More month than money?
By trenea7
@trenea7 (86)
United States
December 7, 2006 5:46pm CST
I keep close track of my spending and we manage to raise our family on one teacher's income. However, there are many months when unexpected expenses come up and suddenly we're in a "more month than money" situation. What do you do to help you get through those tight times?
4 responses
@frugalmoneymanager (113)
• United States
10 Dec 06
I'm wondering what you mean by "unexpected expenses"?
I ask that because if these expenses are coming up often (in many months) then they may be irregular expenses rather than unexpected expenses.
We all have irregular expenses like auto ins., home repair and maintenance, seasonal clothing and shoes (especially for kids), and heating expense.
What makes these expenses difficult to deal with is they are not due on a monthly basis, so many people do not budget for them.
For years, I handled my irregular expenses in the money-will-just-show-up method, until I read about Freedom Accounts (http://frugalmoneymanagement.blogspot.com/2005/12/freedomsmart-money-accounts.html).
With a Freedom account you figure out all your irregular expenses and handle them like they are due monthly. Just put aside a small amount of money each pay period to pay the bills that you know are coming.
This isn't as much fun as ignoring the bills, because you will no longer have months where there is money left over (which we usually go out and spend). But, it will take care of the problem of running out of money before all the bills are paid.
If you are running out of money before the bills are paid then either you aren't budgeting for ALL of your bills or you are spending more than you make.
That means that you will either have to cut back spending in some areas or make more money somehow. There are no other solutions.
@trenea7 (86)
• United States
13 Dec 06
Thank you for your comments. They are very true. Some of our irregular expenses I budget for monthly, such as insurance or car tags and taxes. However, it's things like home repairs and clothing that isn't in my budget. Our biggest budget crasher is medical bills. My kids are often getting sick or someone has to have big dental work, etc. I'd love to set money aside for that, but that's when we just run out of money. My husband already works full-time plus two part-time jobs. I stay home with our kids because we feel that is important (nor can we afford daycare). I'm not sure that we can increase income anymore at this point. We'll just have to continue to find ways to trim our spending, though I'd say we are fairly frugal now.
@frugalmoneymanager (113)
• United States
14 Dec 06
trenea, I know just how you feel. It sounds like you guys are doing the best you can, but if you can just squeeze out a little bit more for those irregular expenses, it starts to add up.
Once you get enough saved to handle one of those expenses it gets easier next time they show up, because now you are prepared for them.
Finding ways online to make a little bit of extra money is a good way to get started. Try Mypoints.com to earn gift cards that will help you with your regular shopping. Then take the money you saved at the store and save it for the next irregular bill.
Or, try PhoneHog (http://www.phonehog.com/Refer.asp?UID=060A3D1313141C1814182425) to earn free long distance and save the money you would have spent on the calls, then send it to your irregular bills account.
There are lots of ways to make little bits of money online. Hope this helps, and good luck to you.
@Danniet (376)
• United States
10 Dec 06
We have more months like this then I'd care too! Usually we have about two days until payday and the money starts getting tight. One thing that has been a life saver to us is our change jar. You really don't think about your change but it can be helpful. If we are completely broke then I will hit up the change jar, we put any pocket change we have in everyday and usually I need to get into it every three months or so. In three months time we usually have about $60 in there so I take it to the Coinstar and cash it in. That $60 has come in very handy at times. Of course this Mylot money and some extra pennies I make from forum posting comes in handy too.
@trenea7 (86)
• United States
13 Dec 06
That's smart. My husband does that with his when he has some. Our problem is that we rarely use cash these days. I feel like I spend cash much faster, so I usually use a credit card. Now before you throw up big flags about my credit card usage, let me explain. We have a card that gives us a percentage of our purchases back as a credit on our bill so we're actually making money when we use it. I write each purchase down in my checkbook as if it were a check that I had written so I don't charge more than we can pay off each month. We have done this for years and have zero credit card debt.
@luvadeal46 (289)
• United States
13 Dec 06
he he he... this makes me laugh I had one of those moments the other day...counting change to buy kitty food and dog food...and saying man I am so glad payday is two days away...I have even had to take in returnables for gas..those are the days....so I personally would be no help to you... I too need some advice...
@rosey2006 (945)
• United States
7 Dec 06
You just have to pinch pennies or maybe get a temporary job to get ahead again.
