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they pretty much even out... which means we are having a hard time saving...
anyone else have monthly expenses this high? This is based on October's expenses... between rent, groceries, day care, eating out, and other monthly expenses, are total monthly expenses are around $6700 a mo.
they pretty much even out... which means we are having a hard time saving...
anyone else have monthly expenses this high? This is based on October's expenses... between rent, groceries, day care, eating out, and other monthly expenses, are total monthly expenses are around $6700 a mo.
Whoa! $6,700 a month? What city and state do you live in, and could you break out what you spend on each category? I bet I can slash this by 50%.
rent 1400
car pymts 750
groceries 1000
daycare 800
cable/internet 100
gas 600
credit cards 200
college prepaid 220
power bill 250
water bill 100
car insurance 170
Car payments and gas are two of the areas I see there. If you're spending $600 a month on gas.. Might be time to look at more efficient vehicles. Unless you're just driving massive distances.. And if that's the case, perhaps look at the rent in an area closer to where you wind up going.
I spend about $200 a month on gas, which, I live about 30 miles from work.. But, vehicle is paid off and the reason I live so far is because rather than paying $700/mo on rent or something.. I'm paying about $450/mo on a house payment. I have about $1200 in expenses on $2800 take home pay a month.
I have no water bill because i'm on a well. No CC debt. Don't have to worry about childcare or college payments.
Gas, car payments and rent are places where you might be able to shave some costs.
housing + utilities (reasonable and inflexible): 1,850
automotive (really high - short term cuts may be difficult but if you want to save money with the least effect on your lifestyle this is clearly where it can/should come from): 1,520
Groceries (high-ish and immediately flexible, but cutting back here is always unpleasant): 1,000
daycare (done in a few years, not much to be done in the interim): 800
debt repayment/service (good and a form of savings if this is principal repayment, bad if you're just paying the minimums): 420
housing + utilities (reasonable and inflexible): 1,850
automotive (really high - short term cuts may be difficult but if you want to save money with the least effect on your lifestyle this is clearly where it can/should come from): 1,520
Groceries (high-ish and immediately flexible, but cutting back here is always unpleasant): 1,000
daycare (done in a few years, not much to be done in the interim): 800
debt repayment/service (good and a form of savings if this is principal repayment, bad if you're just paying the minimums): 420
Car payments belong in the debt category.
It's easy to assume a lot here and one has to be careful, but I suspect the issue is either a large vehicle or a long commute. Fortunately they are renting so it is less impractical to move to cut expenses down than it would be if they had bought a house. However, it's still easier to cut the food budget, $1,000 does seem high to me.
Judging by the amount you are paying to credit cards it looks like you are making minimum payments. If you don't mind me asking, how much credit card debt do you have?
We are striving for a frugal lifestyle. We make $4200 and our monthly expenses are 2k max, and that is EVERYTHING from eating out to groceries, gas, utilities, insurance, etc. We have a baby on the way and our goal is to try to not increase our cost of living by more than $200. We have been reading a lot on the frugal forums, and know it is possible
Maybe your problem goes beyond monthly expenses, and more on managing debt and daily living.
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