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Help me budget

March 2nd, 2013 at 03:02 am

Well I have been off the wagon for way to long, I'm ready to get back on and am looking for some help. First off I decided to not go the route of back to school, right now anyway. The government could be offering the part I need to finish my ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education) in September and if they do it would be offered free online evenings and weekends way better then me taking the full course online. Second I bought a new car! And doing do drained one of my savings accounts. I love my car bought it in cash and am sooooo proud but here I am starting off again. Here are my current stats;

Small Ef: 500
Car main: 230
Other save: 80
Christmas: 150
Savings: 5550

My bills just seem to keep growing higher rent, higher childcare, insurance etc.

Bills:
Bank fee: 13
Car Ins: 38
Ten Ins: 10
Life Ins: 43
Cell/Int 150
DD Education: 50
Save: 50
Rent: 875
DD dance: 35
Netflix: 8
Gym membership: 33
Daycare: 400-540
Car Main: 50
Christmas:75
=1830-1940 before groceries, gas, misc spending, eating out, birthdays, etc.

My income varies per month but should be around 2566-2929 per month depending if its a 4 or 5 pay month. Can you help me budget this out, I may be getting a roommate so that will add another 250-350 to my income but would like to be able to not count on that and have it go directly into savings. Advice, Ideas I really need help getting back on the wagon. I have no idea my real spending for things like groceries, gas, misc and I need to be realistic that I am going to spend money on things like activities, eating out, clothes etc. I have a very short commute to work so I should be able to get away with 100-125 per month on gas. For groceries I have no idea but its just me and my daughter a dog, cat and two fish! Well if you made it this far and have some advice or care to share your opinion I would absolutely love to hear it!

5 Responses to “Help me budget”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1362194233

    Well, the first thing you need to do is actually keep the receipts from the spending on groceries, gas, activities and misc for at least one month. You then need to add those up. That's how you find out how much you are spending.

    What is Ten Ins? Why do you pay your bank a fee? You can and should avoid all bank fees. Look for a credit union that will provide you free checking.

  2. NJDebbie Says:
    1362194684

    I think Ten insurance is tenant insurance (renter's insurance). I'm also curious about the $13 bank fee.

  3. MonkeyMama Says:
    1362236134

    The biggies that stand out to me are bank fees (no reason should not be $0!!), cell/internet (can you live without or significantly reduce?), rent (roommate idea is good), and Christmas (can you cut back? and just do homemade items, buy more used toys for kids, etc.)?

  4. moneysavinmama Says:
    1362238303

    Ten insurance is tenant insurance yes, and all of the banks in my area other then one that would be a 40 min drive charge a service fee for a chequing/saving account. It wouldn't be possible for me to do the drive everytime I needed to do banking. I need to start writing down where my money is going, a lot is definitely going to eating out which I will have to try and cut down on big time.

  5. Jerry Says:
    1362429921

    I was wondering about the `ten insurance` as well. Wink Have you looked at any of the online bank options that you can manage without fees? It can also lead to some serious time savings, in my experience. (I know what you mean about eating out... it is a definite budget killer!)
    Jerry

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