Comments on: Budget Help for a Reader – What’s Your Advice?

By: Jackie

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By: Jill Foster » Blog Archive » marital money mantra #2: protect what you can’t afford to lose

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:00:29 +0000

[...] All Financial Matters says it well: Emergencies will come whether we are prepared for them or not. [...]

By: Jill Foster

Jill Foster — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:43:37 +0000

–Valuing the comments & post, especially the clear benefit of building cash reserves.

By: MafiaDon

MafiaDon — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:28:13 +0000

I feel for this family as well because I’m in a similar situation. Besides from the obvious that the other posters commented on, I would focus on the leaks in the budget. This family has $600+ vaporizing in thin air!

I suggest going back to the basics and keeping a daily spending journal for a month to find the leak(s). And plug them quickly. Ordering lunch at work or eating out for dinner a couple of times a week can add up. Brown bag it at work and cook dinner for a change.

As far as the debt? After fixing the budget I would focus on the variable interest rates first (i.e. credit cards, LOC). The auto loan and the “small” loan will be paid off in December and January respectively. No need to mess with those. Selling you house is extreme but if you can rent a home for less it may be time to sell and lock in your equity gains…

By: Free Money Finance

Free Money Finance — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 10:19:41 +0000

Star Money Articles for the Week of June 18

Here are interesting posts and news this week from the MoneyBlogNetwork and beyond: Five Cent Nickel lists ten tips for a successful moving sale. Blueprint for Financial Prosperity wonders if investment newsletters are worth it. Consumerism Commentary …

By: Steve Kwon

Steve Kwon — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 20:59:47 +0000

I’m not a pro or anything but I think it’s important to figure out exactly where everything is going first (as has been said by others). So my suggestion would be for the next month pay all your bills as ou do but then everything else in cash based on your budget. Run out (of cash that is)and then you’ll find out where all the holes are. It’s a good exercise and look at it as fun… if possible. At the least it will be very educational.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:43:43 +0000

Lisa, there are payoffs for everything; however, she can do something part time that doesn’t necessarily increase at-home stress but still reduces financial stress. heck, if they really wanted to reduce finances quickly, i’d even stuff envelopes at home. there are plenty of part-time jobs that have minor impact. heck, i know a couple that deliver newspapers every morning. i agree about changing the family’s spending behavior. having that much cc debt didn’t happen overnight…well, as far as we know from the limited history provided.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:38:30 +0000

i’m not a fan of the use cc only in case of emergencies. that really makes no sense to me. i think you should use cc for the discounting benefits of the credit card on things that you normally consume regularily. if you use a cc in an emergency, then you are essentially putting yourself in a worse financial situation–that is, you obviously do not have cash around, so you are going into debt to fund an emergency and will have to repay for that emergency. build up an emergency fund for the emergencies. use cc responsibily within your budget. for this family, stop using them until the cc are paid off and then only use them for budgeted purchases.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 13:23:29 +0000

I like what Tim No.22 says. Except, having your pregnant wife work weekends and leaving you with two small children to care for sounds like stress city. Don’t do it. People under stress without down time spend, spend, spend. If the wife is a spender, get a budget that works and then give her the job of finding ways to get things lower. She gets to spend 50% of the savings. Think of it as a paycheck for her. She can find the lower car/house insurance and pocket 1/2 the savings to spend not apply towards debt. The money is put in a separate checking account for her to spend. This won’t require her to work outside the home. Give her one to two items to work on each week. After all, chasing two preschoolers while pregnant is tiring.

By: thomas

thomas — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 05:09:40 +0000

I hate to say it, but he needs to give his wife an allowance and take away her credit cards. Start her on the envelope system since “normal” budgeting doesn’t work. Or set up a bank account for her and put the money in it every month. Use the CC for emergencies only. They won’t get a better deal on the CC debt. Drop preschool and look into the parks and rec or church for an alternative. Look for alternative driving situations – carpool, bus, walk to the grocery store (everyone needs to excercise), etc. Lastly, I’d put something away in savings/retirement and make it automatic. the $450+ they’ll have coming in January should put most of it to their LOC (find a way to get rid of that variable rate!) and a little towards emergency funds. Shop around for insurance or pay it off in lump sums to save a few more dollars.

CONTROL YOUR SPENDING! Stop drinking your starbucks, or stopping at mcdonald’s for that big mac. Don’t buy books or movies, get them from your library. buy clothing and other supplies from the salvation army. Turn those lights out early! unplug your computer it still uses energy. Open up the window or adjust your clothing instead of turning on the A/C or heat.