Projected Expenses + EF

So I've been really trying to cull unnecessary expenses from our budget.

The way it currently stands, monthly we spend 500 (rent) + 35 (my car insurance) + 43 (Andrew car insurance) 70 (internet, 55 comes back to us eventually) + 50 (Andrew cell phone) + 16 (Netflix) + 40 (storage rent) + $120 into savings

+ mostly conditional expenses of 500 (groceries/gas/pet stuff/eating out/entertainment/gifts/etc)

= $1429

That number could be tweaked, as some months we don't spend as much on gas, food or pets. Also, the internet's more like $15 for us in the end, but we do have to pay the $70 upfront.

Anyway, so we're going to cut the storage building out (-$40) and Andrew is considering cutting off his cell phone because he has a different one for work (-$50). That's -$90 right there.

= $1339

With that extra $90, we're also going to up our savings amount per paycheck. Since we're currently saving $120 a month or so, we can easily start saving $200 a month.

So the big current number is $1429. Hoping to push that to $1339.

I'm sure we could also be better about our conditional expenses. We've been pretty lucky in regards to not spending much on gas because the only real consistent driving that we do is on the weekends to drive to Millington and back. Eating out gets expensive fast, but we do it so rarely now so it's becoming a nice treat every once in a while. Groceries can't be helped, and since I've been cooking a LOT more, our meals are cheaper in the long run. Pet expenses have been high lately due to a flea infestation and then subsequent deworming of one cat. Gifts are uncommon, necessary and fun :)


All of this discussion brings me to the topic of an Emergency Fund. I've read differing opinions on how much to save; some people seem to think 3-6 months worth of expenses works well, while others seem to prefer 8-12 months. I think 3 months is a great start.

So we take that projected $1339 a month and multiply it by 3 or 6 or whatever. That gives us about $4000 we'd need to save up. Ouch. But hey, that's the monthly cost of a mortgage for many people so I consider us very lucky.

We are saving each and every paycheck. The sucky thing is that we've been dipping into the savings here and there to cover misc. expenses. BAD! We have several goals for our savings, including a trip to FL in October with family (short term goal) and a 5 year anniversary trip to Ireland in 2013 (long term goal). And of course there's the EF.


Whew, that was a long post :P