Budgeting
Posted 09-05-2007 at 02:05:29 AM by beth119
Updated 09-07-2007 at 04:30:22 AM by beth119 (wrong spot)
Updated 09-07-2007 at 04:30:22 AM by beth119 (wrong spot)
This is a hard one for me. Money. GRRRR. I have battles with it. Some quick backround on my financial history.
My parents both have really good jobs. Well, my dad did, now he is about to be 50 and retired. Worked like a demon, retired at 45. His wife's family owns an oil company. No worries there. My mom has an excellent job also. After her and my dad divorced, she went back to college and now kicks corporate butt. :)
This is how I grew up. Niether one of them taught me ANYTHING about money. Except is was always there. Always enough. That little machine with the buttons never ran out. The lady at the store got really excited over a shimmery piece of plastic. Everyone in my life was the same way. Yes, it was nice. Then...
I met a boy. A boy with charm and a southern accent. Long story short we ran away together. I thought it was exciting, like in the movies. I was about to be 17. We move to this moderate sized town in South Ga. It was not my Norman Rockwell I grew up with. There is real poverty here. My husband grew up like this. I knew it existed, just not in my fairytale world.
Again, another long story short. We came here in his Camaro with the backseat filled, and about $200 in cash. That was it. Until DH got a job, we were living with his mom. I was in school. I almost went home so many times. Billy got a job, and a couple years later, a really good one. By then William and Collin had joined us. And later Natalie.
Now we do pretty well for our ages. After 8 years, I have learned how to budget. SHOCK. I started using coupons when I had the boys for diapers, and then as a hobby. Then when Natalie was born, her frequent DR and hospital stays, plus the cost of traveling up and down the east coast was eating us up. Billy sold his mustang to pay off the major ones, and I cut back on shopping to cover others. Now, we have a MUCH better PPO plan so it is not so much OOP. By this time, I had fallen in love with couponing hard core. I get a strange thrill and satisfaction from it. We have a decent mortgage, a substantial savings and 401K, and very little debt.
Now we want a bigger house. And we want to put a big down payment on it. My sister is moving in with us this month and is going to stay at least until she graduates in May. We want to be moved by then.
I have set a challenge for myself. $75.00 a week for all household expenses. This is going to include all groceries, HBA, newspapers, postage, regular DR appointments, prescriptions, and gifts for anyone outside the immediate household(birthdays and x-mas). I have a pretty decent stockpile, especially HBA (thanks to CVS). Food, well, I need to work on canned goods for the winter. And pasta.
I know some people have much lower weekly budgets, but Natalie goes to the DR anywhere from 2-6 times a month and that is $20.00 a visit. Sooo, that is why mine is a little higher. This budget challenge will begin officially this Friday.
Wish me luck (o, and if I can do it, anyone can
)
My parents both have really good jobs. Well, my dad did, now he is about to be 50 and retired. Worked like a demon, retired at 45. His wife's family owns an oil company. No worries there. My mom has an excellent job also. After her and my dad divorced, she went back to college and now kicks corporate butt. :)
This is how I grew up. Niether one of them taught me ANYTHING about money. Except is was always there. Always enough. That little machine with the buttons never ran out. The lady at the store got really excited over a shimmery piece of plastic. Everyone in my life was the same way. Yes, it was nice. Then...
I met a boy. A boy with charm and a southern accent. Long story short we ran away together. I thought it was exciting, like in the movies. I was about to be 17. We move to this moderate sized town in South Ga. It was not my Norman Rockwell I grew up with. There is real poverty here. My husband grew up like this. I knew it existed, just not in my fairytale world.
Again, another long story short. We came here in his Camaro with the backseat filled, and about $200 in cash. That was it. Until DH got a job, we were living with his mom. I was in school. I almost went home so many times. Billy got a job, and a couple years later, a really good one. By then William and Collin had joined us. And later Natalie.
Now we do pretty well for our ages. After 8 years, I have learned how to budget. SHOCK. I started using coupons when I had the boys for diapers, and then as a hobby. Then when Natalie was born, her frequent DR and hospital stays, plus the cost of traveling up and down the east coast was eating us up. Billy sold his mustang to pay off the major ones, and I cut back on shopping to cover others. Now, we have a MUCH better PPO plan so it is not so much OOP. By this time, I had fallen in love with couponing hard core. I get a strange thrill and satisfaction from it. We have a decent mortgage, a substantial savings and 401K, and very little debt.
Now we want a bigger house. And we want to put a big down payment on it. My sister is moving in with us this month and is going to stay at least until she graduates in May. We want to be moved by then.
I have set a challenge for myself. $75.00 a week for all household expenses. This is going to include all groceries, HBA, newspapers, postage, regular DR appointments, prescriptions, and gifts for anyone outside the immediate household(birthdays and x-mas). I have a pretty decent stockpile, especially HBA (thanks to CVS). Food, well, I need to work on canned goods for the winter. And pasta.
I know some people have much lower weekly budgets, but Natalie goes to the DR anywhere from 2-6 times a month and that is $20.00 a visit. Sooo, that is why mine is a little higher. This budget challenge will begin officially this Friday.
Wish me luck (o, and if I can do it, anyone can
)
Total Comments 2
Comments
 | let me tell you your story made me want to cry I feel and understand you you sound a little like me the only thing is I was brought up poor and bouncing every where my mother gave me to my grand mother i so wanted a dad but was not raised with one or mom per say once I started living back with my mom my grand mother died no one told me intell my mom called me and told me . When it was to that any way I lived with my mom after it was so called just like you did'nt teach me much she use to drink and hang around with men and party all the time I found craft of every kind to keep my mind busy any way to make the long story short talking about step fathers I had to leave at age 16 because my mothers boyfriend use to come home drunk and I had to leave the house because I would wake up and see him in my room feeling my legs I had to go before it got worse and way shortly after that I meet my husband of who I only meet of two month only to find out he abused me so I left that marriage in about a year my son was only six month old well to make the long story short I stayed at my sisters basement gave my son up because the abuse I fiqure this way my husband would leave me alone , year later I went and hooked up with my kids father of 16 years I had seven kids one turn out to be Down Syndrome which I left that relationship because my kids dad did not want to deal with or help me with my kids or couldnt deal with my disable child so I moved on in life learned how to save little at a time and years coupon gives me a joy of happyness and a since of joy every time I get things I know turn around and help my kids thats onther story in itself but sometime life works in strang ways but I love my hobby and if you know how I can get better please let me know thanks to all of you I learn new things |
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| |  Very inspriring post! I realize it was written a year ago, so now I have to go read updates :) |
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- Figured something out... (09-11-2007)
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- The first day of my $75 a week budget (09-07-2007)
