The Bills vs. The Budget...

So first of all we're taking a look at how much we are spending on bills, other necessities, and nonsense (things we don't need, just desire).

Bills: We were blessed with a very low mortgage payment. The payment is 458.00 a month, including escrow, it's a 25 year mortgage, and we've made every payment on time. We've paid nothing extra so far on our mortgage. We have budget billing on our utilities. Gas ranges between 70.00 and 100.00 a month. Electricity ranges from 70.00 to 120.00 a month. Sometimes I make these payments late, resulting in a late charge of 10.00. We have a package deal with cable, internet, and land line phone. It costs 133.00 a month. We have 2 vehicle payments, with very low interest rates. The first is 177.00 a month, and will be paid off in 4 years. The second one is 166.00 a month and will be paid off in 2 years. We have not paid any extra on these two loans. And sometimes the payments are late, which results in a late payment fee of between 5 and 7.00. Our vehicle insurance is 135.00 a month, and it is automatically withdrawn monthly, so it is never paid late. We have a personal loan with a low interest rate that is 120.00 a month, paid on time, and I had been paying extra on it, which resulted in an advance in our due dates. When I went part time I skipped a few payments, and it is now caught back up to our original contract. So, technically, nothing extra has been paid on it. We have 2 student loans, the first is 66.00 a month, and the second is 38.00 a month. They are never paid late, but nothing extra has gone towards them. We have 2 credit cards, the first is a payment of 50.00 a month, and has zero interest. The second one has a very low balance, and has an 18% interest rate. It will be paid off relatively quickly. We have a sales finance loan which is 57.00 a month at zero interest. We have paid nothing extra towards it.

Other necessities: We spend 100.00 a week in groceries, including formula, diapers, wipes, cosmetics, food, exc (400.00 a month). We spend 400.00 in gas a month. We have 2 cell phones with 1 year left on the contract, the bill is 100.00 a month.

Other nonsense: We get an allowance of 50.00 a week each (400.00 a month). This money is for any desires, hobbies, clothes, anything that isn't an immediate need. We always buy takeout on friday nights, between 100 and 150.00 a month. We always get movies on friday nights for the weekend, between 30 and 40.00 a month.

First, we agree, we need to cut back on takeout, and movies. If we don't do takeout, and we limit movies to 1 a weekend, that would cut 100.00 a month from takeout and 20.00 a month on movies. Next we decide that we're spending too much on groceries. We could easily cut back to less weekly. These are the places we decided to start. We can see how it goes and take it from here. These aren't big cuts, but I don't want any of us to feel overwhelmed by the change. So this is just the beginning.