How much money?

[liz417]

BIRTHDAY WISHES to both berrrymom and inpain

Try to do something special for yourselves...I know the stress is overwhelming, but hang in there, it'll get better

[dingdong]

happy birthday!

[Over our heads]

Hubs gets paid every 2 weeks. I budget us down to all but nil.
I always have 'extra' so to speak, but it is all spoken for. ex: I take out so much each month for car ins. that is due every 6 months x2 cars. I take out for rx's and co-pays, and school lunches. The "buffer" we have in our checking account is a measly 10$.

I used a spreadsheet I think...there is a colum that has all the bills, then 4 colums headed by the pay date. I have my budget worked for the rest of the year.

[bnkrptinva]

My pay is fixed...2 times a month, same days (unless that day is on the weekend, then we get it on the Friday before).

Even AFTER filing 7, I am still almost paycheck to paycheck. There was a lot of fluctuation in money available to me until recently..now things are set.

I'm trying very hard to be able to put a little money aside before the baby comes, and further adjust spending because when baby comes, new expenses will come about I don't have now (increase in healthcare premium, diapers, formula, and we will have to move into a new place with an extra bedroom, right now it's 4 of us in a 2 bedroom..and that's aready not so good).

Economy is bad, so no promo, raise, bonuses this year...yet the cost of living went up. It's all very frightening. I pray that my company will not cut our pay next. I'm determined to live on cash only though. Told husband that if worst comes to worst, we have to buy less household/food stuff....snacks for instance will have to stop...we will get it down to absolute needs, not wants (not even tiny wants because things you consider "wants" now are already cut out of our budget). You have what you have to spend and that's it. At the end of the day, if we have food in our stomach, clothes on our backs, a roof over our head, and a car & gas to get to & from work/school, we are fortunate. Many don't have that.

[aces67]

Happy Birthday to berrrymom and inpain!!!

[hippyguy]

We have a one income family and I get paid weekly, prior to filling and about a month into the process we would run the account down to the teens. Something happened shortly after, however, we realized that we were actually making up ground fast after establishing a budget. We've managed to stick to it so far, and are noticing a modest savings start to build up for the first time. It's pretty exciting for the both of us and I think we are actually pushing each other for the first time to save. It will happen for you too I'm sure, just be patient and keep doing the best you can.