As I discussed, I will be publishing my monthly budget here and showing how I make it work. Take a look!
So let's go line by line and see what's what:
Bills
Rent - The current bane of my existence. I have owned at least one home for almost 10 years and lived mortgage-free for quite a while. This causes me real pain to have to write a huge rent check each month, but what are you gonna do? This is a disproportionately large share of money to pay in rent. Typically, you want to spend no more than 1/3 of your net (take home, after tax) pay on housing. However, we live in a super expensive part of a super expensive city (West Los Angeles). Because of where we live, my husband can walk to work. That alone is worth its weight in gold here. If we lived somewhere more affordable he would sit in traffic for hours each day to get to the office. Factor in gas, parking, maintenance, etc, and forget it.
Gas/Water/Garbage/Electric - This utility bills are negligible because our apartment is the size of a coffin and the weather is always nice here. If you don't live in a coffin and would like to cut some of your utility costs, check out this article here.
Phone - We have no contract phones through Virgin Mobile. You pay up-front for a phone and then pay monthly for unlimited everything. It's the cheapest around and they use Sprint towers.
Netflix - I share my Netflix password with a friend and she in turn shares her password with me so I can watch HBO. Friends, working together and making it work. One of my favorite pass times is to look at the hundreds of shows available on Netflix until it's too late to watch anything at all. Fun times.
Internet - I elected for the cheapest Time Warner Cable package available and it works just fine for this household. We only have one TV and don't play games or anything like that.
Health Insurance - I was able to find a somewhat affordable plan for our family of four through the Covered California site and the Insurance Marketplace. There is little to be done here as far as savings go. It stinks.
Preschool - One of the first things I did in preparation for our move to LA was start looking into preschools for my children. It is very competitive in big cities and I thought I was prepared and I am forever lol'ing at how I was not. There is a very highly rated preschool blocks from us that is $22k per school year. For preschool. I just....No. In the end our finances made the decision for us. I found a smaller program run through the county recreation center and it is lovely. My son is happy there and my daughter is home with me all day.
Groceries - I could go on and on about food and how to save money. And I do! Here in all of my Menu Monday posts.
Lucy UPMC - Around one year ago my daughter was in the hospital overnight for dehydration caused by the flu. We are still paying off that overnight stay, even with insurance. Yikes!
Laundromat/Dry Cleaning - This just sort of is what it is. I wish I could drop stuff off for fluff and fold, but for now this works. Plus, they have free pretzels there, so it's not so bad.
Gas - I don't drive much on the weekdays, but we do a lot on the weekends. That highway travel is a killer! To offset this I cash in my credit card rewards for gas station gift cards. It's like money laundering for really boring people.
Target/Misc - Target or Big Lots or some other junk store is where I get my cleaning products, shampoo, and stuff. I always need something, and it's usually something I don't need.
YMCA - I go to the gym 4 days a week to lift weights and look at naked old ladies.
Karate - My daughter takes karate one day a week. Soon she will be in ballet, which is cheaper.
Things not on the list - Car payments, student loan payments. or credit card payments. Because there are none. Both of our cars were paid off when we sold a house last year, my husband has no student debt, and we do not carry balances on our cards. There is no line for buying new clothes or house stuff either, which makes me sad. Frankly we just cannot afford it. When my son is out of school for the year it will free up that money for the month and we'll use that.
Eegads that's a lot of stuff! I feel broke just writing it all out. In another post I will talk a bit about savings plans and how to get ahead, even if you've fallen behind.
Have you sat down to look at your finances lately? Do you have a budget? Tell me all about it! And if you need a little push getting started, there are some great free printables on the Mind On Your Money Pinterest Page. Now get to work!
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