

Agree w/ disneysteve that there is lots of room for cutting expenses.

You (or you and your bf together) have to decide in which areas you are willing to cut back. Making changes where it doesn't feel like a "sacrifice" are easier to get you started. Look for places where you can make big $$ cuts first, because there will be a big psychological payback.

I personally would start w/ the cell phone & cable/internet. (I have a cell phone that makes calls only, no data, and had basic limited cable until we kicked cable to the curb and installed an antenna for free OTA TV when we bought our house.)

Regarding the cable, most cable companies don't advertise or tell you about there most basic plan. You have to specifically ask them "what is the least expensive, most limited plan available"?

Once you have made the big cuts, then focus in on the smaller cuts, some of which you may want to do gradually. For example, on the electric bill, set your thermometer one degree lower in the winter. Once you have adjusted to the change, set it one more degree lower, etc, etc.

[sweetlady2k]

Also wanted to add that 7 years ago I worked as a manager for a retail store and had a 401k with 7k in it but had to use it for my ex husbands dads funeral so I have not spent all of my adult life ignoring retirement. We spent several years after his fathers death paying for all of his mother and the 4 children she had custody of(his sisters kids) paying all of their bills. They weren't covered under the grandfathers social security benifits because they were not adopted also his mother wasn't 62 at the time and could not recieve them. Before this the first 6 or 7 years of marriage we were horrible with money with multiple cc. And later charge offs when we could keep up. He was military and went to Iraq for a 4 month deployment and I read a book about paying off debt and played off several and was getting things turned around when a year later his dad died and we even lost one of our vehicles trying to pay for 2 households at once. We eventually moved across the state in with her with my ex staying with a friend during the week and working over there and driving back on the weekends. We were essentially paying for a house with 11 people in it for years. We ended up splitting for unrelated reasons but the situation did not help financially at all. Now I am committed to getting back on track financially for me.

[siggy_freud]

I agree with the others, and think you should focus on why the cell phone costs $380 a month, and why groceries are costing $800 a month.

I think you could save another $500 a month between the two without much effort and a few changes.

[sweetlady2k]

You said you live with your bf. Does he pay any of the expenses? You seem to be paying for rent, electric, water, cable, and internet. What is he responsible for?

I would cut cable to the bare minimum if you don't cut it out entirely. Limited basic cable is generally under $20/month. If your bf wants more than that, let him pay for it.

What's the deal with the cell? $380/month is insane. I pay about $180/month for 5 people, 3 with iPhones.

You are spending too much on groceries also. It shouldn't cost $800 to feed 1 adult and 2 kids. Work on getting that down. I'd say start with a $600 budget, which is still a lot, and see where you can go from there.

I'm not surprised you can't build an EF with these numbers. Slash the fat from the budget and you'll have that EF funded in no time.

Under income you will see bf pays 250 On the 1 st and 15 the. Cable is for everyone we don't spend money going to movies or entertainment much so watch movies at home. Cell is 4 lines. Me, ex husband, daughter and a stupid one for sister that never paid so I can't get out of it until contracts up. My ex pays auto insurance and I took cell phone when we split.
Food is for 2 adults and 2 kids we take lunches to work and hardly ever eat out or buy snacks so? Also includes non grocery like shampoo deoderant haircare pet food.

[sweetlady2k]

In addition to what Steve already suggested, I would also look into getting rid of the rental. Especially since you are moving. You don't need the hassel of being a long distance landlord while you are trying to get your finances in order.

The rental will be a non issue as of september 2013. The owner will be back home.

[sweetlady2k]

Also included in food are kids lunches at school for the month. I actually have cut out a lot by not eating lunch at work.

[disneysteve]

Under income you will see bf pays 250 On the 1 st and 15

So that covers his half of the rent. What about all of the other bills?

Cable is for everyone we don't spend money going to movies or entertainment much so watch movies at home.

Drop to limited basic cable for about $15/month and get a Netflix subscription for $20/month. Another $50 for internet and you're at $85 instead of $200.

Cell is 4 lines. Me, ex husband, daughter and a stupid one for sister that never paid so I can't get out of it until contracts up. My ex pays auto insurance and I took cell phone when we split.

That still doesn't explain the price. As I said, we pay under $200 for 5 lines, 3 of which are smart phones with data plans. And you can always end a contract early by paying a termination fee. Run the numbers. It might be cheaper to pay the fee than to keep paying the bill.

Food is for 2 adults and 2 kids we take lunches to work and hardly ever eat out or buy snacks so? Also includes non grocery like shampoo deoderant haircare pet food.

This again raises the question of why your bf isn't paying his share of the bills. You should not be supporting him. You said your finances are not combined but it appears that they are. He's paying $500/month and getting rent, utilities, cable, internet, food, etc. That's ridiculous.

How much does your bf earn?

[scfr]

2 suggestions:
1. Keep an open mind and don't get defensive. You asked for help. People are taking time out of their days to respond, which means that they genuinely want to help. We may come across as sounding critical because all you see are typed words and you can't hear our tone, but we are trying to offer helpful suggestions.
2. Tell us ... Where are YOU willing to cut back?

[sweetlady2k]

So that covers his half of the rent. What about all of the other bills?


Drop to limited basic cable for about $15/month and get a Netflix subscription for $20/month. Another $50 for internet and you're at $85 instead of $200.


That still doesn't explain the price. As I said, we pay under $200 for 5 lines, 3 of which are smart phones with data plans. And you can always end a contract early by paying a termination fee. Run the numbers. It might be cheaper to pay the fee than to keep paying the bill.


This again raises the question of why your bf isn't paying his share of the bills. You should not be supporting him. You said your finances are not combined but it appears that they are. He's paying $500/month and getting rent, utilities, cable, internet, food, etc. That's ridiculous.

How much does your bf earn?

He is not paying half the rent, he is paying a set amount which matches what he payed before in his previous apartment with a roommate. Why would he pay for 50% of the bills in a house that includes 2 children that he is not financially responsible for? That is why my ex pays child support. The 600 my ex pays on the first pays just over half of the rent leaving 450 of which bf is paying 250 and I pay 200 because I also pay my car payment that week. He pays the second 250 on the 15th which covers half of electric and water plus a bit more. The cable is excessive I definitely can cut that. Most of it is movie package promotions that have ended and are up to the regular price again. The cell phone is tough our contract is up in march so we should be splitting that account then but I will also be adding car insurance with a 16 year old daughter at that time so I think it will be close in cost anyway. The cell is set on unlimited for all lines talk text and data. I was going way over in one category or another from different lines and having 600 doller phone bills frequently before I switched plans. And I am required to have a cell for work. 35% discount.
Bf makes 52k a year I make 49k my check net range from 600 a week to 800 but I occasionally get 9,10,11 hundred dollar take home. I just put 600 to be safe.

[sweetlady2k]

2 suggestions:
1. Keep an open mind and don't get defensive. You asked for help. People are taking time out of their days to respond, which means that they genuinely want to help. We may come across as sounding critical because all you see are typed words and you can't hear our tone, but we are trying to offer helpful suggestions.
2. Tell us ... Where are YOU willing to cut back?

I am just explaining things not being defensive, my tone is also not included on here lol.
I am willing to cut back with cable ,food and cell if that is possible. I was couponing 2 years ago but moved to a cheaper smaller house and just do not have the space to store food anymore.

[sweetlady2k]

Also my kids are 8 and 16 so are not tiny. They eat a lot and use way more food water and electric than my bf.

[scfr]

The cable is excessive I definitely can cut that. Most of it is movie package promotions that have ended and are up to the regular price again.

OK, so start here! Go ahead and cut back to basic limited and find creative alternatives for entertainment. Do you have a library in your area? Are you utilizing it? At my local library, I can get books & DVDs for 2 weeks at a time. If you have a similar setup, you could have a weekend outing once every 2 weeks with the kids. Let everyone pick out a couple movies and maybe a book or two. The movies may not be the most recent ones, but you can't beat the price (FREE). Add a little popcorn and a beverage, and you have several fun family nights! No sacrifice involved at all.

Where else do you think you could cut back?