As far as our family finance approach when it comes to saving, spending, paying off debt.. I think we've learned that for us it comes down to living comfortably and being happy. The whole reason why we embarked on tackling our debt head on was the goal of becoming more financially independent. While there are many things we could do to wipe out our debt more quickly like giving up our cars or even one of them or downsizing our house, deciding not to travel, etc., we've sort of worked our way to a spot where we think we are on good middle ground. It's really about finding efficiencies in our budget that don't compromise our comfort or happiness on our journey to being debt-free. We don't need luxury cars to make us happy, but we do need reliable, reasonably newer vehicles. We don't need to be wearing sweaters in our house in the heat of the summer but having the comfort of A/C to take off the edge on a hot summer night keeps us happy. You get the idea.. all of this makes it much easier to sock money away toward the debt when we aren't busy feeling miserable, uncomfortable, and deprived.
Our monthly family income has actually dropped by $50 this year - no graduate assistantship finding since I am no longer a student but I did get a raise at work so we bring home approx. $7200 after taxes on an average month. For another example of a household budget at a similar income level you can check out Kelsey's budget. I've been thinking so much lately about how hush hush money always is which is unfortunate because I think we could all be learning from each other a great deal. I'd love to know how our household budget and expenses compare to yours and if ours are ridiculously higher in one area than I want to know your secret!!!
4 comments:
how do you manage groceries on just $400 a month? Im around the 600-750 a month and I coupon/price match!
Sometimes I do go over but not by much. I will try to post a typical grocery list and average prices this weekend. I shop for 2 weeks at a time and then make a small trip for things like bread and fruit. I also price match and use coupons (but only for items I normally buy so use coupons less). I shop generic brands most of the time unless a sale makes the name brand cheaper or the same price as the generic. 90% of my shopping is at No Frills and the other 10% at the Superstore. I buy mostly from the outer isles of the store so buy very little packaged food (granola bars, cookies, etc.). I also meal plan.
I really like your balance of paying off debt but also recognizing that you need certain comforts to live happily. It's so helpful to see how other families are budgeting!
Thanks for the support Kelsey. I'm hoping we can still meet somewhere close to our original debt repayment timeline - assuming optimistically that we keep on for the most part getting raises and reducing expenditures where possible.
Post a Comment