Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Economics > Personal Finance
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-26-2013, 03:44 PM
 
2,682 posts, read 4,464,654 times
Reputation: 1343

Advertisements

I thought I would post our budget here, to try and get some ideas, feed back. You guys have been helpful in the past!

$5226 take home pay (after insurance for me, baby and my 401k contribution (5%))
$900 rent
$348 car
$729 student loans (minimum $279)
$94 car insurance (2 cars)
$60 cell phone (3 lines, our share for 2 of the lines)
$300 gas (3 tanks on one car and 4 tanks on the other)
$150 bills (electric & cable & internet)
$868 daycare (this is the high end, we might be able to find something for $600)
$64 gym (2 memberships)
$175 credit card payment (0% interest - I just roll it over once the promo period ends - balance = $8800 as of today)
$200 medical insurance for my partner (I can't add her to mine and her job doesn't provide, I think she will be up for a subsidy next year with Obamacare so I think this is a good estimate - she currently does not have insurance).
$500 savings (includes contribution from my mom)

$20,000 in cash savings

My mom gives me $200 month (this is to help with my student loan, since my parents didn't help me with college at all, but then spend $60K on my brother, we had a falling out and she felt bad, so as long as she's working she sends me the money). I don't know how long it will continue, so I try not to budget with that money in mind.

This leaves us with $1000. This $1000 is to cover food, going out (if we are able to go anywhere), copays, clothes, haircuts, and now diapers and other baby items...etc. I would like to keep the cable, plus my partner works from home so we need the internet - the marginal cost of the cable is only $30/month. I would also like to keep the gym, I'm going to need it for sure and it's our only recreation. I am on the income based repayment plan for the student loan, so even though we pay that much now ($729) the required payment is only $254 - so in a case of a real emergency, I could send less for a month or two.

I cook our meals and shop the sales, I plan to buy baby items in bulk probably from Amazon or when there is a sale. Right now we spend about $600 on this category - I don't cook as much as I will since I haven't been feeling well, but definitely will once the baby is here. I plan to buy used items for the baby as much as I can.

Any suggestions or holes? Can we make it on $1000 - we live in Florida?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-26-2013, 06:23 PM
 
Location: Central, NJ
2,729 posts, read 6,090,199 times
Reputation: 4110
I definitely think you have a great plan here. Are you planning to breastfeed? I did so I'm not sure how much formula costs. Absolutely buy used items for the baby! As it gets closer I recommend that you guys try to stock the freezer with some meals. It's so hard cooking with a newborn and when you end up relying on fast food or takeout you end up wasting money and eating unhealthy food - at exactly the time you need energy and nutrients the most.

Does your gym offer childcare? I definitely think it is a valuable "splurge". My husband and I go together on Saturday and it's a great date.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-26-2013, 07:34 PM
 
5,500 posts, read 10,480,539 times
Reputation: 2302
Amazon is a great way to get duff for kids with the subscribe and save 20% discount. Long term I think you need to address car/loan/CC debt with some prepayments.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-26-2013, 08:31 PM
 
406 posts, read 616,398 times
Reputation: 265
You're in good shape, though your daycare numbers seem low (600 is about half the price it would be here in the DC area for an infant).

Regardless of how low your interest rates are, I would work hard to eliminate your various debts as quickly as possible. That will help you monthly cash flow and put you in a better position going forward for college savings, possibly buying a house, etc.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2013, 07:26 AM
 
1,883 posts, read 2,812,265 times
Reputation: 1305
baby comes before money, I think you should be just fine.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2013, 07:28 AM
 
3,072 posts, read 5,208,807 times
Reputation: 6578
I would double check daycare fees (also, they tend to decrease as the child gets older).

A gym with daycare for mother is cheaper than a therapist. Seriously, LOL. Just that one hour break is a lifesaver.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2013, 07:54 AM
 
1,402 posts, read 3,490,277 times
Reputation: 1314
Big thing I see is your partner doesn't have health insurance and she is having a baby soon. How will you pay for the hospital bill? Having just had a baby I think the bill was in the 10-15K range.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2013, 08:28 AM
 
2,682 posts, read 4,464,654 times
Reputation: 1343
Quote:
Originally Posted by Irish Eyes View Post
I definitely think you have a great plan here. Are you planning to breastfeed? I did so I'm not sure how much formula costs. Absolutely buy used items for the baby! As it gets closer I recommend that you guys try to stock the freezer with some meals. It's so hard cooking with a newborn and when you end up relying on fast food or takeout you end up wasting money and eating unhealthy food - at exactly the time you need energy and nutrients the most.

Does your gym offer childcare? I definitely think it is a valuable "splurge". My husband and I go together on Saturday and it's a great date.
Gym does offer child care! I have to see what the minimum age is, I doubt they watch newborns, but I honestly never checked.

Thank you for the suggestion of stocking up on some frozen items.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2013, 08:30 AM
 
2,682 posts, read 4,464,654 times
Reputation: 1343
Quote:
Originally Posted by acgood View Post
You're in good shape, though your daycare numbers seem low (600 is about half the price it would be here in the DC area for an infant).

Regardless of how low your interest rates are, I would work hard to eliminate your various debts as quickly as possible. That will help you monthly cash flow and put you in a better position going forward for college savings, possibly buying a house, etc.
I'm sure I low balled for DC area, but we are in Orlando. It runs max about $200 a week, you can find anything from $90 a week. I don't know if I would put my child somewhere for $90 a week, but the one up the street charges $150. We haven't checked them out yet, so that's why I'm budgeting at the high end.

If we make bigger payments to some of our debts, that will put our savings at almost $0 and I'm hesitant to do that. So that's why I've budgeted this way. I suppose if we have $$ left over from another line item, we could through it at one of the debts.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-27-2013, 08:33 AM
 
2,682 posts, read 4,464,654 times
Reputation: 1343
Quote:
Originally Posted by broadbill View Post
Big thing I see is your partner doesn't have health insurance and she is having a baby soon. How will you pay for the hospital bill? Having just had a baby I think the bill was in the 10-15K range.
I'm having the baby, we're all set. The delivery is due to cost $2K. I have cash to pay for that, or a payment plan if they will offer one.

Plus, my parents make really good money and have been dying for a grandchild. So, although I would never ask, if they offered to help with delivery or getting initial baby stuff, I wouldn't stop them. My mom always offers us money here and there, so I would think they would help with some things.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Economics > Personal Finance
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top