Week Ending 09.15.13 Budget and….and…and…Drumroll PLEASE!

MISC. SPENDING HAS BEEN BROUGHT UNDER CONTROL!! We only hit the checking account twice last week for small drafts and didn’t spend hardly anything at all!  I am very proud of us!!!  I have literally been on pins and needles waiting to share this wonderful accomplishment with everyone!

The only reason we had (1) stop at PCJ (Port City Java, Wilmington’s answer to Starbucks, but WAY better!) was because Jimmy was running a headache (the extra shot of espresso is an easy fix for a headache) and I needed some coffee, so we stopped at the PCJ by the Wal-Mart we shop at and grabbed (2) small Latte’s and the kiddos some snacks.  On Thursday after Girl Scouts, I did run to Starbucks and picked up a new travel mug to replace the one I got for Christmas from my manager – it broke last Wednesday morning when I dropped it while washing it – I was able to use the rest of a Gift Card I got for my BDay from my In-Laws to pay for the bulk of it and the remaining balance was very small ($2.56) so I didn’t fuss!

But aren’t you guys proud of us! We’ve been trying to do this for EONS and somehow we managed it last week!

This is good because as I was reviewing our overall financial picture this morning did I realize that we are way over our heads financially and this cut-back will help us recuperate the overage elsewhere…

After putting into a small spreadsheet everything we have going out, this is what I came up with while sitting at OT Solutions waiting for Austin to get done with his therapy session:

The income numbers I used was what we were paid on Friday – you’ll see these replicated below – and these are our monthly numbers for everything using a 4.25 multiplier on the weekly expenses – used instead of 4 as there’s something like 4.25 – 4.5 weeks in any given month:

$496.56	$2,110.38
$258.92	$1,100.41
$755.48	$3,210.79
$830.00	Citi
$297.50	Brigades
$337.00	Credit Acceptance
$850.00	Groceries
$170.00	Gas
$64.47	State Farm
$89.00	APM Int’l
$21.39	Blockbuster
$7.99	Hulu.com
$111.00	Great Lakes
$106.25	Pizza Dinners
$106.25	Jimmy’s Money
$106.25	Cat & Dog Food
$125.00	Progress Energy
$125.00	AT&T
$105.00	CFPUA
$21.25	OT Solutions, Inc.
$3,473.35

Leaving a Difference of: ($262.56)

OUCH! No wonder we’re broke as sin!  Even if I cut back the weekly pizza expense and when APM Int’l is done in November with Blockbuster being cancelled (as will be done this week) – I will still have that $25.00 in my grocery budget to pay for food on those nights and with the possibility of cutting out OT  – Austin’s therapist is talking of possibly transitioning him out as she doesn’t feel it’s needed any longer – we’re still in the hole: ($130.92)!

Our biggest expense is the house – and with our payments being as inconsistent as they have been our Escrow account has been overdrawn so now we’re having to make-up that difference in our payments as we were also unable to make the extra payment for just the escrow account thus causing the monthly payment to jump up from $765.00/mos to $830.00 – OUCH!

Alright here we go with this week’s numbers:

$35.11	Remaining from W/E 09/08/13			$496.56	Lara W/E 09/15/13 Salary, Pay Date 9/20
$15.95	Amt. Spent			$258.92	Jimmy W/E 09/15/13 Salary
$19.16	Avail. Starting			$755.48
$12.59	PCJ			$19.16	Avail. Starting
$0.90	KTC			$755.48	Total Pay
$2.46	Starbucks			$774.64	Avail. For Bills
$   –				$5.00	Unpaid to OT Solutions
$15.95				$779.64

And the overall breakdown:

$779.64
$70.00	Brigades Boys & Girls Club
$709.64
$10.00	OT Solutions
$699.64
$200.00	Groceries
$499.64
$25.00	Jimmy’s Money
$474.64
$25.00	Dinner, 9/20
$449.64
$40.00	Gas
$409.64
$25.00	Cat & Dog Food
$384.64
$7.99	Hulu.com, 9/21 Auto-Draft
$376.65
$21.39	Blockbuster.com, 9/23 Auto-Draft
$355.26
$5.00	Coastal Beh. 9/25
$350.26
$64.47	State Farm, 9/24 Auto-Draft
$285.79
$200.00	Credit Accept
$85.79
$30.00	Boys’ Haircuts
$55.79	$55.79
7%	$3.91
$3.91	$51.88

And…with the lump sum cash withdrawal:

$779.64
$70.00	Brigades Boys & Girls Club
$709.64
$10.00	OT Solutions
$699.64
$360.00	Cash for Week
$339.64
$7.99	Hulu.com, 9/21 Auto-Draft
$331.65
$21.39	Blockbuster.com, 9/23 Auto-Draft
$310.26
$5.00	Coastal Beh. 9/25
$305.26
$64.47	State Farm, 9/24 Auto-Draft
$240.79
$200.00	Credit Accept.
$40.79
$3.91	Merrill Transfer
$36.88

And that left me with just over $18.00 cash to put into the savings jar this morning! We’re well on our way to being able to fund Halloween! YEAH!

Well that is all from me for this Week! Until next week!

Budget Week Ending 06.16.13…Again Frustrated with the Numbers…

It’s another week where it seems like all the funds come in and immediately go back out again – we have a lot of auto-drafts this week which have eaten into all of our funds to carry over into next week…don’t like this one bit…but we have to adapt and move forward.  I’ve paid the 2nd part of the car payment and we’re two weeks ahead on that one, which makes me very happy, but at the same time we’re going to be behind again on the mortgage – sincerly hope Citi gets their sh*t together soon.  The last email I got from them on Wednesday said it would be six (6) days until a final decision, which puts us at about Tuesday next week.  Our counselor called us the next day and when Jimmy went to call him back “conveniently” he wasn’t available…so he asked for his manager and sat on hold for almost a half an hour until he had to leave for work, going to try calling again tomorrow…this is has been the most frustrating process.  UGH! Seriously hoping we can hold onto things this go round and keep our payments on time…once this is done I swear we’re going car shopping so I can get out from under the car.

Speaking of, it’s decided more repairs are needed – now my brakes are squealing sometimes (yup roters – $$$) and they grind like metal on metal sometimes when I apply the brakes (roters again = $$$)…I sincerly don’t want to put funds into the car for repairs, we have the money I just really would prefer to get something that is slightly newer and doesn’t need any repairs almost immediately.

Ok onto the budget for the week…like I said lots of auto-drafts this week:

$87.24	Remaining from W/E 05/12/13			$ 501.19	Lara W/E 06/16/13 Salary
$80.00	Amt. Spent			$180.83	Jimmy W/E 06/16/13 Salary
$7.24	Avail. Starting			$682.02
$11.48	Wal-Mart			$7.24	Avail. Starting
$6.40	Hobby Lobby			$682.02	Total Pay
$5.32	Atlanta Bread			$689.26	Avail. For Bills
$10.19	Wal-Mart			$50.00	Deposit 6/16 for James’ Father’s Day
$8.11	PCJ			$739.26
$3.96	KTC			$20.00	Withdrawn for James
$5.98	McDonald’s			$719.26
$1.99	Amazon.com			$40.00	In From Merrill to Cover Short/Prevent OD
$20.00	NH Medical Group			$759.26
$6.57	Chick Fil-A
$80.00

We over did it last week that’s for sure…Father’s day was last Sunday and while Jimmy kept it simple we still spent a small amount on drinks/snacks while cruising Mayfaire, but then another trip to the Dr’s cost me another $20.00 – we have a Medical Savings account we could use to pay these co-pays and for prescriptions – I believe it’s time to check on that account balance and see how much we have available – might help offset some of the expenses we have coming.  I have two appointments and a prescription to pick up – he has I am sure follow-up appointments to check his INR’s and more prescriptions, so yeah that’s on my ‘to do’ list.

Alright here we go:

$759.26
$25.00	DB Plumbing
$734.26
$80.00	Brigades Boys & Girls Club
$654.26
$5.00	OT Solutions
$649.26
$7.99	Hulu.com, 6/21 Auto-Draft
$641.27
$21.39	Blockbuster.com, 6/23 Aut-Draft
$619.88
$5.00	CCA, 6/24 Auto-Draft
$614.88
$64.47	State Farm
$550.41
$185.00	Credit Accept
$365.41
$170.00	Groceries
$195.41
$25.00	Cat & Dog Food
$170.41
$25.00	Jimmy’s Money
$145.41
$25.00	Dinner, 6/21
$120.41
$40.00	Gas
$80.41
$30.00	Jimmy’s Rem. Father’s Day$
$50.41

And with the lump sum cash withdrawal:

$759.26
$25.00	DB Plumbing
$734.26
$80.00	Brigades Boys & Girls Club
$654.26
$5.00	OT Solutions
$649.26
$7.99	Hulu.com, 6/21 Auto-Draft
$641.27
$21.39	Blockbuster.com, 6/23 Aut-Draft
$619.88
$5.00	CCA, 6/24 Auto-Draft
$614.88
$64.47	State Farm
$550.41
$185.00	Credit Acceptance
$365.41
$320.00	Cash for the Week
$45.41

I will say this we came in FAR under budget on both the groceries and gas, so those extra monies were used to purchase some misc. items we needed around the house and I took the kids to lunch at McDonald’s today (a rare treat let me tell you!)…

Well that’s all folks until next week!

Have a Good One and Try to Stay Dry! 😉

There are Changes Afoot…We’ve Reworked the Budget Process…

Say what??? I thought, and I was pretty sure we were ok, with our current budget process and bill pay model – however, that has not turned out to be the case.  I was finding, over the last 6-weeks or so, that our Mortgage and Car Payment were not getting the funds they required in order to a) be current and b) make a serious effort to pay off those items.  After reading several other blogs, namely this one inspired me to change our payment schedule.  So I did some heavy duty thinking and even more manipulation of the numbers and figured out how much needed to be added to my monthly car payment in order to pay it off sooner, as it appears Citi is going to continue to park themselves on our restructure with no real direction for the time being – more on this later, and so we can keep that $750 we had allocated for the down payment (and maybe even work to help that to grow some) or at least get the payoff lower before going shopping for a replacement.  

Below is the payoff map that illustrates how much will be needed each bi-week to pay off the loan before next Summer:

$7,751.00	Total Paid
$4,044.00	Bal. Due
$11,795.00
$367.64	Monthly Payment x 11 Mos			$183.82
$404.40	Monthly Payment x 10 Mos			$202.20
$449.33	Monthly Payment x 9 Mos			$224.67
$505.50	Monthly Payment x 8 Mos			$252.75
$577.71	Monthly Payment x 7 Mos			$288.86
$674.00	Monthly Payment x 6 Mos			$337.00
$808.80	Monthly Payment x 5 Mos			$404.40
$1,011.00	Monthly Payment x 4 Mos			$505.50
$1,348.00	Monthly Payment x 3 Mos			$674.00
$2,022.00	Monthly Payment x 2 Mos			$1,011.00

The 1st Column of Numbers  is the Bal. Due divided by the #of possible payments (middle section) with the last column being the first divided by 2 for the number of monthly payments (does that make sense?)  I’ve opted, for now, for the 11 mos payment plan, and rounded that $183.82 up to $185.00, as I work in whole numbers, and incorporated that into the budget.

So then I figured out our bi-weekly payment on our mortgage, $824.00/mos divided by 2 payments/month = $412.00/bi-week

Secondly, I plugged in the numbers for our monthly expenses/auto-draft payments for other bills and developed the best working scenario I can come up with.

Lastly, I averaged over 6-Weeks the amounts of our Misc. Expenditures – or rather non-budget purchases and plugged that number into the equation to account for that spending every two weeks as well, the actual number was $62.55 and again I rounded up as I work with whole numbers to $65.00

These numbers are examples – not actuals:

Week 1 – Week Ending 06.09.13

$766.24
$89.00	APM Int’l
$677.24
$185.00	Credit Acceptance
$492.24
$80.00	Brigades
$412.24
$170.00	Groceries
$242.24
$40.00	Jimmy’s Money
$202.24
$25.00	Dinner, 6/14
$177.24
$25.00	Cat & Dog Food
$152.24
$25.00	DB Plumbing
$127.24
$65.00	Misc. Spending
$62.24
$20.00	Lara’s Co-Pay
$42.24	$42.24
7%	$2.96
$2.96	$39.28

Next is Week Ending 06.16.13

$805.52
$412.00	CitiMorgage
$393.52
$80.00	Brigades Boys & Girls Club
$313.52
$5.00	OT Solutions
$308.52
$5.00	Coastal Behavioral
$303.52
$40.00	Gas
$263.52
$25.00	Dinner, 6/21
$238.52
$25.00	Jimmy’s Money
$213.52
$25.00	Cat & Dog Food
$188.52
$150.00	Utility
$38.52
$25.00	DB Plumbing
$13.52

On the weeks the Mortgage is paid money will be very tight depending on how much we’re paid and how much rolls into this week from the previous week – as you can see there’s like ZERO wiggle room!

Week Ending 06.23.13

$779.76
$185.00	Credit Acceptance
$594.76
$80.00	Brigades
$514.76
$170.00	Groceries
$344.76
$25.00	Jimmy’s Money
$304.76
$25.00	Dinner, 6/28
$279.76
$25.00	Cat & Dog Food
$254.76
$25.00	DB Plumbing
$229.76
$5.00	WHA
$224.76
$21.39	Blockbuster
$203.37
$5.00	CCA
$198.37
$64.47	State Farm
$133.90
$65.00	Mis. Spending
$83.90	$83.90
7%	$5.87
$5.87	$78.03

Week Ending 06.30.13

$844.27
$412.00	CitiMorgage
$432.27
$80.00	Brigades Boys & Girls Club
$352.27
$5.00	OT Solutions
$347.27
$48.00	Great Lakes
$299.27
$40.00	Gas
$259.27
$25.00	Dinner, 7/5
$234.27
$25.00	Jimmy’s Money
$209.27
$25.00	Cat & Dog Food
$184.27
$150.00	Utility
$34.27
$25.00	DB Plumbing
$9.27

I certainly hope that this scenario doesn’t play out and we’re left with more than $9.30 at the end of the week! We’ll see though…so we’re crossing our fingers this actually works out.

As for Citi – um yeah still ZERO movement there – late fees are piling up and our ‘counselor’ has been LESS than responsive – that idiot scheduled a call-back with Jimmy for Tuesday morning before he went to work and he didn’t call – all we’re getting are those canned form letter emails telling us the same thing – it’s with the final underwriters for review. I’ve responded asking for more than just the canned letter with no response – might be time to call this idiots manager…this is getting insane!

So yup – this is where we’re at right now!

Until tomorrow kids!