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I'm tired of being poor
Anome
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey, brilliant financial minds of H/A! I am terrible with money and would like some help getting started on making a budget. Here is what I have to work with:
Income: somewhere around $1300/month
Expenses:
$433/month rent
$50-ish for utilities (including internet)
$1000 Visa that is constantly at or near maxed out (I know that this is a priority)
$100/month cell phone - I'm working on getting this down but I call home a lot and long distance rates suck
Variable amounts for transit - I mostly bike but I'm starting to wonder if I should get a bus pass anyway so I don't always have to worry about having $2.50 on me
Food - I keep very bad track of what I'm spending here so I have no idea
It seems like I should have plenty of money to go out and have fun once in a while but as soon as I get paid I seem to be broke again. How do I make a budget and stick to it? Is it really that bad? Because every time I write out what I think my expenses are I feel okay but then I'm running on empty all over again. Right now I've got about $35 to get me to next Friday and this isn't an uncommon thing.
I also need to save because I want to go back to school hopefully in Jan. 2010, definitely by Sept. 2010. Is this even a little bit possible or am I staring at a massive future of paying back student loans (which I also currently have but are on interest relief, if they ever decide I have to pay them again it'll add about $200 to my monthly bills)
Income: somewhere around $1300/month
Expenses:
$433/month rent
$50-ish for utilities (including internet)
$1000 Visa that is constantly at or near maxed out (I know that this is a priority)
$100/month cell phone - I'm working on getting this down but I call home a lot and long distance rates suck
Variable amounts for transit - I mostly bike but I'm starting to wonder if I should get a bus pass anyway so I don't always have to worry about having $2.50 on me
Food - I keep very bad track of what I'm spending here so I have no idea
It seems like I should have plenty of money to go out and have fun once in a while but as soon as I get paid I seem to be broke again. How do I make a budget and stick to it? Is it really that bad? Because every time I write out what I think my expenses are I feel okay but then I'm running on empty all over again. Right now I've got about $35 to get me to next Friday and this isn't an uncommon thing.
I also need to save because I want to go back to school hopefully in Jan. 2010, definitely by Sept. 2010. Is this even a little bit possible or am I staring at a massive future of paying back student loans (which I also currently have but are on interest relief, if they ever decide I have to pay them again it'll add about $200 to my monthly bills)
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that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Also, stop calling your parents long distance on your cell phone. Can't you skype or something for free? Or, you know, call them collect on a land line?
The Visa is outstanding balance. Things got desperate a few months ago so everything went on the card and I haven't been able to pay it off yet. As I said, it's very high on my priority list to get that fixed.
Telus has some pretty cheap plans that have:
1) unlimited incoming (get home to call you), or
2) 'My Faves' unlimited calling to 5 numbers anywhere in the country.
If you can't get these, use a long distance plan through yak.ca.
I use both 1 and 2 and yak.ca for the random other long distance I need to do.
You should easily be able to get your cell phone bill down to $45 a month. or less.
I am in Vancouver (well, Richmond) as well and food is way way more expensive here than anywhere in the states. Save On has better prices, Whole Foods isn't bad if you buy their house brand (365 or something like that) and Superstore (In Metrotown mall, on 3 road in Richmond or Rupert and Grandview in East Van) has the best prices, but not the best quality you'll come across, so buy your brand name stuff there.
Make yourself a menu for the week, then go shopping once and write down how much you spend. Beans, rice, and any combination of the two are dirt cheap, a complete protein, and filling, so make chili, minestrone or whatever else you want.
Farm markets are way way way cheaper for vegetables and fruit than any grocery store. There are a plethora on West Broadway and tis the season for fresh produce.
Are you in school right now or working or something like that?
They cast a shadow like a sundial in the morning light. It was half past 10.
Yeah, I'm actually hoping to go to school for music so teaching flute lessons would be a great idea. I'm not allowed to do it in my apartment because of rental rules but I could go to students' houses. I've been strongly considering this. I can easily charge $15-20 for a half hour and not be seen as in any way unreasonable.
...anyone want lessons? I even have a student model flute to sell...
I'm quite sure that unlimited incoming is local only
This might not be a good idea if you will get charged for your transactions, my plan lets me use interac for free.
But as for sticking to a budget, don't guess. Everything in the world is more expensive than you think and it adds up. Keep all your receipts and make an excel file or something to track where money is going, every dollar of it. You'll find, I think, that you're paying a lot more on incidental expensive than you realize.
You don't need to know how much you usually spend on food(although it would be helpful) you just need to know how much you are GOING to spend on food. Ramen and frozen chicken are your friend.
Do a $0 dollar budget. This is you taking that $1300 and, in your budget, allocating every last penny to something.
Food
Rent
Credit Card
Utilities
Entertainment
Phone
Here is a good list:
http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/index.cfm?FuseAction=dspContent&intContentID=135
If you're serious about not being poor you are going to have to cut some stuff out of your life and buckle down a while.
Skype is a great idea. I did a conference call with some family and friends the other day. Had people from Germany, Utah, Michigan, and Kansas all on the line. It didn't cost me a thing. A computer, internet connection, and a microphone.
You already know the CC bill is a priority so good on you.
Dave Ramsey has some good advice on getting out of debt and juggling your finances. Give him a read.
If you take the bus regularly get a pass. Do the math in your head, how much will you save/lose by getting the pass? I know in Boston that if you take the train 30 times (or 1r days round trip) you break even, so if you need it that 16th day you save money. If you would lose money on the pass do you have stored value cards where you can put $20 on a pass to use as you go?
Also, if you don't have a savings account, get one. If cash burns a whole in your pocket, carry the bare minimum. If you use your credit card for frivolous things, leave it at home.
If you don't get a paper for coupons, buy one each weekend. the $1.50 or whatever it costs will be repaid if you only use 2 coupons each week.
Yep...
I dunno how much you work, but you can also pick up part time work or side jobs. Do you have craigslist listings where you are? Donate plasma/sperm for cash as well.
You are not broke, you are worse. You are in debt. Remember it.
(yea that advice was a bit extreme. You can, of course, just continue on as you are, hoping that one day you'll get a 100k a year job and money will no longer be an issue. Or you can just become financially solvent now)
At this amount of money earned and the amount you spend right now, I dont see it possible for you to save up enough to go to school, without paying the entire thing in student loans.
Following that, if you have a constant balance on your credit card, your priorities will probably be to only make minimum payments on the student loans as well.
Lending money is a terrible thing if you have low income and don't know where a good portion of your money goes, as you seem to.
You have to really buckle down and start taking this shit seriously, before you fall into the whole 'Im in my early 20's I can pay my debt off later' trap. It will put a cloud over your life for a long time.
For shopping around for food and whatever, I love www.smartcanucks.com as they post all the best deals, and have coupons to print out. its a great money saver.
This is far too extreme. He's not facing foreclosure while trying to pay off $100k in student debt. He's $1k in debt and as long as his interest rates aren't raping him he can pay that off making $100 payments a month in less than a year. He needs his cell phone because he has no other phone and is looking at cheaper plans. Not having any sort of phone is a good way to get yourself in trouble during an emergency. The last thing he should do is eat like shit, it's a great way to become over weight, sick and generally unhealthy.
watch yourself when you enter gas stations, a supermart, or anything, and make sure you come out getting only what you want and nothing else (I.E gas, required foods for the week just to get by) because if you decided to pick up a $2 piece of beef jerky and a $2 drink every few times you drop by somewhere that will equal up to $60-80 in useless "oh this looks good and cheap" purchases.
Even after savings I went from having like $2 left over in checkings to around $150 from avoiding the small stuff you don't need.
T-Nation blog
I don't know how your folks are doing, but I would suggest that if possible you ask them if you can borrow the money to pay off your visa from them and pay them back at a rate lower than the visa one.
Also, and this is very important, what is your monthly CC interest rate? If you are not on a low interest rate credit card, switch to one.
And yeah, that's not much of a monthly salary to live on in this town. I was born and raised in Vancouver and environs, and yeah, its fucking expensive to live here. Is there any possibility of increasing your income? I know the economy isn't great, but its not as dire here as it is down south.
I know there are other things out there besides the Quicken Online link I posted, but I'm lazy and that's the 1st one I came to.
A good budgeting strategy is to withdraw how much you want to spend for the month and not use Interac for anything.
Bonus points because the lower mainland seems to have had a lot of skimming going on involving debit cards. Basically my whole work (about 10-15 people) had to get new cards cuz some local place we go for lunch was compromised.
if you take out atm cash a lot and find yourself paying up to 4 GODDAMN dollars each time just for your money, just go to a store, get a stick of gum, and get the max cashback you can
you have your cash, spent less to get it, and you have bonus mintyness!
1. Change phone plan to minimum, call parents with Skype
2. Pay whatever I can spare from every paycheck to Visa until it's a shiny happy $0, use it in emergencies only from that point on.
3. Learn to cook more varied foods involving cheaper ingredients
4. Keep all receipts next month to see exactly where the money goes, probably start up the spreadsheet idea
5. Carry cash, leave debit card at home when possible. It is sooooo easy to overspend when I don't have to physically part with the money.
6. Find a second/better paying job. This was already a priority because I hate my current job a lot. I'm going on vacation at the end of this month though so I'll wait until I get back. (I get paid vacation and am staying with my parents so I'll probably actually save money by doing this, I'm not doing anything frivolous.)
I do actually have 2 roommates, we're renting the top floor of a nice house in a good neighbourhood for a total of $1300/month. I just moved in here and really don't want to move again but I suppose I will if I have to. I think I can make this work though. I really do. I just have to get some discipline.
I don't think I've missed anything major. But seriously... who wants flute lessons? :P
Random note: I'm a she. Not that that matters much.
I agree to an extent.
While most stuff is pay-per-name (Trash bags? Paper Towels? Definitely), and there's no real reason not to buy the cheaper stuff (but beware, there's a few of 'the cheapest' that is absolute shit), there's a few cases where it's fine to get the name brand because (A) it does work better than the alternative and (B) you're more comfortable with it. For me, it's things like certain bathroom products (Deoderant and shampoo / body wash), however I still look to get them when the specific brand is at it's cheapest. Also certain foods. Like my freezer is crammed full of frozen meals. Usually hate them, they're never as good as the picture on the box (my own penchant for getting my hopes up on delicious pixels), but the meals themselves are usually stuff like Stouffers or Lean Cuisine or Mighty Meals (whatever the "I am a man and eat gigantic TV dinners" stuff is). I really can't stand the cheapest stuff in the freezer isle. Sure, that Beef Stroganoff is only 50 cents a box. But it's also going to do horrible things to my intestine, and during at least one month of the year be recalled for some horrible rampant-spreading disease. No thanks, I'll pass, and buy a shit-load of stuff when it's on a good sale (which is more often than not where I shop) because hell, that's what a freezers for. To freeze things in for long term. If you have the room, it might very well be worth getting an extra small chest freezer.
It's definitely going to be worth it to do some comparative shopping though. You may have a few good options, or one clear one. In my case, the places I have available to shop at are:
local smaller scale supermarkets (on average, the most 'expensive' (for a supermarket) with least variety)
-Safeway (discounts, but still generally expensive)
-Albertsons (closest, which is great for gas, plus the HAVE a gas station (which cuts down on further travel costs), there prices are still generally better than average, and sales are usually consistently good. Also, my bank is there, and service is great. Which does matter some, in my opinion.
and finally
-Wal-Mart, which though it's the cheapest of the bunch, it's also the furthest away (well, Costco would really be that, but I think they're not so much money savers unless you drive a small utility trailer and have an extra-large chest freezer. Just an opinion. Wal-mart also has shitty service, and ours is usually chock-full of screaming children, and rude inbreeds. Just saying, not a generally nice place to be.
-There is also one other store, it's basically a Big Lots (or otherwise Clearance / Buy out store) for groceries. The problem in that is they don't consistently carry products, as is their basic purpose, so don't get attached to anything, and would generally be better considered as a place to get cheaper 'novelty' groceries, eg, your alcohol (they gotta shitload of cheap wine), snackables, all that stuff.
So yeah my obvious choice is Albertsons. It's three places I find myself needing to go, in one, the service is great, prices are acceptable and on occasion fantastic, and easily close. If I need to pick up a few extras, it's easily in biking range. So view your options and draw out some pros and cons and pick out a regular spot. And the obvious, if they have a free rewards card, get it. Albertsons (at least in this state) is offering a nickel off every gallon of gas per every $50 spent in-store, and it adds up (up to $1.50 / gallon, extra carries over) which doesn't seem like much, but for only me, the roommate, and my gf (both of which are usually at the house 2/3 of the time), I can easily spend $150-$200 a paycheck (roughly $400 / month) on food there. Getting the cheaper gas is a bonus.
Another thing, on gas and such: if you can bike places, do. It doesn't need to be said, but I'll say it anyways: it's a workout and free mode of transportation in one.
3DS FC: 4699-5714-8940 Playing Pokemon, add me! Ho, SATAN!
I wish I could lime a link, because this needs repeating.
Quicken Online and Mint.com are two free, fantastic services that will take alot of the hassle of keeping a budget out of your hands.
If you want any recipes let me know, I've got quite a few that make tons of food that freeze well.
Should be mentioned that both of these only work in the US, and the OP is in Canada.
Don't move! Moving to a new place only cuts costs in the long run and once you get your other expenses under control you should easily be able to afford this place. Moreover, living in a good place, with good people is worth a lot and being happy where you live means (or at least for me it does) less going out and other, pricey 'running' behavior.
Bummer.
The creating a spreadsheet part of my post still has merit though
Or go spend the $xx to purchase something like Quicken or Microsoft Money or something else of that ilk. I've used Quicken for years to track everything, and I credit that as part of the reason why I've never been overdrawn since I first got a checking account 12 years ago. Or see if mom and dad will buy it for you - either or
Also, my wife and I have been using a google spreadsheet to balance our checkbook every month. Just break it down into expenses, debts and income. We then break expenses into line item stuff for the mortgage, car payments and utilities and then list food, gas, entertainment and misc purchase by purchase. Then we put in our income and formula everything so that it updates as we add a purchase or a deposit.
It sort of looks like this,
We also round up each purchase, so if I buy lunch and it comes to $5.43, we put in $6.00. So all that extra change is like bonus savings.
I dunno what you people use the damn cellphone for so much. I have a pay-as-you go plan. I put liek $25 bucks on it and it lasts me a month and a half. Although, I will admit I do not make a lot of calls.
The harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun.
3DS FC: 4699-5714-8940 Playing Pokemon, add me! Ho, SATAN!
If you REALLY want to be cheap, follow my lead and be the third man in a two-bedroom apartment. My rent is only $250/mo. You'd...probably need really special roomies for that, however.
This. I really like having CNN on in the background basically anytime I'm awake at my apartment, but other than that, anything I want to watch is available free online.
SAVE YOUR RECEIPTS, write them down somewhere to figure out what you are spending.
I bet you are spending a lot of money eating out.
Do you use a debit card for purchases? Or are you using cash everywhere?
Get a pocket-sized notepad, carry it and a pen, and every time you spend money write it down. Even if it's a buck at a vending machine. When you get home, you can put it into a spreadsheet or fancy program but you need to have that notepad or you'll forget that you spent $6.75 for lunch, $1.25 at the vending machine, and $2.00 for bus fare. Hey look, ten dollars.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.