by Hope
Accept my apology up-front for this kind of rambling update. I think Ashley sent us her cooties (ie allergies) and it’s been a miserable couple of weeks for those of us with allergies and those of us without listening to those that do have allergies.
As of this week, I have paid all this month’s bills and next month’s bills (ie rent + utilities + insurance.) For the first time in I don’t know how long I am not waiting nail-bitingly to see when my checks arrive and prioritizing who to pay with this money and who to pay with a subsequent payment (remember, as contract labor I have no set pay dates and am really at the mercy of my clients time table.)
I still have 4 checks that should arrive before the end of the month or soon thereafter. I will be socking away that money for June’s monthly bills and then proceeding with debt payments (remember we only paid the minimums this month to allow me to get to a place to live on last month’s income.)
We’ve spent all of our grocery allowance for this month and I’m hoping to save May’s until after our mini-vacation in mid-May. We will have 2 months (April and May) of our Misc money to spend on our vacation. And frankly, living with no extra has not been so hard. I think having the incentive of what promises to be a really nice mini-vacation has made it much more bearable.
As I mentioned last week, I have gotten two new work jobs…one project and one on-going. I have decided to delve into that money a little bit and give eh kids a birthday party this year. It will still be frugal, but with us being so close to being consumer debt free, this being “extra” money that is not currently incorporated in our budget and the kids being SO, SO good about our cutting back in all aspects of life, I think this is a great way to treat them. I’m hoping that since they are not expecting a party, I can pull off some sort of surprise party…still frugal. So I’m sure I’ll post on this once I get more of a solid idea.
We are wrapping up our school year this week with standardized testing. So every morning the younger two kids go to a small private school who is also doing their testing. For a nominal cost of $25 each, they sit in a classroom with kids their age and take their tests. We’ve done it this way since they were K and 1st grade and it’s a week they look forward too as they get to be in a “classroom” and it symbolizes the end of their school year. (We school year round, but our summer schedule is much looser and we will take the next few weeks off until after our mini-vacation.) The twins can’t go to this same school as it only goes through middle school, so I order their tests from setontesting.com and I proctor them. That costs me $40 per child and it will take 2-3 days 2-3 hours per day. Just a glimpse into our homeschooling world and costs associated with it.
I think that about sums it up on the financial end. We are still staying busy with gymnastics 3 days a week, field hockey 2 days a week, Navy Sea Cadets 1 drill weekend a month and finishing up the high school lab sciences for the twins.
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 3 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
So I guess you’re not planning to grocery shop for the next 3-4 weeks? What will your meals look like? Are your children still doing the shopping and meal planning each week? I’d be interested in hearing about that.
Agreed. Just curious how that will work for your meals to be healthy and any fresh foods? Milk? Anything that expires?
Hi Kayla,
I think it was back in May, 2014 (this post: https://www.bloggingawaydebt.com/2014/05/monthly-item-updates/) I mentioned that we get regular deliveries of milk and farm fresh veggies. This runs anywhere from $20-40 per week and is included in our budget. The charges come out automatically and I put the budgeted amount in the account and just leave it. We’ve recently switched to bi-weekly as we’ve gotten away from cereals, our milk intake has dropped dramatically.
Excellent question, Kerry! Yes, my kids are still doing the weekly shopping (although lately it’s been more bi-weekly shopping) and as work permits the dinner preparation. We’ve changed it up a bit these last couple of months and instead of it being free-range for what they can cook, they get to pick a theme for a month…so we typically end up with themes like: Mexican night, grill or meat night, Chinese, subs and sandwiches…you get the drill. Based on their theme they come up with 3-4 meals and a grocery list, we then combine and check the stock for what we need to buy.
When we get toward the end of the month, meals get a bit more free-range depending on what we have left, but this is the general process and works well for us.
It appears for your family its easier to have no spend days/weeks than to have a tiny amount of spending money. That’s great! I wish we could do the same but we aren’t very good at entertaining ourselves or sitting at home after a rough day. Okay well we could but it seems much more difficult. Keep it up!
Oh, Angie, I so wish this was indicative of us staying home…alas with a HUGE playground, basketball court and walking trail literally a block from us, we are out! And with kids activities 3-4 nights a week and then almost every Saturday…when I get to sit down for an hour that I don’t have to work…oh, I count it as a blessing.
We are also enjoying lots of card games and are anxiously awaiting the opening of our apartment pool (which they say could be as early as next Friday.)
But you are right, I do much better with no money to spend than just a little bit. I tend to stretch the little bit, but with none, I can stand firm.
I’d like to see a couple of things from you since it’s been awhile:
1) A debt update. I believe the last one you posted was in the beginning of February.
2) A status update (using real numbers) with the “living on last month’s income” plan. You should show March’s income compared to how much you have saved currently and when you plan on being complete with this. If you plan on having an income of $5,000 for April, will you have that $5,000 saved on May 1st to live on?
I agree. The last posts have been vaguely debt related (inexpensive home schooling project, maybe moving apartments) but without the background of where you stand with income and debt, it’s hard to see if you’re making any progress.
She is making progress by having a one month buffer fund. With 4 kids and variable income there is not always going to be progress on debt. She has stated before that she is focusing on the one-month buffer first. Which sounds like its going very well and releiving some stress!
But does she actually have a buffer? What is the buffer amount? How did she calculate it? She mentions paying rent, utilities, and insurance. Does the buffer include debt minimum payments? Does it include food costs and misc expense?
I think you’re confusing buffer with emergency fund, which is understandable since for many people buffer would be the ermgency fund. The buffer is the current month’s income as it comes in.
Can I please make a general recommendation not specifically related to this post? It would be nice to have some interaction with you, Hope. If you look back at your last several posts, people make comments or ask you questions and very rarely do you respond. Sometimes it just feels like ‘why bother’ commenting if you know nothing will ever come of it.
Thanks for the general update. Sounds like your strict budget is starting to pay off…..and with the two new jobs that will really help with your debt payoff. I think having a surprise b’day party for the kids would be fun – and it’s easy to keep it simple and low cost – all kids want is pizza, cake, and friends over!