So we added a new savings category to the budget for our annual car registrations. I think in the long run doing a monthly budget for it will be smart so we don't have to rely on our tax return for it every year. Thankfully we have the money saved up from last year to cover the payment due this month on "Stitch" (the Camry). So we knocking the discretionary funds down a little.
Road Trip
We are also not sure how operation Roth IRA will fair this month because we need to take "Sally" (our newer Ford Escort) in for a 75,000 mile oil change / inspection. (we should have last month but didn't realize). If it needs anything more then an oil change, we are going to need to dip into SCB's paychecks...We are also trying to figure out if we should take "Stitch" in too because we are driving out to Utah for our friends wedding and will most likely take Stitch because its easier to drive (Read: Stitch is an automatic... I Sally is our stick shift... I have only driven her once in an attempt to get her home and not since). We have enough money for our vacation fund so we aren't worried about the gas there and back... just if we should take Stitch in as well for a check up at the mechanic before the road trip because that increases our odds of having an issue and I feel like we just took her in recently...
Not Spending Money Side Effects - Grumpy Hubby
South County Boy wants to buy running shoes this month... Well he wanted to last month but the budget stopped him... and then we need to fix that busted computer fan... and now we may have auto maintenance stuff to do too, which takes priority over shoes when we have limited discretionary funds...
Needless to say, all of this isn't helping South County Boy too much. He's been really bummed out when we have income coming in, but he can't spend it like we did at the tail end of 2013. We were responsible and didn't get any debt.. but we didn't save anything those months. He's forgotten how much I was really watching our dollars and cents when we were first married on a much smaller single income... and he seems to have an all or nothing mentality so finding middle ground has been difficult... and there's been a little more complaining that he has to wait for things or use his fun money for them.
My worry is if we do decide to start a family next year, finding a middle ground will be much more important because that income he generates will most likely NOT be there since day care in this area is north of a grand a month and it would be cheaper to have him QUIT and stay home then to work and use daycare. Getting into the habit and saving now will help us assess if we can even do a family on my income when the money isn't there. Most likely we are hoping he can move to part time so he can work when i'm not working and hopefully keep his insurance and stuff... but that's all stuff we aren't even mentioning until next year when and if I do get Preggers at some point. He may have to quit and try to get a different job part time.
March Budget:
Spending
Mortgage: $771.99
Church Tithe: $572.00
Other Church offerings: $40.00
Groceries/Household Items: $300.00
Date Nights & Eating Out: $100.00
Pocket Money ($40 each): $80.00
Cell Phone Work Reimbursement: $60.00
HOA: $270.00
Utility Bills: $150.00 (Second cell, Electricity, Internet)
Gasoline: $250.00
Discretionary: $174.95
Saving
Christmas Savings: $50.00
Birthday/gifts Savings: $50.00
Vacation Savings: $100
Car Registration Savings: $25.00
Roth IRA: $1,275.00Car Registration Savings: $25.00
Insurance Savings: $143.00
Prescriptions/Doctors Visits: $50.00
Roxy (Dog) Savings Account: $50.00
Just curious but would SCB want to stay home and take care of a new baby? My boyfriend has already said (when we were talking about the future) that he'd rather all of his paycheck go to daycare then him having to stay home. I make more money than he does so it wouldn't be feasible for me to stay home even if I wanted to. There are more and more dads becoming SAHD's so its obviously working for some families. I have been reading your blog for a lot of years now and it still amazes me how you are able to be so strict with a budget. I wish I had half the willpower!
ReplyDeleteThat's what SCB is currently telling me... that he wants to be a stay at home dad. He really liked having a parent around to take care of him growing up and that's what he wants for our kids too. But we are also recognizing that, that decision might now be in his best interests long term. When he was out of work and in the house all day his depression worsened and being a SAHD is more work then he really knows...
DeleteWe are ultimately hoping his boss will just let him cut his hours down and work part time so we can trade off watching the future little goober, because he really likes his job and doesn't want to quit...
(From SCB- The reason I want to be home raising any kiddos we have is because around age 13 I started getting into stuff that was bad for me... and if my mom had been able to be around more (she had something going on that kept her out of the house for a long time at that age), I probably wouldn't have gotten into that stuff.)
I think the difference now is that he is earning an income, not just you.
ReplyDeletelol. I think your right. He's always had a "vote" when it comes to the budget, but now he feels like he earns his vote. (Thankfully Monday's post will "help" in this area).
DeleteIm dealing with the daycare costs now, its about $1300 a month here, and about 60% of my income. It sucks.
ReplyDeleteThat's what we are worried about... working just to afford day-care or even just to keep health insurance reasonable...
DeleteRe: running shoes. Is SCB running now in older running shoes, or bad shoes? I'm concerned that if he is running in bad shoes, he could injure himself and in the long run it could end up costing you more than the shoes, plus some CC interest would've cost in the first place.
ReplyDeleteHe hasn't really started running yet... he's just kind of walking around in athletic shoes (not street shoes)... and part of me is waiting for him to show more "interest" before dropping $150 on shoes for him.
DeleteHe's already lost interest in his "Fitbit" that he HAD to have (which he thought he had lost).... where-as I wear mine every day, still and it motivates me to move around more so i'm happy I got it...
The second the man says hes going to go run or jog, I will get him shoes... and we won't go into debt for it... we have money in savings.
Sell his fitbit! I bet you could find buyers on this blog.....like me!
ReplyDelete