$ $ $

[suki]

our monthly expenses. is anyone else broke as shit?

housing:
mortgage - $1600 (<---$1850 if I refi to buy out the ex-hub)
gas - $200
electric - $100
trash/water/recycling - $50
maint/repair - $200
phone/cable - $120

$2270

revolving debt:
my car - $220
student loans - $280
credit cards - $1200 (that is our EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE pay them off before the baby's born plan)

$1700

insurance:
car - $275
health - $500 (this TOTALLY pisses me the fuck off)

$775

household:
cells - $150
gas (cars) - $200
groceries - $500
lunches for kid - $80

$930

for a grand total of around $7500

that is totally NOT going to happen on one income (or two).

anyone wanna buy my house?

[Cúchulainn]

No, no thanks.

[KommieKat]

anyone wanna buy my house?

Did you factor what you save for Rainy days, not to mention your retirement?

[Josie]

is anyone else broke as shit?

Yes. Craigslist + glass top dining set + leather, down-filled furniture = YAY!

[InterStella]

$500 p.m. for health insurance? Wow. Does that cover all three of you? Even taking into consideration that the $ is worth about shit against the £ at present, I would still take umbrage at having to pay around (Stella's estimation) £265 per month. Fuck that.

Thank fuck for the good old British NHS.



And as for the rest of it? See above "fuck that". You pay a fucking lot of dosh every month. You should come and live here. But not with me. You're not climbing my tree.

[suki]

You're not climbing my tree.

bitch, please.

"on belay!"

[mcsmc]

I'm not wealthy by any means, but I'm not broke as shit either. The reason? Unlike most Americans, I adjust my standard of living TO my income, instead of living the way I want, and figuring out how I'm going to pay for it.

Suki, no offense, but some things you listed seem like wants instead of necessities, and some seem overpriced. You don't NEED cable, and I hope you're not paying for a cable/internet/phone bundle package, because in most cases it's actually more expensive than finding the cheapest service for each. Also, maybe I'm completely wrong about this, but your mortgage seems a little steep, though it's not a simple phone call to change that. Cell phones aren't a requirement, either.

What the hell do you drive that you pay $275/month for insurance? I mean, seriously. I have a fairly new car, and pay way less than half of that. Either you're with the wrong insurance company, or have the wrong damn vehicle. Also, your utilities seem a little high. I have all electric in my house (no gas), and even in the summer months, when the central AC is running CONSTANTLY, I don't pay more than a little over $200 a month on the electric bill.

And yeah, I agree that the health insurance seems kind of high. Maybe one income could be a job that comes with benefits (like health insurance)?

[Shade]

I'm not wealthy by any means, but I'm not broke as shit either. The reason? Unlike most Americans, I adjust my standard of living TO my income, instead of living the way I want, and figuring out how I'm going to pay for it.

Suki, no offense, but some things you listed seem like wants instead of necessities, and some seem overpriced. You don't NEED cable, and I hope you're not paying for a cable/internet/phone bundle package, because in most cases it's actually more expensive than finding the cheapest service for each. Also, maybe I'm completely wrong about this, but your mortgage seems a little steep, though it's not a simple phone call to change that. Cell phones aren't a requirement, either.

What the hell do you drive that you pay $275/month for insurance? I mean, seriously. I have a fairly new car, and pay way less than half of that. Either you're with the wrong insurance company, or have the wrong damn vehicle. Also, your utilities seem a little high. I have all electric in my house (no gas), and even in the summer months, when the central AC is running CONSTANTLY, I don't pay more than a little over $200 a month on the electric bill.

And yeah, I agree that the health insurance seems kind of high. Maybe one income could be a job that comes with benefits (like health insurance)?

I would have to agree. My dad was a CPA, and delt with big company bankrupcys. So he was always anal about that shit. He showed me his insperation one day, which was an old accounting book. It had the % of american's in credit card debt from like the 1970's. It was around 80%. I have yet to get a credit card. i have never really needed one. My bank card seems enough. If i'm only make 800 a month, i got 500 in rent, then that means i got 300 bucks to spread on a car, food, smokes, and the like. It means i'm eating grilled cheese. If i'm making 5000 a month, then i eat resonably well, and i put the rest in savings. Blowing all your money on stupid shit is america's best way to get fucked. If you cant afford shit, go to the cheapo brands. i can feed a family of 2 adults 3 children on 40 bucks a week and eat good. You just gotta know how to cut costs

[4nik8]

[QUOTE=mcsmc;6934 You don't NEED cable, and I hope you're not paying for a cable/internet/phone bundle package, because in most cases it's actually more expensive than finding the cheapest service for each. [/QUOTE]
This part isn't so. There may be a case where that's true but you'd have to be an idiot for taking that plan.

With the package I have, I get Vonage (internet phone line) for a flat rate of $25 a month. UNLIMITED long distance.
You can't even get basic service here that cheap.

Each of the other two, cable tv and internet, also run cheaper because I bought the bundle.
I guess you just have to do your homework when buying these things.

[mcsmc]

This part isn't so. There may be a case where that's true but you'd have to be an idiot for taking that plan.

With the package I have, I get Vonage (internet phone line) for a flat rate of $25 a month. UNLIMITED long distance.
You can't even get basic service here that cheap.

Each of the other two, cable tv and internet, also run cheaper because I bought the bundle.
I guess you just have to do your homework when buying these things.

Right, I get what you're saying. At home (here's a completely different story), I have AT&T DSL internet. Since it's DSL, it requires a phone line as well, so I just got the most basic phone line I could (incoming calls are free, all outgoing isn't) so I could get the DSL. WITH the phone line, it's the cheapest internet solution.

For phones, I have two U.S. Cellular plans -- no internet (not needed on a phone, for chrissakes), free incoming minutes, and free night (starting at 7pm) and weekend minutes. I HAD 900 outgoing minutes, but I didn't even use them all (by the way, two phones for two people -- me and my wife), so when I get back (the plan was able to be canceled since I deployed), I'll probably get the 600 outgoing minute plan. Regardless, the two cell phones are more than sufficient for our phone needs. I might possibly get a VOIP phone and go down to one cell phone when I get back, and keep a prepaid in the car for emergencies.

Regardless, you're right about shopping for the best deal. Sometimes, packaged plans ARE better, but often they're not. Hell, "family size" items in the grocery store are usually more per ounce than the smaller size... marketing is full of scams these days. It's actually sad, I think.

[HerCUNTness]

We didn't get the cancel for deployment feature on our cell's. We paid full price for 2 cell phones for the entire time.
Singular sucks!

[mcsmc]

We didn't get the cancel for deployment feature on our cell's. We paid full price for 2 cell phones for the entire time.
Singular sucks!

Try reading this.

[KommieKat]

Credit cards? What are those??

I cut mine up 15 years ago.
Cash carrying for me.

[4nik8]

.

. I might possibly get a VOIP phone and go down to one cell phone when I get back, and keep a prepaid in the car for emergencies.

Save yourself a lot of hassle and go with Vonage if you do decide to do this.
I tried a couple of others and had various problems with them. ie..lots of down time, phone suddenly getting an annoying clicking sound after an hour of being on the phone that just as suddenly cleared up if I hung up and redialed the person I was talking to etc..

So far Vonage has been the clearest connection with absolutely NO problems.
One thing about VOIP though. 911 is usually screwed. You don't get the local save me number (cops, fire, ambulance). You'll get connected to the 911 where the hub is closest to. For me that's about 80 miles and 4 counties away.

[funeeman]

I'm not wealthy by any means, but I'm not broke as shit either. The reason? Unlike most Americans, I adjust my standard of living TO my income, instead of living the way I want, and figuring out how I'm going to pay for it.

Suki, no offense, but some things you listed seem like wants instead of necessities, and some seem overpriced. You don't NEED cable, and I hope you're not paying for a cable/internet/phone bundle package, because in most cases it's actually more expensive than finding the cheapest service for each. Also, maybe I'm completely wrong about this, but your mortgage seems a little steep, though it's not a simple phone call to change that. Cell phones aren't a requirement, either.

What the hell do you drive that you pay $275/month for insurance? I mean, seriously. I have a fairly new car, and pay way less than half of that. Either you're with the wrong insurance company, or have the wrong damn vehicle. Also, your utilities seem a little high. I have all electric in my house (no gas), and even in the summer months, when the central AC is running CONSTANTLY, I don't pay more than a little over $200 a month on the electric bill.

And yeah, I agree that the health insurance seems kind of high. Maybe one income could be a job that comes with benefits (like health insurance)?

I agree that the insurance seems high for both the car and health. Our 2006 runs full coverage around $800 per year. The health insurance most likely has her first kid and maternity coverage on it which is why it is higher. She could drop the maternity coverage once the baby comes and it will cut it down by like 40-50%. We went from $700 per month to around $350 for a family of 4.

[funeeman]

Suki.. . .If I want to buy your house. There is now way I'd do it direct from you. Judging by your bills I can pick it up on the next quarterly bankruptcy auction at your local court house.

[Hardwood]

Credit cards? What are those??

I cut mine up 15 years ago.
Cash carrying for me.

I wish I was that smart. I learned though the hard way. I will probably have to work 2 more years now before retirement because of stupid mistakes I made with charge cards.

[suki]

I'm not wealthy by any means, but I'm not broke as shit either. The reason? Unlike most Americans, I adjust my standard of living TO my income, instead of living the way I want, and figuring out how I'm going to pay for it.

TOTALLY agreed. living beyond your means SUCKS. but remember...I'm coming out of a divorce situation...stuck in a house I KNOW I can't afford. I have no choice until the bitch sells. we intend to downsize to something no more than 60% the cost of this one. then one income won't be a problem when I'm home with the sprout.

I'm cheap as fuck. I'm just stuck round about, now. same goes with the credit card debt. alot of that is divorce and separation related. some of it is ted's being a single irresponsible loner. what we pay each month is scheduled to have it all PAID OFF in less than a year.

Suki, no offense, but some things you listed seem like wants instead of necessities, and some seem overpriced. You don't NEED cable, and I hope you're not paying for a cable/internet/phone bundle package, because in most cases it's actually more expensive than finding the cheapest service for each. Also, maybe I'm completely wrong about this, but your mortgage seems a little steep, though it's not a simple phone call to change that. Cell phones aren't a requirement, either.

the cable is phone and internet. I don't have television service at all. I'm too fucking cheap for it. my phone and high speed cost about $90 (there is NO DSL available and NO other provider. we're fucked)...with modem rental and fees...you have what you have. I call every two months or so, bitch and get my price adjusted...

they just keep jacking it up.

monopoly.

What the hell do you drive that you pay $275/month for insurance? I mean, seriously. I have a fairly new car, and pay way less than half of that. Either you're with the wrong insurance company, or have the wrong damn vehicle.

no WHAT I drive, but how. I'm mega-high risk. I had three at fault accidents in six months and still have four tickets on the docket. it was all a while back...but still affecting my rates. this is CHEAP compared to what I had to pay right after I hit those six cars. I was paying $800/month just to drive. that rate also covers three vehicles.

again...left overs from divorce.

Also, your utilities seem a little high. I have all electric in my house (no gas), and even in the summer months, when the central AC is running CONSTANTLY, I don't pay more than a little over $200 a month on the electric bill.

nope. that's what they cost. I'm uber frugal and green. that's just what it costs to heat a 90 year old home made almost entirely of glass. we budget the heating costs over 12 months instead of just over the winter.

And yeah, I agree that the health insurance seems kind of high. Maybe one income could be a job that comes with benefits (like health insurance)?

dood...I could FUCKING KILL over the health insurance costs. THAT is what is forcing us to change not only where we live...but how.

that cost covers ted, myself and the sprout. my oldest child is covered under her father's policy.

fucking ridiculous.

I'm moving to canada.