It has been a little while since I have talked about budgeting. We have recently been discussing our financial situation a lot because I made the decision to quit my job. I don't have a new job lined up and am not expecting to find anything right away. The job I was working I took because I hated my other job so much I just wanted out. That proved to not be the best thing to to. This time around I plan on figuring out what it is I really want to do and not settle. I will have the option of picking up some hours at my dad's law office if I need to. Making the decision to quit was a hard one. We have been thinking of putting our townhouse on the market to try and get into a house. Our townhouse has actually appreciated since we bought it last year, while single family homes are still coming down. My decision to quit my job has put a slight hold on that plan. With both of our salaries we could have easily afforded a new house, had we been able to sell our current, but on just one salary I'm not sure we will be able to.
So how does this affect our budget? Well, a lot! We have been doing pretty well with our grocery and food budget, but are considering trying to tighten our utilities/cable budget. There isn't much room for improvement on our utility bills, but our cable bill could use some work. Currently we enjoy all the luxuries of DVR, premium channels, etc, but we rarely watch any TV that is not a broadcast channel or streamed online. A few years ago I bought Hagin a digital antenna which would allow us to watch all over the air channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX) in high definition. Switching to the antenna would save us about $1,200 a year! This is one of the cutbacks we are discussing.
Nichole blogged recently about allowances and I think we are going to try this approach as well. I hardly ever spend money on myself, but I love to spend money on my house. Seriously I don't think I have bought a new pair of pants in over a year, but my home gets new accessories everyday. My allowance would go to buying these home things or spending it on myself if I choose. Each week we would take out the cash and that would be our individual money to spend how we want. Restaurants, groceries, and a small entertainment allowance are already included in our monthly budget. I am going to try to keep my allowance to $25 a week and supplement it with gift cards.
Which leads me to my next point, using our free money. Our Discover card offers some great rewards and you can build up points fairly quickly. We put almost every purchase on our credit card and pay it off at the end of the month. All those restaurant, groceries, gas purchases that we are going to make anyways will reward us with points. We can redeem those points for gift cards. I recently ordered $200 worth of Lowes gift cards which has allowed me to redo our bathroom for free and I still have money leftover! I plan on ordering a Pottery Barn gift cards soon allowing me to still indulge in my home decorating obsession without spending any money.
Budgeting sucks, but it sounds like you have a handle on it. I have tried putting myself on an allowance, but it never seems to be enough haha. I'm like...what do I spend my money on?!
ReplyDeleteGood luck on the new budget,it's hard sticking to it sometimes but seems like you will do just fine :-)
ReplyDeleteYou can do it! Since today is my last day at my current job, I can relate! I know I get a 4 1/2 month severance and you don't so it is harder for you. BUT I took the current job I have now when I was laid off from my last job without really looking for a job/company I loved. I just took the first job I interviewed with (and they happened to like me enough to hire me!) and have been misreable for just about the enitre time I've worked here. So even though everyone I know whom I work with is scrambling for a new job (any job), I am waiting like you to find something a little better for me. And this past week, I failed the whole allowance thing, terribly! Hoping to work on it this week.
ReplyDeleteI believe you can do it! good luck. Allowances work well and another thing I've wanted to try is the cash system.
ReplyDeleteI do the CC points thing as well - but I use it to offset the cost of clothes. I use my CC points to keep a stash of GC's for Nordstrom, etc so that when I need a dress for an event or I want an outfit for one of my trips I don't have to dip into my budget! : ]
ReplyDeleteLove your ideas and I'm excited for you to find a job you really love, eventually, not just settle!
I'm sorry to hear about the job not working out, but definitely do what makes you happy. I know it's hard cutting back and living on one spouses income (we're doing that now too, except I'm working part-time). We've had to also cut back in a lot of areas. We cut out/reduced our XM radio in my car, groceries, eating out, gifts for others, etc. My husband and I started the weekly allowance cash thing. He'll take out a certain amount of cash for both of us to spend for the week (Monday - Sunday). I can use my cash for whatever I choose of course, my hair, pedi's, house stuff and it's helping me realize how much I'm spending and making us budget for those items we really want so we'll save up for them and use cash. However, we are buying our gas, groceries, and all bills go on our debit cards. We've been doing it a couple months now and it's been working out well! :)
ReplyDeleteStinker about the job not working out but if you were not happy then its a good thing you quit, and hopefully will find something that you love to do. After the wedding, I really hope to get a control on our spending because right now all I feel we are doing is whipping out that credit card and saying SWIPE!!
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how you me and Nichole are going through similar situations right now, but she is right about the allowances - they are a great idea! I think this is a smart decision because you should do what makes you happy and everyday you are stuck at a job you hate, is a day farther from accomplishing your dreams. Can't wait to hear the updates! :)
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