Help me with this budget?

[newmummy]

Okay, my brother already bluntly told me to drop the charity right now since I don't have any savings whatsoever. It made me sad, but he's right.

Can anyone else make any suggestions?

Estimated income: $1000 per month

Debts: $100
Savings: $90
Housing: $50
Utilities: $50
Food: $50
Transportation: $30
Clothing: $50 (this will drop down in 3 months when I have enough clothing to have a basic work wardrobe)
Medical: $500 (no way to drop this - medication and copays)
Personal care: $50 (haircuts, makeup, things like that)
Gifts: $20
Recreation: $10 (thought of taking this one out but I really don't want to have to always say no to my son if he wants to see a movie or something)

Any "found" money (aluminium can recycling, CafePress earnings, etcetera) will also go into savings until I have an emergency fund of at least $1000 again.

The food, housing, & utilities are really low because I'm living with my parents right now. I am very concerned, however, that I won't be able to sustain any kind of household on my own with this kind of ongoing medical expense. There is child support, but that is basically eaten up by childcare expenses ($26 left after paying) so I'm not counting it in the budget, especially as it hasn't gotten here on time once and there will be enrollment fees coming up again soon.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

I would look at dropping the gifts and reducing the personal care. Is makeup a necessity (I know it is for some)?

[Clever Username]

May 22, 2011 14:28:51 GMT -5 newmummy said:

Estimated income: $1000 per month

To be blunt, your problems begin and end here.

You've got another smaller problem with the shell game you've got going where you don't list some things because other also unlisted items cancel them out.

For example: if you're paying $500/month for daycare for one.
I'd suggest quitting your job, taking in 4 kids (or whatever the state max without a license is).
This would increase income by $2500 and decrease expenses by $500. Back of the envelope numbers, but you get the idea.

[Clever Username]

May 22, 2011 14:28:51 GMT -5 newmummy said:

Medical: $500 (no way to drop this - medication and copays)

There is a very obvious way to drop this.
Your brother hinted at it.

You are not at this stage a giver of charity.
You are a possible receiver of charity.

Talk to social services.

[rmtvbrooks]

A suggestion on makeup: I use Signature Minerals. It lasts a LONG time and is very reasonable in cost.

Haircuts: Try a hairstyle that doesn't need to be cut so often. A shoulder-length bob just needs an occasional trim (every 6-8 weeks). Some stylists also charge according to the difficulty of the cut, and a quick trim on a bob should be cheap.

Go after the child's father in court if necessary. I had a friend who never received her child support on time, and she finally had to take it to court. The court ordered that the child support be garnished from his pay and given to her; it was never late again!

You definitely need to improve income, either through a second job or a better job. Don't quit your current job until you have a better one, but definitely start looking. It's hard to know how to direct you on that since you don't list your qualifications, but there are often career centers or organizations through social services that could help you.

Speaking of social services, definitely talk to them. You may qualify for WIC or food stamps (I know it's hard to swallow your pride and do that, but do it for the sake of your child until your situation improves). There may be other assistance available to you, too.

As someone else mentioned, if you will list EVERYTHING...all income, all expenses, a breakdown of the debt you owe, etc...the folks on here can give you some very good and sound advice. They gave me some very good advice when I was trying to make a decision concerning a piece of property facing foreclosure. Someone recommended a different avenue, and it worked out really great.

Best of luck to you! You CAN make it...you'll just have to make some hard choices.

[mizbear]

If I remember in our last conversation, a put together look was essential for your work. I agree that, if it is possible, a low maintenance cut would save money. And for your makeup, unless you need mineral or a special type- I would go drugstore and coupon- covergirl,revlon, almay, etc often put out coupons (HBA coupons can save you a ton of money). I know Social Services has a lot of protocols, but see if there is anything you qualify for- child care assistance, food stamps, medical, etc.
Break your debt down and be ruthless- even more so than before. If you can, get someone to help you- sounds like your brother has your best interest at heart and isn't afraid to speak up. Are there things you can move? Reduce? Etc?
And don't give up. Keep plugging away at it. The worst thing you could do is give up.

[salserabarby]

there's too many gaps in your budget to be able to really give you some advice.

Here's a few things:
Your income is way too low to support a household regardless of your medical expenses.
I'm a bit confused on some of your budgeted items. For instance, $50 for food is too low. Also, you have budgeted $50 for personal care. How is haircut and makeup as important as eating?

[mizbear]

salserabarby- If you are couponing, it is easy to eat for a month on $50. You combine coupons, sales, etc. You would be quite surprised how low you can get your grocery bill- and I am not talking about any of the strange things you see on EC.

[newmummy]

Ok, some clarifications -

I won't get a driver's license back until the end of next January or beginning of February 2012, due to the seizures, so my son & I will definitely be living with my parents until then and probably for some time thereafter. Housing, utilities, & food are therefore percentages of the overall household costs. Transportation is basically the cost of most a tank of gasoline for my mom's car a month; I'm carpooling with her or my dad most of the time to get to my two jobs.

(Groceries do tend to be a little lower anyway because we're in the country - when I get up from my break here, after I finish doing some household stuff for my mother today, I'm going to clean out the deep freeze so we can put the cow that went to slaughter in there in a couple of days, then go out to the garden and see what's ripe, there's two plum trees, my carrots & beans & tomatoes out there, etcetera. Plus local farmers' markets.)

The debts are hard to spell out right now since they're being split in court; the good news is that most of them are not interest bearing. The most pressing is $644.57 owed to the sleep clinic so I can get back in there to be evaluated again now that I've lost so much weight that the machine mask doesn't fit my face. I have $15,000 in student loans remaining but they are in forbearance right now. Only one credit card is remaining, and it is actually closed; there is $8,435 remaining on it but I have contacted the credit union and they have a program for people having a divorce where you take these education classes and they freeze until the divorce is finalized. On a lot of the medical debts, I have the paperwork to apply for dismissals & such but can't fill it out until everything's finalized. I owe my parents about $4000 at this point but they have told me they will be the last ones to pay off.

Because I'm doing marketing as the new job, it sounds crazy but I do have to do the haircuts and makeup. I know that it looks a little high but I had NONE of those things and am basically trying to figure out how much I'll actually use in a month. For instance, I hadn't bought lipstick in at least three years or had a haircut except right after Aeryn died and I went and donated my hair to Locks of Love. Same with the clothing - when he left, I had two sweatsuits, one pair of jeans, various assorted t-shirts, and was still wearing nursing bras from when my almost-5-year-old was born. Plenty of pajamas because my mum gave them to me for Christmas every year and two short sets for cleaning house, two pairs of sneakers and one cheap pair of black flats. It's almost like I'm starting completely over. Luckily, my mother wears the same size as I do right now and has been letting me borrow things like suit jackets for interviews and court stuff.

This $1000 is one full time job (4 10-hour days), because of my medical conditions the insurance will eat up a lot of my pay but I've got to have it so this is the estimated take-home. I did find out yesterday my part-time teaching contract will be renewed, so that will add $140 monthly. I'm teaching music, because in Texas I can do that without a teaching license but holding a baccalaureate. Then piano lessons, I'm trying to find more students, right now it looks like about $40 a month but that's assuming no cancellations.

The biggest problem on jobs is just that I cannot drive. There are a lot of jobs I am qualified for, but I can't get to them regularly because they're 30 minutes to an hour away and there is no public transportation. Same with the child care; since I can't drive and I have to work, I'm going to have to use the place that has pick-up/drop-off service. That is covered by the child support, but then that's about it. They're starting the garnishment so the timing should be fixed soon.

The medication costs may go down if I can get my neurologist to rewrite for a 90-day prescription and I use the mail-order pharmacy; it looks like there's a discount for doing that. I did check into the aid programs for medication but since right now it looks like I have far more income (legally I have joint assets even though I have no access to them) I don't qualify. Maybe when the divorce is finalized I will try again.

I will probably go apply for child care aid once the divorce is finalized - I don't want to but I do have to face that this is a tiny income. However, it's waiting for all the court stuff to clear holding me up. Any suggestions are really helpful, I do need another set of eyes looking at all this stuff.

[mourningcloak]

Absolutely check out Cvs like mizbear said. I think Riteaid has the same basic deals. Makeup is on sale constantly, there are lots of coupons. The other day I bought$ 15 in makeup, used$ 6 in manufacturer coupons and got$ 5 in extra bucks so I technically only spent$ 4 total. I've seen some great deals.
Also do not be afraid to ask for help! There is absolutely no shame in getting assistance when you actually need it. When I was making my way through college as a single mother I had childcare assistance, food stamps for little while, and medical for my son. I couldn't have worked more than the full time job I had and finished college so I got the assistance I needed. No one has ever looked down on me when I was down and out. It was what was best for my child so I did it. If it had just been me, I would have kept my pride but I'm not ashamed of making sure my son got the best I could do for him.
Thank God for garnishments. My ex has no problem with supporting his child he just can't remember to send money. Getting his pay garnished was the best thing for all of us!
Something that has worked for me was an envelope system. So if I budget$ 50 for personal care for the month all money comes from that envelope and when it's gone I'm done. If I don't spend it all whatever is left at then end of the month goes towards debt. And I try to reevaluate my budget at least twice a year. Good luck! Hope this helps some

[nidena]

One way to really know what your budget should be is to be EXACT on all the amounts. This is easy to do on an Excel sheet. Have one column for your income and one column for your outgo. The top of your Outgo column should be the items that fulfill your NEEDS--shelter, food, clothing, transportation, well-being i.e. meds--everything after that is where the cuts would have to come from. In the Income column, list all your income; then, in the Outgo column, "spend" that income amongst the categories...right down to the last penny. Do NOT estimate anything. The key is to do this before you even get that income. If you would like a copy of the Excel sheet that I use, email me at (screen name) at hot mail dot com.

[reeneejune]

At this point you're in "crisis" budget mode, a place I know all too well. The thing is, most of the advice you're going to get right now isn't going to be worth much until things settle down and you have a better idea of what you're working with. With that said though, get thee to the social services office!! Even though you have "joint" assets until the divorce is finalized, an eligibility worker will sit down with you and discuss your particular situation... you may qualify for things like child care assistance, food stamps and medical assistance if you can prove that you're going through the divorce, have no access to the assets, and are currently displaced (a really nice way of saying that you live with your parents). Even if you don't qualify for any government programs, they can probably refer you to some non-government programs in your area that might be able to help.

The best piece of advice I have is keep breathing. Yup, it stinks right now, and feel free to step outside and scream if you need to, but you'll make it though this just fine.

[qofcc]

Medical: $500 (no way to drop this - medication and copays)

I know you said there's no way to drop this, but this is your biggest expense and one that you need to focus on. Have you applied for medicaid? Even if you already have insurance, if you income qualify, medicaid can help pay your co-pays. There are also sometimes programs through individual states for medical insurance with low co-pays for low income families.


Clothing: $50 (this will drop down in 3 months when I have enough clothing to have a basic work wardrobe)
Personal care: $50 (haircuts, makeup, things like that)

You might want to think of these as annual expenses and you're front loading them right now. You're probably not planning to spend $1,200/year every year on your appearance.

If you're starting a basic work wardrobe from scratch, spend time planning exactly what you need to maximize the number of outfits and make sure all of your tops work with all of your bottoms and shoes and that each item can be worn in as many seasons as possible. Better to spend $30 on a pair of classic black polyester dress pants that fit beautifully and you can wear 1-2x/wk year round, then $15 on 2 pairs that are so trendy or season specific that you can't wear them as often.

Come up with a hair style that requires little maintenance. For some people, that's a short cut at a discount hairdresser every 6 weeks. For me, that's hair past shoulder length that I can have professionally cut a couple of times per year and trim my bangs & face frames every month or so and highlight at home.

Come up with a makeup routine that looks professional, is easy to put on and requires few products. Don't be afraid to go to the department stores and get a free makeover and look for the deals where you buy one product for $20 or so and get a whole bag of makeup for free (as long as you'll use the free product). Personally, I use (in this order) moisturizer (clinique), chapstick, primer (whatever brand is on sale, helps the foundation stay on all day), mineral powder foundation (whichever brand is on sale - usually a $10-15 container lasts 3-6 months or more and I use a q-tip to apply extra as concealer under my eyes), a touch of blush (cheap brand from dollar general), a touch of mascara, a touch of eye shadow and lipstick (whatever comes in the free makeup gift with purchase).

[Wisconsin Beth]

newmummy, I don't have anything to add but want to give you a big hug. It will get better.

[newmummy]

Ok, my brother is going to make the best husband and dad ever if he ever gets up the nerve to ask a girl out.

Apparently since his computer desk is next to mine he's been reading over my shoulder. He took me to Big Lots and found where they had the elfa "holiday" makeup kits (lipstick, blush, eyeshadow, whatever" marked down to $4.50!!! It's only small "sample size" but enough to get me started since there's everything.

Work starts Monday. I am on generic for most of my meds, but we started with the generic of my seizure med and it didn't work. Switched to the name brand and it worked. Part of it may have to do with my metabolism; the neurologist & endocrinologist told me basically that the main difference between the generic and the name brand is the fillers, but that since I have a problem processing folates & folate-based substances it can affect some of the ways pills dissolve. Hence the medication costing enough to feed a family of four. Without any insurance it would cost about $2000 a month just for that one.

On the good side, starting work MONDAY! A desk and everything...I'm a little nervous but actually looking forward to it in many ways. I've gotten so used to there being a true, life-threatening crisis going on that I don't think it's going to freak me out if there's a deadline. They called me while I was at the doctor yesterday because they needed a postcard made. I came home and sent in a PDF draft by 4 pm without even getting nervous about it....felt easy, in fact. Guess my inner geek is returning too.

[mizbear]

newmummy- Great news!!! Do let us know how you're doing.

And about that brother-

[newmummy]

Hi ladies, just a quick update. My computer crashed and it took forever to get me back online.

Work...well, it's really somewhat exciting to be back at work. Getting nervous that I'm going to miss too much coming up here, but they liked a concept I put forward and I now have a budget and so forth.

Going to go back for a CNA certification. What I did of nursing school means I already know how to take vitals, monitor I & O, etcetera, even though I didn't finish. The CNA certification will cost about $500, but then I can work weekends around here for $12 - 15 hourly starting plus pick up PRN work during the school breaks (both teaching & my new job close down for 3 weeks in December). It will mean backtracking that far into debt, but I'll pay that off first and then use the CNA money to pay off whatever debts I end up with in the settlement, then start saving for grad school. They are constantly short CNAs, especially on weekends, and I might be able to get a hospital to pay for the rest of nursing school eventually. Just trying to keep options open.

After talking to my brother, credit counselors, and everything else I could think of, it looks like even if the court declares something like the one remaining credit card to be his responsibility, they can still try to go after me for it. Hence the CNA idea. Also, if I'm in school, even a technical program, my loans go into forbearance.

Budget I wound up with looks like this:
Income: 1550 (counting child support that will be ordered and garnished by state - TX is auto garnish)

75 "mortgage/rent" payment, ie, savings toward an apartment deposit.
75 Utilities (paying my parents for utility use)
400 Child care
75 Vehicle (owe my parents $1200 for van)
35 Vehicle maintenance
160 Insurance (TX required insurance state, my rates will be on high end due to accident, seizures)
5 Registration ($55 per year, so $5 per month will cover, extra into kitty for car)
100 Medical out of pocket (myself & my son, copays, etc)
20 Dental/vision (copays - preventative for my son is free, but my teeth were cited as needing about $1000 worth of work a year ago and I haven't been yet)
150 Medications (this did come down! My new insurance has a mail order pharmacy so 90 day prescription is much cheaper!)
60 Clothing (probably on the high side but for me & my son)
25 "Other" like gifts, etcetera
35 Health & beauty/personal care/haircuts for me & my son
5 Child's allowance ($1 a week, months without 5 weeks the extra $1 goes in his savings account)
25 Emergency Fund (goal $4000)
25 One bond for savings
40 Lawyer

Basic expenses: 1310
Available for debt: 240
Big credit card payment: 200
Monthly gap if I get all the medical debts: $388

I know the budget doesn't include groceries, but my mother & father told me just to pay $75 monthly for a bit until I can get more settled. Once August gets here I'll be teaching part time again too in addition to my full time job, not much but $68 every two weeks could go to building an emergency fund too.

I hope this will work. PRN, no benefits, the CNA should bring in gross of about $144 daily for a 12 hour weekend shift 7a-7p. I can't work nights because sleep deprivation is one of my triggers for seizures. Speaking of which, got to get to bed. Hope you ladies have a happy 4th, hope to chat with you sometime soon.

[speechchick71]

I hope I don't come across as harsh but what do you do for a living? You are some sort of teacher, working full-time, going to get a CNA certification and you only make about $7/hour (based on $1000/month)? I understand, based on what you've written, that you have a seizure disorder but you need a better job. I know that there are always limitations on what you can do based on where you live and your skills but even a waitress at an average restaurant (read: Chilis), could make over $1000/month for just a couple shifts...and thats all cash!

Do you utilize a service like Mint.com and really track your expenses by category? I know even my credit union has something like that now. The reason I ask is because I don't spend anywhere NEAR $35/month for HBA. Shampoo and shower soap last me 3 months, I haven't purchased eye shadow in over a year, I got mascara cheap (CVS) after coupons and easy bucks, bought mineral powder (works as foundation) over a year ago....I probably spend about $75/YEAR on HBA and I wear make up almost daily and I like to do my hair. I use an amazing amount of products too. I do pay more for my haircuts but for the rest of the stuff.....basically nothing (and with the exception of the mascara, I rarely remember to use coupons).

I know that is just one small area of your budget but maybe if you can determine where your money goes (instead of where you are PLANNING for it to go) you might realize that some of your categories can be adjusted. Glad to hear that your medical expenses have decreased.

[mizbear]

newmummy- Glad things are working out better. I have one concern- PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't spread yourself out too thin. As you said "sleep deprivation is one of your triggers"- working 2 or 3 jobs at a time- teaching part-time, the full time new job (which has the potential to be stressful- even if you do enjoy it and excel at it), and possibly taking CNA classes and then working as a CNA P/T- I am just concerned about losing sleep. As most board members know, I am bi-polar and I know what a trigger long hours and lack of sleep have been for me. I don' want to see you sick.

[newmummy]

Basically, I have a BA in History. No teaching certificate. My original plan was to go back to grad school and it was derailed pretty well a few days after I graduated back in 2005.

I tried to return to school several times and finally fought my way back into a nursing program. Then I had seizures set in and had to quit. I've been advised by several working nurses and people in nursing programs around here that even though I'm technically able to return to that program, the odds of them actually readmitting me and letting me pass the classes are slim since I had a seizure during clinicals.

The teaching is because, in Texas, I can substitute or teach a specialty subject without a teaching certificate. My minor was in music, so when I heard about a position, I grabbed it. However, that's only 2 days a week, maximum 2 hours daily plus 1 hour prep time.

The new job is marketing. However, it works out to only $9 an hour, then the benefits come out which gives me an actual income somewhere around $7 hourly. Waitressing would pay more, but the problem is when I've applied for anything like that, I've been turned down as "overqualified" even when it's something I could get back & forth to. I've also got to have benefits due to my medical issues and my son's medial issues. I would be applying at the "local" craft store right now as a cashier if I could drive, since they're advertising $12 an hour with benefits, but "local" here is actually almost an hour away. I am still putting in for things like medical reception, etcetera, that don't require any special certification and have full time with benefits, but with the unemployment rate here hovering just below 7%, I'm not getting callbacks. CNAs are hired a little differently - basically, it's so tight around here that they're hiring them right from the classes in many cases at the clinical facility. Nobody wants to check vitals, make beds, and clean up messes. It's not something I mind. The way I got the marketing job was calling up one of my old bosses and asking if she needed another dishwasher.

I am guessing on a lot of these numbers because it sounds stupid but I honestly had not bought many things like pantyhose, makeup, etcetera in a long time. I've lost a lot of weight since moving back in with my parents and getting meals regularly instead of in spurts, but I still wear a "3X" or "4X" in most things, so a lot of things like pantyhose end up costing much more because they're bigger. (For example - my sister can buy a bra for $15, the cheapest I've found was $36 and it looks horrible on and feels awful because it somehow doesn't fit despite claiming to be the same size as the one I bought at a specialty store.) I'm trying to estimate on what I've been having to spend to "frontload" rather than actually knowing how much I will actually spend, if that makes any sense. I'll have to readjust as soon as I figure that out, because obviously if I can't get groceries & rent budgeted in there it won't ever work as a true budget.

Another thing is that I'm not sure how much things like school fees will be - the "Gifts/Other" category is probably really too high but I am not sure yet what a reasonable amount would be. There were school supplies which I've spread out over several child support checks, and there will be a $5 fee for each class plus enrollment fees in August at the school. It's a public school, but apparently the state budget cuts are making some of them get creative with fees.

It doesn't sound harsh to point out my weirdnesses, it helps me to reassess why I budgeted them that way. I just wish I could figure out why I can't seem to get into a better paying position; it seems like I have been either doing multiple jobs or desperately seeking work since my junior year of college. Not to say I would have gotten work had I stayed Music Ed and gotten the certification, but maybe taking the loans out and finishing the history/social studies teaching certification instead of taking the BA would have been a better idea. Ah well, hindsight 20/20 as they say. Hope you all have a good 4th, goodnight for now.

[speechchick71]

This was posted on the South board. Might be a way for you to earn money from home. You're probably well qualified in some of the areas:

www.tutor.com/apply

[mizbear]

newmummy- HUGS. Have a happy 4th. I have a feeling that things will get better for you.

[newmummy]

Thanks for the tutoring site; I passed the test but Social Studies & English are both waitlisted right now.

(I also took a statistics test and failed it...guess that class didn't sink in as well as it should have...)