Budgeting #SavingMoney #FinancialTips
Analyzing Your Budget Categories
When you find yourself over budget, it’s important to analyze each category to see where you can make cuts to get back on track. Here is a breakdown of the categories in your budget and potential areas where you can reduce expenses:
Cutting Costs in Necessary Expenses
- Phone: Consider switching to a lower-cost provider to reduce your monthly phone bill.
- Haircuts: Look for ways to reduce the frequency of haircuts or opt for more affordable alternatives.
- Savings: Temporarily pause your savings contributions until you are back within budget.
- Credit Payments: Aim to make minimum payments on your credit cards to free up some extra cash.
Reevaluating Your Priorities
- Church, Fast Food, Fun, Shopping, Beverages, and Subscriptions: Cut out non-essential expenses in these categories to save money.
- Reserves: Ensure you maintain a buffer for unexpected expenses, but consider reducing this amount temporarily.
Final Thoughts
By making strategic cuts in your budget, you can bring your expenses back in line with your income. While it may require sacrifices in the short term, it will help you avoid financial strain in the long run. Remember, this situation is temporary, and with careful planning, you can get back on track financially.
If you make two grand a month you cannot afford to financially support your girlfriend.
At $2k a month, you can’t afford to basically live on your own. The girlfriend gets a job and pays for half of the bills or she moves out and you get a roommate with a job.
Your girlfriend needs a job. You can’t afford this
Your phone bill seems high. $120/month? I’m paying less than that for 3 phones, 3 tablets and a watch. Get a prepaid plan for a fraction of that. If you are paying for other people’s lines, stop, you can’t afford it.
$35 for a haircut seems high. I make exponentially more than you do per month and my haircut costs $25 with a 30% tip.
What are “necessities” for $100 Alex?
What are you giving $100/month to your girlfriend for? Stop, you can’t afford it.
Your church has enough money and doesn’t need that $80 as much as you do.
Can you sell the car and either get by without one or buy a very cheap replacement?
Switch to Mint or Visible or some other cheap phone plan.
Buy some trimmers and have your girlfriend cut your hair.
And your girlfriend needs to get an income.
It’s not going to be popular on here, but I recommend taking the $250 you’re putting into savings and applying it to the credit card to pay it off. Once that’s paid off, you should have $500 to then put into savings/invest/etc.
You gonna need to cut the savings. What’s that $100 for girlfriend? If this isn’t 1000 percent necessary, cut it. Reduce the food category. If your girlfriend can, she should locate food pantries and go get food at least twice a week. Has she applied for public assistance or unemployment? What’s the minimum credit card payment? If it’s not $250, reduce it. It’s great that you are providing this enormous help for her but you are treading dangerous water right now.
From a quick glance:
Phone bill is too high and can be cut in half, haircut can be reduced to about 25 as another poster said, what are necessities?, girlfriend money has to go, savings may need a temporary pause if the alternative is you don’t eat or go homeless, church can go, fast food needs to go, fun money can go (find free options), shopping (for what?, likely can go), beverages (what kind? Likely can go), subscriptions can likely be cut down or eliminated, and reserves?
Of course none of the recommendations matter really, because what is a “want” for the posters may be a “need” for you. Think about what you actually NEED and you have plenty of places where you can make cuts
What is the $150 for Reserves?
This will likely be very unpopular on here but, respectfully, if you’re not married you should not be financially supporting her, or moving in together.
Cut the $80 to your church to start.
Also you shouldn’t be putting money in savings if you are also paying what looks like high interest credit card debt. If credit payment of $250 is credit card the $250 savings needs to go towards that too. Get that debt to 0 and it’s a lot easier.
Not sure what savings vs reserves is.
You can get your gf working before you move in together. How is she going to pay for her other expenses? Are you going to be sole provider? If so that’s a sweet deal for her, she’s getting wife treatment at the gf level.
Grow out the hair, cut some of the spending on the girlfriend, and a lot of the optional. That should get you there. Or work an extra 15 hours a week. Sorry.
You don’t need to pay for a haircut every month. Learn to do it yourself. GF doesn’t get an allowance, she’s getting all her other needs met, you don’t have the money for it. Absolutely 0 of your optional list except maybe one show subscription because y’all will be at home not leaving and need something to keep your attention.
You can’t afford to support yourself let alone your girlfriend.
I could hardly support myself on$2000 a month with a roommate also paying rent, much less a second person living by ourselves
Whata girlfriend $100 even mean? You pay her money to be with you???
I hate to say it, because I’ve been there myself twice (2009 financial crisis and Covid) but being on this kind of budget with another person to support temporarily (I’ve been there) means no fun spending, no outside food spending, no donations, no reserves, no savings if you have CC debt (that will kill you before a low salary will), keep the subscription to streaming service, learn to cook new things with the GF, dilute the orange juice to make it last longer (just using an example here lol), and ride it out. But the most important thing I can suggest is: get a side gig/income, even if it’s only an extra $100 a month! Every penny counts in these situations.
Been there, done that… it will pass eventually, especially when your GF gets back on her feet.
Rent should be around 650$ maximum at your income. Lower savings to 200$. Stop giving your gf money. Buy a prepaid mobile plan, 120$ is too much. Car should be 10% of your income. Drop that to 200$ if you can.
Some of your necessities are not necessities. You can go without a haircut or learn to cut it yourself. Your phone bill is very high, you can probably lower than. Unless you have a contract with your internet company or you use it for work, internet is not a necessity. What is savings and how is it different from reserves? It’s great to save money if you can but you can skip that if times are tight. Are groceries for both you and your girlfriend or just for you? If that’s for one person, I do think it’s a bit high. You could probably find places to economize on food. If it’s for the two of you, good job!
So here’s what I’d propose as a budget for you:
Rent: $850
Internet: $55
Phone: $120 (assuming you’re on a contract or something and can’t change it – otherwise this should be more like $50 or $30)
Car payment: $300
Gas: $100
Haircut: $0
Necessities: $100
Groceries: $400 ($300 if just for you)
Girlfriend: $100
Savings: $0
Credit payment: $250
Necessities total: $2,175
Assuming you pick up $300 in overtime, that leaves you with $125. I’d put that in a general “fun” category which can go to fast food, shopping, beverages, subscriptions etc. You could also save some of it or put extra towards the debt – if you have less than three months of living expenses saved or you have high interest debt, I’d definitely prioritize that, otherwise, I think spending a small amount of money on fun is okay.
I think it would be best to stop contributing to your church at the moment – hopefully your fellow parishioners will understand that you’re having a tough time and will be able to contribute again once your girlfriend can work.
How much credit card debt do you have?
Monthly haircut is not a necessity, that’s $35. You should not be allocating $100 on your girlfriend, despite what you think. You should not make any donations if you cannot afford it, there’s $80. Stop spending $80 on fast-food. What we the $100 “necessities” are, I’m guessing half of those probably actually are not. $80 in shopping, cut that at least in half. That gets you 80% of the way there. Cutting savings is a last resort before finding a different solution.
You cut costs by trimming small amounts in multiple spots. If you can shave $50-$100 on groceries by shopping at trader joes or aldis, that’s a win. Stop saving, you only save when you’re in the green. Fast food needs to be cut when you’re trying to drive down the grocery bill.
Get a haircut every other month. Is church tithing? Stop. You need their help. What the hell are beverages? Is shopping for things around the house like soap, or stuff like clothes?
When you’re red lining your budget, it’s all about the stretch. Consider going to food pantries… yes, these places are for people struggling like you.
You want to stretch as hard as possible to release that credit payment ASAP. That way, by the time that’s paid off you’ll then have $500 of flex / relief in your budget which will then go back into savings & reserves.
More shifts is good, how long can you physically / mentally tolerate the extra work, & how does that runway look compared to your credit debt?
You’re in a position where $10 matters. Again: stretch your budget. Get the bulk chicken packs, off brand sauces, non organic vegetables, & a bag of rice. Easy to cook, cheap, & healthy.
Keep one of your entertainment vices & cut the rest until the credit is paid off (I’m looking at you, fun / subscriptions).
Lastly, remember many of these cuts are temporary measures to release that $250 credit grip. You want that paid off asap. After that though, you may realise you don’t need to go back. There’s 2 kinds of rich people: savers & earners.
You can do it, good luck
Do not more in with your girlfriend until she can contribute meaningfully to your shared expenses. If you can’t afford to be married then you can’t afford to live together like that either. You can barely support yourself on your income, let alone two people. And wherever you move, make sure it’s to a place that you can afford on your own, because things could go sideways.
Some easy places to cut:
1) no more fast food and outside drinks and $35 haircuts. Monthly $35 haircuts? Are you a Sasquatch?
2) No more savings until you pay off your credit card (what’s the balance?)
3) cancel your subscriptions
4) get a cheaper phone plan, $120 is beyond ridiculous
5) no more tithing, you need the money more than God right now
6) no more “shopping” – what are you buying even??
7) you can’t afford to give your girlfriend money. I know you feel like that’s mandatory, but you have to put your oxygen mask on before assisting others. You simply cannot afford this.
Where is your car insurance payment? Where are the utilities?
The stuff you consider mandatory is even above your income right now. You need to be really cutting expenses and not adding to them. You need a paying roommate.
Also that comment about other people earning your salary and being just fine supporting two people, you don’t know that. It may seem like that on the outside, but you don’t fully know those people’s finances at all. What matters is YOUR finances, and given your situation, you can’t afford the lifestyle you want if you’re $600 underwater every month or have to rely on overtime availability to make even your minimum bills.
Tell your GF to apply for assistance, so maybe she can at least get food vouchers or something.
Don’t waste money on church and fast food.
Make your focus on getting that credit card paid off.
Where are you living now? Where does your girlfriend live?
What does Starting/Remaining mean?
Are you looking for a better job?
Are you looking for a second job?
You can’t afford Savings. Obviously you can’t afford anything at all in your Optional category.
Can your girlfriend cut your hair?
I don’t visit this sub often, but whenever I see these posts they always include some type of church donation. It’s interesting.
Also what is your $100 girlfriend payment?
You’re trying to shove half a gallon of shit into a quart sized bag. Even if you somehow figure out how to make it work, your lifestyle will be unsustainable. You’ll be a blown tire or other car issue away from more credit card debt or worse.
Wait until your girlfriend has an income to move out, and take that time to clean up your high interest debt and consider looking for a job that pays a livable wage.
Making more money would make a bigger difference for you… Why not pursue that approach?
What are the subscriptions? Are they really necessary? Can you prepare cheap meals (ex. Rice and eggs) to substitute for fast food purchases? Can you reduce your beverage purchases? What does the $80 shopping constitute? Why $80 to Church? I understand tithes are a thing but you really don’t have to do that. Why can’t your girlfriend work? Any income from her would be better than none. Personally I wouldn’t want to move in with a girlfriend/boyfriend that wasn’t working and was, financially speaking, a complete liability. That’s just me.
> Girlfriend: $100/ $100
Your Girlfriend doesn’t need an allowance of $100. She needs a job.
>Savings: $250/ $250
Pay off your credit cards.
>Church: $80/ $80 Fast Food: $80/ $80 Fun: $40/ $40 Shopping: $80/ $80 Beverages: $25/ $25 Subscriptions: $39.10/ $39.10 Reserves: $150/ $150
You can’t afford any of these right now.
>Extra: $494.10/ $494.10
What is this?
Rent: 850 (assuming this is hard to change but ideally you’d be spending around 700 with your income)
Internet: 0(if you don’t make money off the internet you should cancel this)
Phone: 30 Get a pre-paid plan like Mint(you can even use hotspot to replace some internet usage)
Car: 300
Gas: 100
Haircut: 35
Neccesities: 100
Groceries: 200 (easiest place to skimp, rice and beans and some protein and veggie can fill you up for like 30/week)
GF: 100
Savings: 0 (until CC is paid off)
CC: 250(and whatever you can until paid off)
595 in savings right there.
My girlfriend learned to cut my hair. She does a good job (after a couple interesting styles). Paying a dollar a day for your hair just seems silly
– Find a super cheap phone plan like Mint Mobile.
– cut your grocery bill by $100 and add more pasta, rice, and whatever is cheap at the grocery store that week. Shop at any ethnic store near you (Asian mart, Latin mart, African mart, etc.) as they’re notoriously less expensive than “basic” grocery stores.
– cut the fast food for now.
– stop getting the haircuts and have your girlfriend watch tons of YouTube tutorials and learn to cut it for you.
Carve out at least an hour per day (preferably more) to study to get a certification in your industry, to work on rewriting your resume, and to apply for new jobs. You HAVE to get your income up because this isn’t sustainable.
Edit: typo
High amounts or something you should not have: haircut, subscriptions, fast food, fun, church, phone…..
How much is the credit card debt? what if any emergency fund do you have? What rate is the credit card debt? You can scale back on saving ($100/250) and put the rest ($150/250) toward the credit card if you have significant emergency fund.
Also if you know that your gf will be making money later in the year, I would scale back on the church giving. Once your gf starts working and contributing to the household expenses, you can make essentially a catch up donation to the church.
You can cut your phone down to $20 a month with mint or similar MNVO without loss of data
Stop giving money to your church. They don’t pay taxes and you do. God doesn’t need money and the church will be fine without your contributions.
Why is the phone so high? Is that two lines or a payment plan for a phone?
Consider switching over to a mvno ( visible, mint, boost ) for $25 month. A haircut at Great Clip w/ coupon is $12 + $5 tip. Groceries, I sure hope you go through the app and clip coupons for the stuff you are going to buy anyway. Stop supporting the church until either you make more money or your gf goes back to work.
These things will certainly get you part of the way there!
$400 in groceries is way too high.
First you need to get your actual inflows and outflows to compare to your budget to make sure it is correct. Second cut out all the optional because you have no option. Last change the phone to a mint or something for $30. If your budget is correct then cutting those simple things will get you inline. $584.10
If you’re not married, your girlfriend is a girlfriend. Go to the courthouse and get married and be done with it . Where are you living now ? You are living on the edge and if you’re able to stay home a bit longer and pay off the debt and save some more, then this is doable. Your spending is not crazy but one emergency and you’ll find yourself in a ditch .